T

he supporters of both presidential candidates are challenging their candidates to make their tax reports available to the public to promote transparency and accountability.

The head of the campaign team for the Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo-Jusuf Kalla ticket, Tjahjo Kumolo, said the annual tax reports (SPT) of the candidates along with their companies would be disclosed to the public.

'€œJokowi and Kalla are law-abiding citizens and always fulfill their obligations as good citizens in paying taxes,'€ the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) secretary general said.

'€œThey are also ready to disclose the taxes of their companies, their debts and their bank accounts,'€ he said.

Jokowi and family have mid-scale furniture businesses in Surakarta and Sragen, Central Java, under the name of PT Rakabu.

Since becoming Surakarta mayor in 2005 and then Jakarta governor in 2012, Jokowi transferred the management of his company to his brothers-in-law.

Jokowi has never disclosed the revenues or profits or taxes retrieved from his businesses since assuming public office.

Under the existing regulations, candidates are not required to disclose their taxes. Tax reports, under the Tax Law, are strictly confidential and can only be disclosed on a voluntary basis.

Jokowi'€™s running mate Kalla, eastern Indonesia'€™s first tycoon with his flagship business the Hadji Kalla Group, pledged last week he would set an example by disclosing his companies'€™ tax reports.

After filing his wealth report to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), Kalla said he received taxpayer awards in Makassar, South Sulawesi, his home, on an annual basis.

'€œI can give you my tax data for the past 20 years, if you ask,'€ he told reporters.

Kalla'€™s family businesses have interests in plantations, power plants, infrastructure and motor-vehicle distribution.

However, Gerindra Party top official Fadli Zon said he did not see any urgency in disclosing the tax reports for his presidential ticket of Prabowo Subianto-Hatta Rajasa.

'€œWe'€™ll see if it is really necessary to do so, but the point is we are also ready to be open,'€ he said.

Both Fadli and Tjahjo were responding to the challenge from activists of dozens of NGOs grouped under the Civil Society Coalition for Tax Transparency.

The activists urged both presidential candidates and their running mates to publicly disclose their tax reports before July 5.

'€œWe will run a public campaign on not to vote for the candidate who fails to disclose his tax reports publicly and honestly,'€ Firdaus Ilyas, an activist from Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW), one of the NGOs, explained.

The Central Information Commission (KIP) previously said it supported the NGOs'€™ call.

'€œ[The candidates] should not mind disclosing their tax reports if they are comfortable with their wealth. We would appreciate it very much if they submitted their reports, which will help us assess whether they are clean,'€ KIP commissioner Rumadi said.

He acknowledged that tax reports should remain confidential as stipulated in the 2008 Law on Public Information.

However, confidentiality, he added, was not a rigid concept because the law had two exceptions for such a document disclosure.

'€œIt'€™s legal to disclose tax reports at the consent of taxpayers in the interest of the public,'€ said Rumadi.

Earlier, KPK deputy chairman Bambang Widjojanto praised Kalla'€™s willingness to disclose his tax reports and those of his businesses.

'€œWhat Kalla expressed is an interesting breakthrough. It can be a new way to accurately assess the integrity of the candidates,'€ he said.