A wave of protests throughout Indonesia has become one of the most visible tests of President Prabowo Subianto’s administration, with residents railing against steep property tax increases that analysts have linked to budget cuts in Jakarta and heavy-handed local officials.
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The largest of these protests involved thousands of residents of Pati, a town in Central Java, who took to the streets on August 13 to protest against a decision by Sudewo, their regent, that increased the urban and rural land and building tax, known as PBB-P2, by a whopping 250 per cent.
The Pati government said the rise was necessary as “it has been 14 years since the last land and building tax increase”. But Pati residents begged to differ.
“[In 2024] I paid 179,000 rupiah [for PBB-P2 tax], but when I checked this month, it was 1.3 million rupiah. Then, it was revised to 600,000 rupiah. That’s a more than 250 per cent increase, in fact,” Saputra Ahmad, a Pati resident, told news outlet Detik on August 7.
“This is a burden on the people. We farmers are being asked to pay taxes like that.”
Since August 1, Pati residents have protested in front of Sudewo’s office, while others donated money to help residents burdened by tax increases.