The Jakarta City Council (DPRD) held a plenary session on Tuesday (14/7) to discuss the proposed amendments to Bylaw No. 1/2024 on Regional Taxes and Levies.

Held at the Jakarta Council building, the session featured two agenda items: the presentation of the council factions' general views on the proposed amendments and the governor's response. The meeting was chaired by Jakarta Council Vice Chair Ima Mahdiah.

In her opening remarks, Ima said all council factions had reviewed the proposed amendments after Jakarta Governor Pramono Anung previously presented the administration's explanation.

Representing PSI faction, Josephine Simanjuntak outlined five key recommendations, including revising the tax-free turnover threshold for MSMEs, applying a progressive property tax to second homes, regulating incentives for electric vehicles, imposing higher waste collection levies on households that do not sort their waste, and increasing the parking services tax while ensuring transparent revenue management.

Speaking for Demokrat–Perindo faction, Desie Christhyana Sari supported further deliberation of the proposed bylaw while recommending improvements to the regional tax database, settlement of outstanding regional receivables, faster regulatory harmonization, digitalization of regional revenue collection, and policy preparations for Jakarta's transition to the Special Region of Jakarta (DKJ).

Representing PAN faction, Oman R. Rakinda emphasized the need to balance regional revenue optimization with social equity. He called for clearer implementing regulations, a more precise definition of public transportation vehicles, stricter advertising tax exemptions, waste collection levy exemptions for public schools backed by budget allocations, and higher parking taxes to promote public transportation use.

The PKB faction, represented by Hengky Wijaya, supported further discussion of the proposed bylaw while calling for tax data integration, the implementation of e-parking, optimized use of regional assets, stronger incentives for MSMEs, and greater transparency in regional revenue collection.

Representing Golkar faction, Syafi Fabio Djohan said the proposed amendments should serve as a catalyst for modern and transparent fiscal reform. He proposed developing a regional revenue reform roadmap, assessing the impact of the proposed regulations, reviewing levy rates for Building Approval (PBG) services, and improving public services.

Speaking for the NasDem faction, Imamuddin said the amendments should promote fiscal fairness. The faction called for an assessment of their impact on consumers' purchasing power, improved parking governance, greater transparency in PBG levies, further tax digitalization, and stronger protection of taxpayers' personal data.

Representing the Gerindra faction, Alief Bintang Haryadi welcomed the proposed amendments, saying they strike a balance between increasing regional revenue and protecting social interests. The faction also proposed exempting private schools from waste collection levies and providing a clearer definition of public transportation vehicles.

The PDI Perjuangan faction, represented by Gani Suwondo Lie, supported policies that protect low-income residents, public housing residents, and MSMEs. The faction also called for expanding new taxable objects, further digitalizing the tax system, and urged the central government to review reductions in Revenue Sharing Funds (DBH) allocated to Jakarta.

Meanwhile, Muhammad Al Fatih, representing PKS faction, presented 15 strategic recommendations. These included raising the tax-free turnover threshold for MSMEs to Rp75 million per month, exempting low-income residents from electricity tax and waste collection levies, strengthening new tax bases, clarifying the definition of public transportation vehicles, reviewing incentives for electric vehicles, and introducing fiscal incentive provisions for emergency situations.

After all factions presented their views, the plenary session continued with the governor's response, delivered by Jakarta Vice Governor Rano Karno. On that occasion, the Jakarta Provincial Government welcomed the recommendations from the council factions as input for refining the proposed amendments to the Regional Tax and Levy Bylaw.

Closing the session, Ima said the proposed amendments would next be reviewed in more detail by the Council's committees (AKD) together with the executive.

"The governor's response will next be discussed by the Jakarta City Council's committees together with the executive," she said.