Tax debate unproductive?

Tax debate unproductive?

From Koran Tempo

The war of words between Taxation Director-General Hadi Poernomo and economist Faisal Basri over irregularities in the use of tax revenue has boiled down to the need to present relevant evidence.

The debate is counter-productive for both Hadi and Faisal -- the directorate-general of taxation is spending too much time guarding its image and reacting to comments and less time doing the work it is supposed to.

Faisal, meanwhile, should recommend a better tax system that produces state income and at the same time prevents any collusion between taxpayers and tax officials. It should be formulated together with the director-general.

The taxation directorate-general as the government's revenue gathering arm should improve the salaries for its tax officers, because they often have to deal with huge sums of money with a lot of opportunities for wrongdoing.

WIRATAMA ARYAWAN Jakarta