Government Push Google to Pay Tax

Director General of Tax Ken Dwijugiasteadi confirmed that Google Asia Pasific Pte Ltd will settle their tax debts by the end of 2016. The government has decided to negotiate with the company instead of filing a report to the police. “Google must pay their tax debts this year, the company and the government will release a statement after the investigation,” Ken said on Monday.

Ken had met with Google representatives last week. According to the Director General, Google has the right to file their objection towards the tax investigation results as long as an agreement has not been made. The company however, will be required to pay off their debts based on the investigation’s closing conference.

In response to the issue, Google spokesman Jason Tedjakusuma refused to provide any comment. Jason also refused to respond to questions related to the results on last week’s meeting. “No comment,” Jason said briefly.

The government estimated that Google Asia Pacific’s revenue, based on service and product sales in Indonesia, had reached Rp 5.5 trillion. On the other hand, Google representative office in Indonesia only generates revenues from advertising services.

Google Indonesia had been registered at the Tanah Abang Tax Office as a foreign investment company since September 15, 2011. However, state officials cannot collect the company’s taxes because Google is not registered as an Indonesian legal entity.

Yustinus Prastowo, Executive Director of Center for Indonesia Taxation Analysis doubted the government’s ability to force Google to pay their taxes by the end of 2016. “Even if there is a payment, it wouldn’t be as large as it was expected,” Yustinus said.