JAKARTA (TheInsiderStories) - Realization of tax revenues reached 44 percent of the target set in the 2016 Revised State Budget amounting to Rp596 trillion as of August 29. The number was 3.3 percent below the realization in August 2015 State Budget.
Director at Directorate for Taxation of the Finance Ministry Yon Arsal said the value added tax is still contracting, while the other taxes, especially income tax 21 fell as the number of taxpayers with taxable income has not increased.
To push the tax revenues this year, the government has released Tax Amnesty law to attract the tax payers to declare and repatriate their assets. For that purpose, director of Directorate General of Taxation issued new rules on tax amnesty implementation.
Some key points of the Tax Amnesty program are first pensioners, employees with one source of income, an individual with an income under tax regulations may choose not to participate in a tax amnesty program. Second, inheritance and grants are excluded from the object of Tax Amnesty if the recipient does not have an income or income under tax provisions.
Third, assets that are not reported but the income are already taxed, can be reported using tax file (SPT) correction, instead of through the Tax Amnesty program. The last point is the Directorate General of Taxation can check SPT and may impose fines for assets that are hidden or unreported.
The government has issued a regulation (Perdirjen) No. 11/2016 detailing the implementation of the Tax Amnesty like the determination of the fair value of assets of tax payers (WP), but also there is an option to participate in the Tax Amnesty or rectification of SPT.
“Once again, the main spirit of the Tax Amnesty is how the large funds abroad are either repatriated or declared immediately. Hopefully, this month, more funds will be returned to Indonesia,” said Pramono.
Certain quarter of the society has even filed petition to cancel the implementation of the Tax Amnesty program through www.change.org. As many as 11,384 people have agreed to pressure the government to cancel its implementation.
In addition, the Chairman of Muhammadiyah Busyro Muqoddas also opposed the Tax Amnesty. According to him, the policy should be targeted to high-profile businessmen, not the common people.
“The goal should be evaluated as well, not to just a small community who are affected. The Tax Amnesty is actually intended for those who experience problems in Tax Liability and placed their money abroad. However, all the people affected by the program have made noise,” said Busyro.
Therefore, Muhammadiyah will file for a judicial review on the law in the Constitutional Court, he said. (*)