Broadening tax base demands clean govt

Broadening tax base demands clean govt

JAKARTA (JP): Tax Director General Fuad Bawazier said
yesterday that the broader the tax base in the country is, the
stronger the demand for clean government will be.

Bawazier told a seminar on financing self-reliance in
Purwokerto, Central Java, that the greater the number of people
who pay income tax is, the higher public awareness about their
right to good public services will be.

Taxpayers, he noted, are usually more vocal in airing their
views and more conscious of their basic rights and duties as good
citizens.

"Therefore, the tax campaign will also accelerate the drive
for clean government," the tax director general said.

Bawazier said the tax effort should also be supported by the
government through the provision of good public services and
better basic infrastructures.

"Tax compliance will increase if the taxpayers know that their
tax payments are used efficiently for the public interests," he
pointed out.

More than 70 percent of the government's internal revenues of
Rp 59.7 trillion envisaged for the current fiscal year will be
derived from direct and indirect taxes collected from the
economic sectors outside the oil and natural gas industry.

Bawazier said his office will continue to improve tax
administration services to encourage the people to pay taxes.

But the government must also continue to improve the business
climate because growing and expanding businesses will contribute
to increasing tax receipts, he added.(vin)