Indonesia Increases Cigarette Tax Oversight

Source from:  Tax-News 02/26/2016

The Indonesian tax authority said it has increased efforts to tackle excise duty evasion and the trade in illicit tobacco.

On February 16, 2016, the Directorate General of Customs and Excise (DJBC) said: "To secure Government revenue, the DJBC is more intensively taking action on the circulation of illegal goods, including cigarettes. Every eight hours, it managed to foil the illegal distribution of cigarettes without a valid excise stamp."

The statement was in response to a survey conducted by the Gadjah Mada University. It found that in 2010, 6.19 percent of cigarettes in circulation were sold illegally. This had jumped to 11.73 percent by 2014. However, the agency said that there has also been an upward trend in prosecutions. The number of prosecution proceedings increased from 641 cases during 2013 to 1,232 cases in 2015, it said. Enditem