REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The government will focus on collecting taxes from individual taxpayers this year as part of the efforts to meet the tax receipts target.

"Admittedly, the amount of tax receipts from personal taxpayers increased last year but it was too small a rise," Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro said at a press conference at the Directorate General of Taxation Head Office here on Monday.

He said the state is heavily dependent on non-personal income taxes which are now considered a rather unstable source of revenue due to a change in the economic climate.

If the economic condition is bad, revenues from non-personal income tax may decline. Furthermore, corporate bodies can go bankrupt more easily than individuals, he said.

Therefore, the Finance Ministry will keep encouraging Indonesian citizens to hold taxpayer code numbers.

By doing so, the government will find it easier to trace certain transactions made by individuals including purchase of expensive goods or major assets, he said.

Acting director general of taxation Ken Dwijugiasteadi said the number of middle-class people spending Rp100,000-Rp200,000 per day has reached 129 million.

In contrast, there are only 127 million personal taxpayers, he said.

"We will continue to call upon the public to help the government in achieving the target of tax receipts," he said.

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