Taxpayers to get single ID number

Taxpayers to get single ID number

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Jakarta will be the first city in the country where the records
of taxpayers will be synchronized in so-called single identity
numbers, in an effort to improve the record keeping by the tax
office.

The city administration submitted to the Directorate General
of Taxation on Wednesday data collected by several agencies on
taxpayers.

"By having more synchronized data, the tax office will
immediately be able to get information on taxpayers' taxable
assets from their telephone or electricity bills," City Revenue
Agency head Deden Supriadi said at City Hall.

The data submitted to the tax office included tax receipts
from vehicle ownership, street illumination, land ownership and
other data on the city's population, and business and trade
operation permits.

"There is more data that we should be able to provide later
but we will submit it after coordinating with the relevant
institutions," Deden said.

"Jakarta is the first city to build a single identity number
system. Hopefully, other provinces will follow suit," director
general of taxation Hadi Purnomo said.

He emphasized that better data would help his office collect
tax as well as to minimize tax evasion.

"We call on taxpayers in the city to fill in their tax reports
completely and truthfully. This will automatically boost tax
returns in the future," he said.

Hadi said that under revenue sharing, the administration would
get 20 percent of the tax returns collected from taxpayers in the
capital.

"I estimate that with the synchronized data, Jakarta can
obtain two or three times more from the current revenue sharing
agreement between the central government and the administration,"
he said.

Governor Sutiyoso said it was important for the city to
increase its tax revenue.

"Our city has few natural resources, therefore we must find
other sources of revenue. One such source is tax returns," he
said.

In the 2004 city budget, the administration estimated it would
receive Rp 4.7 trillion (US$515.92 million) from its tax revenue
sharing agreement with the central government, or 37 percent of
the total tax revenue of Rp 12.6 trillion.

As of the second week of September, the administration has
received Rp 3.7 trillion in tax revenue from the central
government, or 77 percent of the estimated total for the year.