Tax office gets average mark for services<\/p>\n
Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Giant corporate taxpayers were generally positive about the
\nDirectorate General of Taxation's tax audits, collection and
\nobjection settlements, giving the department's large taxpayers
\noffice (LTO) average to good marks in a recent survey.<\/p>\n
The survey -- conducted by market research firm ACNielsen and
\nfunded by the Australian government's overseas aid program
\n(Ausaid) -- covered the country's largest 300 corporate taxpayers
\nmanaged by the LTO in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
The most lukewarm approval came in the LTO's handling of tax
\nbill objections, with 54 percent of the taxpayers \"neither
\nsatisfied nor dissatisfied\" with how the LTO handled their
\nobjections over their tax bills, while 41 percent were satisfied
\nand 5 percent were dissatisfied.<\/p>\n
Figures were better for tax audits and collection management,
\nwith 63 percent of businesses surveyed saying they were
\nsatisfied, 35 percent of the respondents giving the office an
\naverage mark, while the remaining 2 percent were dissatisfied.<\/p>\n
While ACNielsen's research indicates corruption was still a
\nconcern of taxpayers, overall, the level of satisfaction for all
\nthe services at the LTO reached 81, higher than average score of
\n75 obtained from other satisfaction surveys of government
\ndepartments in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
ACNielsen said the satisfaction scores of the taxpayers were
\nhigher than those in its surveys conducted for public service
\nsector in Australia (with a score of 66 for overall and 74 for
\npublic services), Singapore (76 and 76), Hong Kong (75 and 71)
\nand India (78 and 78).<\/p>\n
Director General of Taxation Hadi Purnomo said the few
\ntaxpayers who were not happy with the services at the LTO were
\n\"those who were in dispute with the tax office\".<\/p>\n
\"I think it is obvious that there are some parties who are
\ndissatisfied with our services,\" Hadi said on Monday.<\/p>\n
To improve the management of objections and complaints, the
\ntax directorate had established special divisions at the LTO to
\nspecifically deal with the settlement of objections and
\ncomplaints before they proceeded to the tax tribunal.<\/p>\n
The divisions work similarly to the tax tribunal with
\ntaxpayers and auditors disputes mediated by tax officials from
\nother divisions.<\/p>\n
Foreign companies which were still unsatisfied with the result
\ncould file their objections or complaints with the Directorate
\nGeneral of Taxation's headquarters, where a special task force
\nwould be formed to deal with the problem.<\/p>\n
\"Foreign companies can bring their problems to the tax
\ndirectorate's headquarters and we will provide them with a task
\nforce team for seeking settlement,\" said Robert Pakpahan, an tax
\nexpert working for the office.<\/p>\n
He said the team would have an authority to issue its
\nrecommendations as to how to solve the problem.<\/p>\n
The LTO was formed in 2002 as a flagship tax office designed
\nto provide better services to large corporate taxpayers, which
\nwanted to avoid extortion attempts from tax officials, which
\nregularly occur in ordinary tax offices throughout the country.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/tax-office-gets-average-mark-for-services-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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