JAKARTA: Retailers have criticised the government’s decision to delay the implementation of marketplace tax collection for online sellers, saying it prolongs an uneven playing field and disadvantages bricks-and-mortar businesses already contending with softer consumer spending and rising costs.
The postponement is deemed unfair to retailers, who collect and remit taxes on both their offline and online sales, while tax compliance among online merchants remains low, according to the Indonesian Retailers and Shopping Centres Association (Hippindo).
“We support the government collecting taxes fairly. So yes, we are disappointed,” Hippindo chairman Budihardjo Iduansjah said yesterday.
“The point was not to burden online sellers but to ensure all businesses operate within the same taxation framework,” he emphasised.
“We would hope the same treatment applies equally to online and offline businesses,” he said, adding that equal fiscal obligations were necessary to ensure fair competition.
The latest postponement comes as bricks-and-mortar retailers contend with rising expenses while shoppers spend less during mall visits as consumers’ economic concerns weigh on household spending.
“The slowdown is reflected in purchasing behaviour. What’s changed is not the number of visitors but shopping patterns, particularly among lower-middle-income consumers,” Indonesian Shopping Centre Association chairman Alphonzus Widjaja said. — The Jakarta Post/ANN
