The Finance Ministry, the Supreme Court, the Judicial Commission and the presidential taskforce on tax mafia eradication met Wednesday at the ministry to discuss ways to eradicate corrupt tax practices in the Tax Tribunal.

“In the medium- to long-term, we all agree that the position of the Tax Tribunal should be improved. The 2002 law should be revised to clearly define whether the tribunal answers to the Supreme Court or the Finance Ministry,” Mulyani told reporters.

The four institutions will form a team to discuss the planned revision of the law, which would involve all related stakeholders, she said.

Calls to revise the law began following an investigation into tax official Gayus Tambunan, who had allegedly been brokering deals to settle tax disputes. The investigation later identified several loopholes that rendered the taxation system, including the tax dispute mechanism, prone to abuse by corrupt officials.

With the revision, crucial aspects of the Tax Tribunal will be redefined, Mulyani said, including education, organizational structure, administration and budget.

Mulyani said the government could ask that the House of Representatives fast-track the revision. “We could ask that the legislative process be prioritized,” she said.

The institutions also plan to sign an MoU to formally establish the team to strengthen supervision of the Tax Tribunal.

“It will be formed next Monday,” Mulyani said.

The ministry will issue a regulation to improve the process to recruit tax judges, she added.

Mulyani added that tax judges should disclose information on their wealth to the Corruption Eradication Commission, which would examine the reports.

She said that Financial Transactions Report and Analysis Center would also examine the reports and match them to tax returns.

Another conclusion from the meeting was an agreement to computerize 12,000 tax cases backlogged at the Tax Tribunal.

Judicial Commission chairman Busyro Muqoddas said the planned revision of the law would comply with bureaucracy reform. “We will hold hearings to hear the opinions of all stakeholders,” he said.

Five recommendations agreed to eradicate tax mafia

1.    Forming a team comprising the Finance Ministry, the Supreme Court, the Judicial Commission and the task force on tax mafia eradication to oversee the Tax Tribunal.

2.    Improving the process to recruit tax judges.

3.    Obliging tax judges to disclose their assets, which would be matched with their tax returns.

4.    Revising the 2002 Tax Tribunal Law.

5.    Increasing the transparency of cases handled by the Tax Tribunal.
 
Source: Finance Ministry

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