Indonesian Miners oppose govt’s export tax plan

Indonesian mfeldspar flotation machineryining companies have strongly protested the government’s plan to impose a 25 percent export tax on mineral ores and coal, saying that the measure would severely hurt their businesses because they already pay high income tax rates.

The executive director of the Indonesian Mining Association (IMA), Syahrir Abubakar, said in Jakarta on Thursday that the government should be aware that under their contracts of works, miners paid corporate income rate of between 35 and 45 percent, which was higher than the 25 percent imposed on other companies. “Some of them pay between 35 percent and 45 percent even though the 2008 Income Tax Law has regulated that the tax is only 25 percent,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the launch of the Mining & Engineering Indonesian Exhibition in Jakarta on Thursday. If the government insists on applying the export tax, it should also declare that all companies pay tax according to prevailing laws, and not based on their contracts, he said. Currently, contract of works in the country used the principle of “nail down” in which the taxes paid by miners followed the regulations when the contracts were signed, he explained. “It’s no problem if...