Dozens of tax officials fired for misconduct

Dozens of tax officials fired for misconduct

Antara, Denpasar, Bali

The Directorate General of Tax at the Ministry of Finance dishonorably discharged 88 of its employees after they had misused their authority and power, a top tax official said on Wednesday.

"Most of the officials had colluded with taxpayers, resulting in tax offenses," Director General of Tax Hadi Purnomo said.

"The officials were discharged between 2002 and April 2004. There were 40 officials discharged in 2002, 32 in 2003 and 16 in the first four months of 2004," he added.

Hadi was speaking on the sidelines of a signing ceremony for a memorandum of understanding between his directorate general with Bali Provincial Police on tax enforcement.

"The stern measures against rogue tax officials were meant to deter others from doing the same," he said.

"We will also take tough action against taxpayers who evade their obligations."

The tax directorate general has so far sent two Jakarta-based tax payers to jail for tax arrears amounting to Rp 56 billion (US$6.5 million).

"We have also arrested tax offenders in Papua, North Sulawesi and South Sulawesi," Hadi said.