Tithe and tax reduction

It seems that religion (Islam) is now being formalized and bureaucratized in social life. An example of this is a stipulation on tax deduction of tithe. Observers and government officials have reacted positively (The Jakarta Post, Nov. 29, 2001, page 3), while Mrs. Astrid, who may represent the Christians, agrees to it, adding only that it should also apply to other religions (the Post, Nov. 23).

It is too optimistic to believe that tax reduction will raise the proceeds of tithe collection. Let's take tax restitution for our comparison. Theoretically, businessmen will be eager to apply for this restitution. In practice, however, only a few have done so because if you apply for a tax restitution, tax officers will audit all your book-keeping documents. As a result, the self- assessment principle does not apply to a tax restitution applicant. Likewise, when a tithe payer applies for a tax deduction, his book-keeping documents will also have to be audited. Otherwise, there will be tax corruption through tithe payment manipulation.

Komarudin Hidayat does not realize that Muslims are the majority in this country only in terms of number, not in terms of quality, capacity, productivity and national asset control. Therefore, the calculation that Muhammad Akhyar Adnan (the Post, Dec. 1) has made is rather hard to believe. Please note that about 70 percent of the money in circulation is in Jakarta. The World Bank says about 60 percent of Indonesians are poor and most of them are Muslim. On Warta Ekonomi's list of Indonesia's 200 richest people, only Mohammad Bob Hasan, a crony of the Cendana family, is a Muslim. It is therefore estimated that 10 percent of Indonesians control 80 percent of the national assets. Similarly, most foreign investments in Indonesia come from the United States, Japan and Western European countries. Very few investors are from Muslim countries in the Middle East.

If all companies and rich people were to pay their tithe and or charity and then these payments were used as a tax deduction factor, 90 percent of poor Indonesians (Muslims) would enjoy only 20 percent of the proceeds, while the other 10 percent (non- Muslims) would enjoy the rest of the proceeds. As a result, there will be a gap between Muslims and non-Muslims, which runs parallel to the indigenous non-indigenous disparity. If the 80 percent charity is donated to Muslims, there will be rumors of attempts to convert Muslims into Christians, Catholics or even Buddhists. Eventually, there will be horrifying social turmoil triggered by ethnicity, religion, racial origin and social grouping.

M. IKHSAN

Jakarta