Ministry told to heighten scrutiny of Tax Court

JAKARTA: The Finance Ministry needs to strengthen its surveillance of judges and officials at the Tax Court to crack down on rampant corruption there, an expert said Monday.

A member of the National Law Commission, Frans Hendra Winarta, said many verdicts handed down by the court had been "irregular".

"As many as 80 percent of taxpayers brought before the court win their cases," he said, adding that there were indications of corruption and extortion involving judges and tax officers in many cases.

He said the Tax Court lacked integrity.

"No matter how good the system that we apply to reform the court, if the people are bad, the corruption will remain rampant," he said.

Currently, only former tax officers are eligible to become judges in the Tax Court.

Frans also expressed concern about law no. 28/2007 on General Rules of Taxation, which obliges tax payers appealing to the higher court to pay 100 percent of their owed taxes as administrative fee.

"Tax payers are afraid of the fine, so they don't appeal and prefer to compromise with officers by paying money," he said. - JP