TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Govt forms legal team to defend tax amnesty
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
Coordinating Economic Minister Darmin Nasution (right) talks to Cabinet Secretary Pamono Anung before a press conference in Jakarta. (ANTARA/Yudhi Mahatma)
T
he government insists that the tax amnesty is not aimed at helping “big fish” tax evaders but instead aims to reduce the burden on other taxpayers, including small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
At the same time the government is putting together a team to counter any legal challenges to the new law, following requests for a judicial review.
"The president has urged us to prepare the team, once the judicial review [request] is officially filed with the Constitutional Court," said Coordinating Economic Minister Darmin Nasution at the State Palace in Jakarta on Tuesday.
Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro had said Monday that the government had created an atmosphere that facilitated every taxpayer to participate in the program to boost state revenue, "including by encouraging small and medium enterprises to participate in the program."
With the preparation of instruments to accommodate repatriated assets from offshore banks, he expected the tax amnesty to run effectively very soon. "We definitely will run this project next week," he said.
In the latest development, civil advocate groups Yayasan Satu Keadilan (One Justice Foundation) and Serikat Perjuangan Rakyat (People's Struggle Union) officially filed requests for a judicial review of the Tax Amnesty Law on Wednesday.
According to YSK coordinator Sugeng Teguh Santoso, the tax amnesty only benefited tax evaders and could trigger massive money laundering by rich individuals. (ags)
