'Fiskal' money pilfered

'Fiskal' money pilfered

From Merdeka

I was flabbergasted by the statement from the Attorney
General's office of suspicion that fiskal money (tax paid by
travelers going abroad) pilfered at Soekarno-Hatta airport from
1997 until now amounted to Rp 600 billion. It is a staggering
amount of money to be defrauded from one place during one year.
Either the perpetrator is a very skillful operator -- or has the
opportunity been created?

The fiskal amounting to Rp 1 million levied on each traveler
is in my opinion a controversial policy and against all logic.
Apart from the fact that such a policy is found nowhere in the
world, it gives the impression that Indonesians going abroad are
all rich and it is therefore legal to impose this special tax on
them.

In connection with the embezzlement of fiskal money, it is
time that this product of the Soeharto regime (the policy of
fiskal) is abolished. Especially since this regulation became
even more controversial after it was increased from Rp 250,000 to
Rp 1,000,000 by the minister of finance of the Soeharto era, Fuad
Bawazier.

If the government uses the excuse that it needs income from
the taxation sector, I would like to ask, "Where has all that
money gone?" The conclusion is that the government does not
receive the correct amount of income from the taxation sector.

I would therefore like to appeal again that the fiskal
regulation be revoked. What does the Indonesian Consumers'
Institute (YLKI) think of it?

RIZAL DARMAPUTRA

Tangerang, West Java