Jakarta scraps land tax on oil-gas exploration

Jakarta

INDONESIA has scrapped a land tax that companies pay while exploring for oil and gas, a move that might encourage exploration at a time of concern that it could fall sharply because of tumbling oil prices.

According to a ministerial decree posted on the Finance Ministry's website, the tax office is no longer assessing a 0.5 per cent "land and building tax" charged on the area in which companies are carrying out exploration activities. The policy change takes effect from Jan 1.