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House to finish deliberating tax amnesty bill in June: Lawmaker
The House of Representatives is set to complete the deliberation of the tax amnesty bill and pass it into a law in the middle of June, a lawmaker has said.
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All ready -- House of Representatives members attend a plenary meeting at the House complex in Senayan, Central Jakarta. The House is set to complete the deliberation of the tax amnesty bill in the middle of June. (Kompas/-)
T
he House of Representatives is set to complete the deliberation of the tax amnesty bill and pass it into a law in the middle of June, a lawmaker has said.
House Commission XI overseeing finance and banking chairman Ahmadi Noor Supit said it was expected that the tax amnesty draft law could be passed into law in a plenary meeting set for June 16.
"I'm certain we can finish deliberating the bill. We're striving to create one voice. In the end, it all depends on the government's readiness," the Golkar Party lawmaker told journalists on Wednesday.
The House's working unit deliberating the bill has been synchronizing the controversial bill with a government team in closed meetings for two weeks.
However, the deliberation of the bill itself is still in the preliminary stage, in which the House lawmakers discuss the bill’s key points, which are divided into several clusters.
The House has said it is still waiting for the government's explanation on several issues, such as on the implementation of several articles and the preparedness of investment instruments that would accept asset repatriations.
The government has high hopes for the repatriations.
Finance Minister Bambang S. Brodjonegoro previously targeted government earnings of Rp 180 trillion (US$13.16 billion) from repatriations if the bill was passed. The Finance Ministry recorded 6,519 Indonesia citizens living abroad.
Speaking separately, House Deputy Speaker Agus Hermanto, however, said that the amount of funds collected with the passing of the bill remained unknown.
"We must have certainty on the impacts, human rights protections, and all good governance-related aspects from the tax amnesty implementation," said the Democratic Party politician.
The House failed to meet its initial target of passing the bill into a law in its previous sitting session, which ended on April 29.
Supit said Commission XI would start working on the revised 2016 state budget next week. Deliberations on the tax amnesty bill will be completed prior to the revised state budget, he added.
In the tax amnesty bill, the government offers tax breaks to individuals and companies who declare their untaxed wealth.
Separately, the government plans to revise the state budget to a more realistic figure, including its tax revenue target.
For the 2016 state budget, the total tax revenue target is currently set at Rp 1.36 quadrillion, or 28.2 percent higher than the Rp 1.06 quadrillion achieved in 2015. (ebf)
