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THE Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI) Bali said it was still fighting for the status of spas/steam baths not to be included in the entertainment category even though last Wednesday (01/17) the Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, had conveyed that there should be a postponement of the implementation of the 40-75% tax.
“We’re still fighting for it, that’s a delay of 40 percent, while the two things that are substantial for us are the position of the spa which is called the entertainment section and the increase in the entertainment tax itself, those are the two things that are being fought for,” said Chairman of PHRI Bali Tjok Oka Artha Ardhana Sukawati in Badung, Saturday (01/20), 2024.
Cok Ace, as he is known, admitted that he was happy when support from the central government came in, but he could not stem the enthusiasm of the spa entrepreneurs who submitted a judicial review regarding Law Number 1 of 2022 to the Constitutional Court.
PHRI Bali, which is the parent of the Bali Spa and Wellness Association (BSWA), feels that if a 40% tax is implemented then spa entrepreneurs will not make a profit. According to him, a margin of 25-35% is already the highest, while if faced with 40% then there is no profit that can be obtained by entrepreneurs.
Therefore, in addition to the support of Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Luhut Binsar regarding the postponement of tax implementation, PHRI Bali still wants the Constitutional Court to review the law, including for the sake of entertainment entrepreneurs outside of spas that are just emerging.
Apart from that, the position of spas/steam baths in the entertainment category needs to be questioned, because the regulations regulated by the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy state that spas are not a group of entertainment in tourism. So far in Bali, only Badung Regency has dared to take action by officially postponing the implementation of the 40% spa tax by resetting it at 15%.
The chairman of PHRI Bali, who is Deputy Governor of Bali for 2018-2023, hopes that other districts/cities will soon follow suit, because there is a clause that regional heads have the authority to consider.
Previously, the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, agreed to postpone the implementation of the increase in certain goods and services tax (PBJT), so as not to harm the community and small businesses.
“So, we just wanted to postpone the implementation because it was actually idea come up from Commission XI House of Representatives. It’s not from the government that it continues to be like that. So yesterday we decided to postpone it, we will evaluate it,” he said. [antaranews]
