Special fund for the poor obligatory

JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto has required individual and corporate taxpayers to donate 2 percent of their after-tax incomes to help the poor, Antara reported yesterday.

The rule contained in Presidential Decree No. 92 was issued on Dec. 4. The news agency did not say if it applies to all taxpayers or only to those whose after-tax incomes exceed Rp 100 million a year, as Soeharto once suggested.

The rule is retroactive from the start of the 1996 fiscal year.

The decree said efforts by "able taxpayers" must be intensified to assist families in "pre-prosperity" and "prosperity I" categories.

Soeharto broached the idea early this year, calling on rich people to voluntarily contribute to the Self-reliant Prosperity Fund which he set up for this purpose.

In September, he told tycoons in Bogor that only half of those earning more than Rp 100 million had joined the endeavor to help the poor.

By September, the fund had accumulated Rp 321 billion from contributions by 3,441 corporate taxpayers and 2,082 individuals. The President said there were 6,472 corporations and 4,553 individuals earning more than Rp 100 million yearly after tax. (emb)