{
  "id": 19882503,
  "title": "Never tax essentials",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/13/never-tax-essentials-19882503",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-11-13T22:55:37.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Jakarta Post Academia",
    "slug": "the-jakarta-post-academia",
    "url": "https://www.thejakartapost.com/opinion/2026/11/14/never-tax-essentials.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The Indonesian government's tax policies are placing an unfair burden on ordinary citizens, particularly those from low-income families. Items essential to daily life, such as sanitary pads and books, are being subjected to value-added tax, compounding financial strain. Women must pay taxes on menstrual products, despite the inevitability of menstruation, while families must choose between purchasing books for their children and other necessities. This taxation approach undermines citizens' dignity and is being challenged in the Constitutional Court. To uphold the constitutional mandate of education, books should be tax-exempt, and menstrual products warrant zero VAT as they are unavoidable biological functions.",
  "summary": "By taxing sanitary pads, books and micro entrepreneurs while letting corporate tax evasion slide, the government is essentially forcing ordinary citizens to subsidize state revenue at the expense of their basic dignity.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}