Clean hands need to audit officials

From Media Indonesia

According to news reports, the government will shortly set up a commission to audit officials' assets in the implementation of Law No. 28/1999 on clean governance free of corruption, collusion and nepotism (KKN). Membership of the commission will be determined by the House of Representatives and decreed by the president.

The Indonesian Committee on Tax Reforms (KRPI) in its letter No. 18/VI/99 dated June 14, 1999, and addressed to President B.J. Habibie, regarding the "Proposal for resorting to provisions in the tax law to eradicate KKN", explains that the provisions in the tax law may be resorted to in the effort to eradicate corruption and increase the state's revenues. The following steps show how this is to be done:

1. All serving and former state officials will be required to report their assets acquired before and after they assumed their positions.

2. Intelligence operations will be carried out to collect data on the assets owned by current and former state officials.

3. Completed income tax returns of serving and former state officials for a period of 10 years (a decade being the maximum period in which taxes may be assessed) will be examined.

4. The data referred to in the first three points will be examined and cross-checked. Determining any increase in assets will be an income tax objective.

5. If the income tax returns have been completed in an incorrect or incomplete manner, or they are fraudulent, relevant tax services may issue additional tax assessments and impose an administrative sanction of 100 percent of the amount of tax underwriting.

6. If it is proved the income tax returns were deliberately completed in an incorrect or incomplete manner, or that the completion of the income tax returns was intentionally fabricated, the taxpayers may be subject to penalties in the form of a maximum of six years in prison and/or a maximum fine of 400 percent of the amount of the unpaid tax.

The presence of Law No. 28/1999 and the tax law complement each other. Allow me to propose, then, that the audit commission's members are clean and honest senior tax experts (retirees of the Directorate General of Taxation, tax consultants or university lecturers on taxation may be recruited) to ensure that the tax law may be utilized in the eradication of KKN. It is my hope that this proposal will earn the attention of the government and the House of Representatives.

SUHARSONO HADIKUSUMO

Jakarta