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Tax amnesty realization below expectations: Finance Minister
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Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati speaks to the media after her inauguration ceremony at the State Palace in Jakarta on July 27. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)
T
he Finance Ministry has admitted that the realization of the country’s flagship tax amnesty during its first month of implementation was below target.
Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati explained that 82.6 percent of assets declared as of Aug. 20 were dominated by individual taxpayers. The average amount of declared assets per taxpayer was Rp 6.4 billion (US$484,115), of which 17.4 percent was contributed by non-small and medium enterprise (SME) corporate taxpayers, with repatriated assets amounting to only Rp 9 million, she added.
Meanwhile, the average amount of declared assets per corporate taxpayer was only Rp 4.1 million. "These are still very small compared with our set targets," Sri Mulyani said Monday.
The Finance Ministry recorded that as of Monday, declared assets amounted to only Rp 42.6 trillion, far from the target of Rp 4 quadrillion. Of the total, Rp 35.5 trillion worth of assets were declared in Indonesia while the remaining Rp 5.56 trillion was declared overseas. Meanwhile, the total amount of repatriated assets was Rp 1.45 trillion.
The ministry added that redemptions recorded as of Monday amounted to Rp 863 billion, only 0.5 percent of the target of Rp 165 trillion expected by the government to add to its tax revenue by the end of 2016.
The figures are alarming because the first three months of the tax amnesty implementation were supposed to be the most interesting period for those wanting to join the program and enjoy the biggest penalty cuts.
The minister estimated that the figures would rise in September because big taxpayers may have completed legal adjustments to participate in the program. (ebf)
