Thailand
Indonesia: Government to revise tax refund regulation
Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati has said the ministry would study a request made by Tourism Minister Arief Yahya, to revise down the minimum amount tourists would need to spend in a store to get a tax refund.
“We will study the request for a revision of the tax refund regulation,” Sri Mulyani said in Jakarta on Tuesday as reported by tempo.co.
Under the existing regulation, tourists can get their tax back if they spend at least Rp 5 million (US$346) at certain stores.
Previously, Arief called on the Finance Ministry to decrease the minimum amount per store to Rp 1 million.
Arief said Rp 5 million was too high, making Indonesia an unpopular shopping destination. He also demanded the extension of the refund period to three months from the current one-month period.
Arief said the proposal was submitted to the Finance Ministry after he got input from stakeholders in the Tourism Ministry. “I hope the new regulation can be issued as soon as possible,” he added.
Meanwhile, Sri Mulyani said she could not say whether the ministry would agree with Arief’s request. She said her ministry would discuss the issue. (bbn)
Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2018/08/01/government-to-revise-tax-refund-regulation.html