JAKARTA: Indonesia will unveil a simplified scheme for tax holidays next week and state oil firm PT Pertamina should be among the first to benefit, government officials said.
Boosting investment is a priority for President Joko Widodo as household consumption – the main engine of growth for Southeast Asia’s largest economy – has remained sluggish in recent years.
Under different programs, Indonesia has offered tax holidays since 2011, but the approval process has been complicated, and only a few companies have obtained them.
Under the revised rules due to be signed next week by the finance minister, a company can apply for income tax relief when it requests investment permits, Suahasil Nazara, head of the ministry’s fiscal policy office, told reporters on Thursday.
“Pioneering industries” are defined as those that, among other things, create added value and introduce technology. Among such industries are maritime transport, telecommunications, and processing of metals and agricultural products.
