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n reference to The Jakarta Post editorial published on June 15, 2016 entitled “Internal control of tax auditor”, here we and the Directorate General of Taxation exercise our right to respond. We are of the same opinion that without credible internal control, strong autonomy would only make tax authorities increasingly more corrupt and autocratic. However, we don’t agree with the statement that the main obstacle to tax law enforcement is the lack of integrity and competence of tax inspectors.

Related to the statement that the tax office has become one of the most corrupt public institutions in the country, this statement does not correspond to the facts. Based on the results of the 2015 Corruption Perception Survey conducted by Transparency International Indonesia on government institutions in 11 cities of 11 provinces across Indonesia, the regional offices of the tax office had the lowest probability of bribery (17 percent) in the public integrity category.

In relation to internal controls that are considered weak, please note that the tax office has introduced a system of internal controls in accordance with international standards adopted from the COSO ERM Framework. In such a system, the supervision of tax audits is conducted with some lines of defense. In each line, supervision and review are conducted by competent authorities. In addition, each stage of the examination is recorded in applications/information systems so that the process and progress of the inspection can be monitored at any time. So it is not true to say that those who know the inspection process are only tax inspectors and taxpayers.

In the effort to support the government’s programs in the eradication of corruption, the tax office was among the first institutions that required employees up to the level of tax inspectors, tax bailiffs and account representatives to regularly report their wealth in the State Wealth Report (LHKPN) and submit it to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

Tedy Iswahyudi
Head of news management section
Public Relations Department
Directorate General of Taxation
Jakarta