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