JAKARTA: Indonesia plans to impose excise taxes on plastic bags next year and review other tax policies to increase revenue collection, according to a copy of 2018 budget proposal document reviewed by Reuters.
The government plans to target Rp 155.4 trillion rupiah ($11.62 billion) from excise taxes in 2018, including some from plastic bags, but the bulk will still come from tobacco products, the document said.
No details were given on the planned level of the excise tax, which producers would pay.
The government will also review some exemptions given from value-added tax, the document said, without giving any details The government currently exempts a number of goods and services from VAT, including basic needs and gold.
The document said 2018 tax policy will be aimed at reducing inequality. Instruments to promote that will include “an incentive to increase the real income of the people in the middle-low economic group” and amendments to tax rules for small and medium-sized enterprises, it said.