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Crowds swarm for amnesty
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Massive rush: Hundreds of tax payers wait to register for the tax amnesty program at the office of the Directorate General of Taxation in Jakarta on Thursday. The tax office declared an “extraordinary situation” as thousands of people thronged to tax offices to join the government’s ambitious tax amnesty program. (JP/Dhoni Setiawan)
I
t might have been a once-in-a-lifetime sight: hundreds, nearly a thousand, people flocking to the Taxation Directorate General’s headquarters in South Jakarta to register for the government’s ambitious tax amnesty program.
Some groups of people were seen taking “wefies” as if they were having a gleeful holiday. Some others were placidly browsing the internet on their mobile phones to dispel their boredom.
The tax office even provided two big screens in its auditorium to entertain the taxpayers. Marvel’s blockbuster Captain America was being screened when The Jakarta Post observed the room.
For Thursday’s registration, which was the penultimate day of the amnesty’s first phase, the tax office prepared 2,000 queue numbers for amnesty participants, the highest since the program was launched in July.
A security officer at the auditorium said the office usually served as many as 700 applicants daily prior to Thursday. “People have been waiting to submit their tax amnesty applications since 5 a.m., while the tax office only opens at 8 a.m.,” he said.
Yeti Satriati, an employee of a fragrance company in Pulogadung, East Jakarta, said she was asked by her boss to submit the latter’s personal tax application. She said she had been waiting since 6 a.m., only to be listed as the 803rd applicant.
Yeti was not the only employee sent by her boss on the mission. On the same day, her colleague waited in a queue at the Pluit tax office in North Jakarta for the same purpose. “But the office was so crowded that my friend couldn’t get a number,” Yeti said.
The public only has until Friday to enjoy the lowest penalty rates of 2 percent and 4 percent of the first phase, as opposed to 3 percent and 6 percent in the second phase and 5 percent and 10 percent in the final phase.
Thursday’s heavy turnout was not actually surprising, as Indonesians usually wait until the 11th hour to make a decision. However, the tax office appeared unprepared and the turnout impelled four tax offices to implement force majeure measures.
“We have declared force majeure conditions at the Directorate General of Taxation headquarters, the Medium Tax Office in Gambir [Central Jakarta], the Large Taxpayers Office in Sudirman [South Jakarta] and the Kalibata Special Tax Office in Kalibata [South Jakarta],” Ken told reporters after attending a working meeting with the House of Representatives’ Commission XI overseeing financial affairs.
After a two-month period that saw a lukewarm response and confusion among taxpayers, who claimed the amnesty procedures were too convoluted, the amount of money generated from the program has unexpectedly surged in recent days.
The government hopes the tax amnesty — which aims to widen the country’s notoriously low tax base — can generate Rp 165 trillion (US$12.74 billion) in redemption payments to plug this year’s state budget deficit, preventing the deficit from touching the legal limit of 3 percent of gross domestic product.
It is also targeting Rp 4 quadrillion in declared assets and Rp 1 quadrillion in those brought back home from overseas.
According to data from the tax office, the amount of redemption payments stood at Rp 79.4 trillion as of Thursday evening, almost half of the target. At the same time, Rp 3.18 quadrillion worth of assets had been declared, equal to 79 percent of the target.
The repatriated funds amount is the only figure that is lacking, as statistics show that only Rp 130 trillion in assets have been brought back, or only 13 percent of the target.
Bank Indonesia (BI) is also providing support for the tax amnesty program by extending its payment system and clearing operational time for 60 minutes on Thursday and Friday.
Meanwhile, Reuters reported that thousands of workers from various unions still marched to the Presidential Palace in Central Jakarta on Thursday to protest the government’s amnesty, saying it unfairly pardons wealthy noncompliant taxpayers.
“We, workers, have diligently paid our taxes, but these rich people and big corporations are being pardoned for not paying their taxes,” Said Iqbal, head of the Confederation of Indonesian Workers Union (KSPI), said. (mos)
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