Coal mines caught in tax manipulation

JAKARTA. The Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) has found a 78 percent deficit in tax settlements from the coal mining sector.

Previously in 2013, BPK disclosed that 24 large and 17 small coal mining companies manipulated their production reports in order to avoid high tax invoices from the government.

“In 2013 the state experienced a loss of up to Rp 628 billion [US$515,000] from the coal mining sector,” a member of BPK, Ali Masykur Musa, said in Palembang on Thursday.

The coal mining sector conducted three types of tax manipulation, according to Ali. Namely, these were: falsifying production reports; making subsidiaries responsible for the quality of products; and manipulating the amount of exports through customs.

After BPK’s inspection, Rp 320 billion was returned to the state's coffers.

Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) South Sumatra executive director Hadi Jatmiko supported BPK’s audit. Despite the infringement, however, no sanctions have been made by the government to date.

“Evidently, results from the audit were used merely as recommendation materials for the government for revamping, not for the purpose of law enforcement,” he said.

Hadi underlined the importance of mining companies taking responsibility for reclamation after their use of land areas. (Ansyor Idrus)