JAKARTA, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- Indonesian government is drafting a bill aimed at obtaining taxes from foreign digital firms serving in Indonesia, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani said on Tuesday.
Through the bill Indonesia can get the taxes from foreign high digital technology firms, such as Google and Facebook, which currently serve significant number of clients in Indonesia despite absence of their physical office in the country, the minister said.
"Even they don't have representative offices in Indonesia, their obligation to pay taxes to the Indonesian government is still on as they have significant economic presence here," the minister said.
The bill will scrap physical office requirement for digital taxpayer firms serving in Indonesia.
The policy was intended to address fairness in the country's digital economy activities by ensuring the tax from foreign digital firms with cross-border operation serving in Indonesia, the minister said.
"The taxes would be formed in income tax and value-added tax (VAT)," she added.
With the new bill, the minister expected that the foreign high digital technology firms serving in Indonesia can declare proceeds that they take as they know volume of their business activities in Indonesia. After that they can calculate their tax obligation out if it.
"This legal process can avoid tax evasion case," she said.
