Indonesia plans to tax sugary drinks, polluting vehicles, plastic bags
Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati has proposed new duties on sweetened drinks, polluting vehicles and plastic bags, to control consumption of the products in Southeast Asia's largest economy.
Indonesia's Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati attends the World Economic Forum on ASEAN at the Convention Center in Hanoi, Vietnam September 12, 2018. (Photo: Reuters)
Jakarta (VNA) – Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawatihas proposed new duties on sweetened drinks, polluting vehicles and plasticbags to control consumption of the products in Southeast Asia's largesteconomy.
The proposal is to levy excise taxes ranging from 1,500 rupiah to 2,500 rupiah(0.11-0.18 USD) per litre on sugary and artificially sweetened beverages such asbottled tea, coffee, carbonated soft drinks and energy drinks, the ministersaid at a meeting with members of the House of Representatives’ financecommission.
The aim is to cut consumption of sweet drinks in the context that theprevalence of diabetes and obesity levels has steadily increased in the pastdecade, according to the minister.
At the meeting, she also proposed to impose an excise tax of 30,000 rupiah perkilo or 200 rupiah per bag on plastic bags. The levy, though small, can halveIndonesia's consumption of plastic bags to 53,533 tonnes a year, she said.
According to Minister Indrawati, the government also wants to impose duties onnew vehicles that emit carbon dioxide as part of efforts to control pollution.The tariffs will vary depending on emission levels and other aspects, she said,without providing details.
The total additional revenue expected from all three measures per fiscal yearis 23.56 trillion rupiah (about 1.72 billion USD), including 1.61 trillionrupiah from plastic bags, 6.25 trillion rupiah from drinks and 15.7 trillionrupiah from vehicles, she said.
However, she did not mention when the government plans to begin collecting theexcise taxes./.
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Indonesia's Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati attends the World Economic Forum on ASEAN at the Convention Center in Hanoi, Vietnam September 12, 2018. (Photo: Reuters) 
