Govt completes draft tax laws<\/p>\n
Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Realizing that the country's tax regime has long discouraged
\ninvestors, the government is moving to improve the country's tax
\nlaws by addressing taxpayers' concerns over uncertainties in
\ncollection and rebates.<\/p>\n
The Ministry of Finance's Directorate General of Taxation has
\ncompleted the revision of the country's tax laws, the third major
\ntax reform, which includes Law No. 16\/2000 on general taxation
\narrangements and procedures.<\/p>\n
I Made Gde Erata, head of the tax law revision team, said the
\nbiggest breakthrough in the draft revision was the introduction
\nof a time limit for tax procedures and a selective audits of
\ntaxpayers. The establishment of a special commission to supervise
\ntax officials and gather complaints from taxpayers, was also
\nimportant, he said.<\/p>\n
\"What the business community really wants to see is more on
\ntax administrative reform to improve certainty in tax law
\nenforcement by providing time limits for any tax procedures,\"
\nErata told The Jakarta Post recently.<\/p>\n
He said the draft laws, which were part of the government's
\nkey economic reform measures, were primarily aimed at attracting
\nforeign investments in order to drive higher economic growth.<\/p>\n
According to the draft law on general taxation arrangements
\nmade available to the Post, taxpayers categorized by the
\ndirectorate as \"good\" corporate or private citizens should be
\nable to claim refunds for income tax within three months, and for
\nvalue-added tax (VAT) in just one month without needing any
\naudits to clarify the amounts.<\/p>\n
For other taxpayers, the period for claiming refunds would
\nremain the same -- 12 months.<\/p>\n
Deciding who would go into the category of \"good\" taxpayers
\nwill be determined later by the ministry.<\/p>\n
The draft law also stipulates that if the tax directorate
\nfails to issue the claimed refunds within the given period, it
\nmust pay 2 percent interest a month on the unpaid funds.<\/p>\n
The directorate will also be required to acknowledge any
\nobjections from taxpayers if it fails to settle their claims by
\nthe deadline and sanction officials who fail to complete their
\njobs on time.<\/p>\n
At present, taxpayers remain at the mercy of tax auditors when
\ntrying to claim rebates as there is no prescribed time limit,
\nencouraging taxpayers to bribe the tax officials to get refunds
\nsooner.<\/p>\n
However, under the draft law, taxpayers can file a complaint
\nto the Ministry of Finance's Inspectorate General if they are
\nextorted by the tax officials and report to it any corruption
\nwithin the tax office.<\/p>\n
The directorate has also finished drafting the revision to Law
\nNo. 17\/2000 on income tax and Law No. 18\/2000 on VAT on goods and
\nservices and luxury sales tax.<\/p>\n
The revision package was submitted to President Susilo Bambang
\nYudhoyono on Tuesday by the State Secretary, with the government
\nscheduled to submit it to the House of Representatives for
\ndeliberation next month.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/govt-completes-draft-tax-laws-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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