Govt to review coal export tax policy

The government has decided to review the new 5 percent coal export tax policy following objection from industry players.

The decision was agreed last week during a meeting between officials of the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, and the Indonesian Coal Mining Association (APBI), the paper said.

Coal mining companies in the country were expected to provide input for the revision of the decree, which was issued by the Ministry of Finance and became effective on Oct. 11.

Director General of Geology and Mineral Resources Simon F. Sembering said that the new calculation was expected to be completed next month, and would be discussed together with related ministers for finalization.

"It was agreed that we'll let the businesses to calculate what the tax rate should be. And in November we'll meet again with the people from the Ministry of Finance and other ministries," Simon said.

He added that last week's meeting also discussed the possibility of imposing the coal export tax on all coal miners operating in the country as some criticized the current policy as discriminative.(godang)