Purnomo lobbies ministers to drop coal export tax

Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro said on Wednesday that he has lobbied Minister of Finance and Minister of Trade to cancel coal export tax that had been in force since late last year.

?I have asked for Ministers of Finance and Trade to review coal export tax regulation. Coal export tax should be abolished as its implementation is not effective and not equitable as first generation coal mining companies are eligible to reclaim the coal tax they have paid,? said Purnomo.

Earlier, Indonesian Coal Mining Association urged the government to lift coal export tax as most of first generation coal miners, which account for 75 percent of export were eligible to reclaim their export tax payment and the tax was additional burden for mining companies that were facing increasing production costs.(godang)