T

he tax office is modeling the United States and other developed countries in simplifying income tax returns for individual taxpayers through online mechanisms.

Starting from Feb. 1, taxpayers who are employees with income tax forms types 1770S and 1770SS could go through four steps in filing tax returns online, according to the tax office’s spokesman.

The steps are: registration to get an e-FIN (electronic Filing Identification Number), sign up to the online system, fill in and submit the tax returns and verify using a digital signature.

“This facility is the taxation directorate general’s effort to adjust with technological development and to improve better services for taxpayers,” spokesman Dedi Rudaedi said in a press statement released on Friday.

The benefit of this new system may take some time due to limited access to the Internet and the fact that many people are accustomed to being assisted by their offices or tax consultants in filling their individual income tax returns, according to taxpayers interviewed by The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

Evi, 27, an active taxpayer, said the inequitable Internet connection throughout the archipelago might make it difficult for people outside big cities to file their tax returns online.

“Besides, filling in tax returns online would be too complicated because my office used to do that for me. If people are asked to fill in tax returns on their own, they might end up not paying taxes,” said the Jakarta-based staff at a private public relations firm.

Taxpayers in developed countries like the US and European countries have been used to lodging their tax returns using online services because there is designated software to help taxpayers count their tax obligations, which many taxpayers find complicated.

“It would be difficult to fill in tax returns online because many people don’t understand the complicated tax calculations,” said 31-year-old Arafino, a freelance designer who used to have an official tax office consultant fill in his tax returns for him.

Instead of providing online services, 28-year-old airline employee Felix said to provide drop boxes for tax returns at malls and other public areas.

“I won’t take the initiative of filling in my own tax return online. Taking care of taxes is complicated so there needs to be consultation,” Felix added.

The tax office has been pushing efforts in optimizing tax collection both from individual and institutional taxpayers given the low compliance, which hinders Indonesia from reaching more revenues to fund its development projects.

Only 8.5 million people paid their taxes in 2010, compared with 110 million active workers and a total population of 240 million, tax office data shows. On the institutional taxpayer front, 466,000 firms of 12.9 million active businesses and 22.6 million total enterprises in the country paid taxes.