0 Badung targets Rp 1.3t in hotel, restaurant taxes

Badung regency is targeting revenue of Rp 1.3 trillion (US$133.77 million) in hotel and restaurant tax this year by optimizing income audits in every hotel and restaurant and strictly monitoring taxation through an online system. The target is an 18 percent increase from last year’s Rp 1.1 trillion, head of the regency’s Tourism Agency Cokorda Raka Darmawan said on Tuesday. 

“We will optimize the revenue by conducting audits in all hotels and restaurants and strictly monitoring the taxation using an online system to minimize possible leaks,” he said after attending a discussion on tourism in Seminyak. Badung has gradually been developing an online tax system since early last year. The regency has applied online procurement of tax forms and recorded tax revenues digitally. It planned to enact its online tax system for hotel and restaurant tax as of last year. Badung is the richest regency in Bali. 

In 2011, its hotel and restaurant tax revenue reached Rp 849 billion, or 76 percent of the regency’s self-generated revenue (PAD) of Rp 1.1 trillion. Denpasar ranked second with Rp 131 billion, followed by Gianyar regency with Rp 126 billion in the same year. Darmawan said the administration had yet to calculate the amount of possible leakage in hotel and restaurant tax because it did not know in detail the revenue of each business unit. “We only find out about their revenue through the report they send to the Regional Revenue Agency [Dispenda],” he said. 

Recently, the Denpasar Prosecutors’ Office announced that it was currently investigating tax embezzlement cases involving at least 10 star-rated hotels in Badung that were alleged to have evaded tax payments. The amount of money that each hotel should have paid in taxes ranged between Rp 3 billion to 10 billion. According to data from Badung’s Dispenda office, 526 out of 1,313 taxpayers in the regency did not comply with their tax dues. Alit Wiraputra, chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Badung chapter, estimated that the regency could lose Rp 300 billion in its PAD. 

“We predict that there’s a possible loss of Rp 300 billion that should have been contributed to PAD, due to illegal businesses,” he said, citing accommodation facilities operating without proper licensing. He said the organization would work together with the regency administration to improve licensing procedures to minimize leaks in PAD. Tourism practitioner Bagus Sudibya said that Bali could earn around Rp 4.5 trillion in hotel and restaurant taxes per year. He expected the administration to be transparent and accountable in using the funds to improve the island’s tourism sector.

source : bali daily