Tax office ups pressure on tax evaders
Tax office ups pressure on tax evaders
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Tax office officials plan to send a businessperson from Bali
to jail for alleged non-cooperation in settling tax arrears, in a
move to step up pressure against tax evaders.
Djangkung Sujawardi from the Directorate-General of Taxation
told reporters on Monday that the office was seeking the approval
of Minister of Finance Boediono to detain the person. He
declined to give the businessperson's name.
He added that the office had been cooperating with relevant
institutions to prohibit some 40 alleged uncooperative taxpayers
from traveling internationally.
According to a regulation issued in 2001, the tax office is
allowed to jail people they believe are recalcitrant taxpayers
for up to a year without trial.
So far, the office has detained at least two tax evaders.
The government is under pressure to collect more tax revenue
to help finance the state budget. But despite the detention
threat, the collection of taxes remains low as many continue to
find ways of avoiding official tax payments.
Djangkung said that during the first seven months of this
year, the tax office had only managed to collect around Rp 7.2
trillion, or around a fifth of the total Rp 36 trillion in tax
arrears.
According to Djangkung, one of the persons previously
imprisoned had so far repaid Rp 3 billion of a total obligation
of Rp 11 billion, while the other has paid Rp 5.3 billion of Rp
45 billion the total obligation to the state.
Meanwhile, the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry
(Kadin) demanded equal treatment for taxpayers, a condition not
only crucial for ensuring fairness, but also to prevent more
irregularities.
Deputy chairman of Kadin, Haryadi B. Sukamdani said rulings on
the taxation sector had fallen short of applying the principle of
equality before the law and favored the tax office over
taxpayers.
"The tax office is equipped with immense power, it can even
detain people without trial.
"On the other hand, there is little legal protection for
taxpayers suffering from unfair treatment, or the impact of the
tax office's mistakes," Haryadi said.
Haryadi claimed that such injustices would eventually prove
detrimental to efforts to boost tax collection, as the taxpayers'
weak bargaining power often led them to engage in "suspicious"
means of settlement with tax officials.
"Indonesia has a huge potential in terms of tax revenue, but
since we have so many 'gray areas', that great potential has been
hampered by many leakages," Haryadi said.