JAKARTA - Indonesians and foreigners with a KITAS (temporary stay)_ permit who want to travel abroad are subject to an "exit levy" of one million rupiah (US$111). Although there are almost no countries on this planet that require their residents to comply with such a strange regulation, Indonesia keeps on taxing its traveling residents. Even stranger is the fact that when I finished my employment contract and went to Soekarno-Hatta airport with a (costly) "exit permit only" (EPO) stamped in my passport, I still had to pay this exit tax. I did not work in Indonesia anymore, nor was I resident of Jakarta, but still I was forced to pay an amount that equals the price of a return flight to Singapore. Naturally I tried to get an explanation for this final payment to the Indonesian treasury. However, Indonesian Immigration officials are obviously too important to explain such matters to ordinary people. There was only one friendly female immigration officer who admitted that many people had asked her this question, but she had no clue why -- even in this case -- exit tax should be paid. Therefore I would like to ask the Indonesian immigration authorities to step down from their pedestal and explain to an ex-KITAS holder why there still is a levy such as fiskal (exit levy) and why you still have to pay it, even when your KITAS has already been terminated.
There are no reactions on this blog entry yet. Be the first one to give a reaction here!
Log in to write a reaction
You are not logged in to the website. You have to be logged in to write a reaction on this blog entry.
· If you already have an account, please login. · If you have lost your password, please retrieve it. · If you don't have an account yet, you can create one.
ABOUT THIS ENTRY
Add this blog entry to your email, your own blog, MySpace, Facebook, or whatsoever via AddThis:
Login if you want to receive emails for reactions on this blog entry. You will receive an update as soon as a reaction on this blog entry is posted.
JAKARTA - Indonesians and foreigners with a KITAS (temporary stay)_ permit who want to travel abroad are subject to an "exit levy" of one million rupiah (US$111). Although there are almost no countries on this planet that require their residents to comply with such a strange regulation, Indonesia keeps on taxing its traveling residents. Even stranger is the fact that when I finished my employment contract and went to Soekarno-Hatta airport with a (costly) "exit permit only" (EPO) stamped in my passport, I still had to pay this exit tax.
