

According to Mongabay, two major Indonesian pulp and paper producers allegedly engaged in fraudulent activities to evade taxes. The companies, PT Toba Pulp Lestari (TPL) and Asia Pacific Resources International Holdings (APRIL), are accused of mislabeling exports to China, falsely declaring high-value dissolving pulp as lower-value paper-grade pulp. This misclassification enabled them to report lower revenues and reduce their tax liabilities in Indonesia. Mongabay details how, from 2016 to 2018, APRIL produced 830,000 tons of dissolving pulp and exported 90% of it to China. However, none of these exports were recorded in Indonesian customs as dissolving pulp. This alleged misclassification may have reduced APRIL's revenue by up to $242 million and avoided $60 million in taxes. Ultimately, the fraudulent activities contributed to significant tax revenue losses for Indonesia, amounting to $168 million between 2007 and 2018.