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38 countries have implemented tax amnesties: Expert
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Upbeat -- Director general of taxation Ken Dwijugeasteadi (left to right), Finance Ministry assistant for tax supervision Puspita Wulandari, and tax office spokesperson Hestu Yoga Saksama present an update of the tax amnesty program in Jakarta on Aug. 30. (JP/Ayomi Amindoni)
W
hile it continues to draw criticism in Indonesia, tax amnesties have previously been implemented in 37 other countries around the world, an expert has said.
Tax expert Darussalam said 24 of a total 38 countries had fully implemented the tax amnesty program while the remaining 14 countries, including Indonesia, were currently working on the implementation of the program.
The 13 other countries are Argentina, Fiji, Gibraltar, Honduras, Pakistan, South Korea, Trinidad & Tobago and Thailand, as well as Brazil, India, Israel, Malaysia and Russia. The last five countries are currently conducting an offshore voluntary disclosure program (OVDP), which is only focused on asset disclosures, without repatriation.
Outside the 38 countries, two countries, namely Greece and Kenya, are still conducting studies into the possibility of implementing a tax amnesty, said Darussalam.
"Both capitalist and socialist countries are rolling out tax amnesty programs. In the US, 45 of 50 states have implemented one," said the tax expert from Danny Darussalam Tax Office in a discussion at Gadjah Mada University (UGM) in Yogyakarta on Thursday.
Darussalam said a tax amnesty would always have pros and cons in each country as it might not be the best policy to attract higher tax revenues. It was low taxpayer compliance and complicated administrative procedures that made it difficult for the government to find the best policy, he added.
"A lawsuit against a tax amnesty policy once took place in Germany in 1990. The basis of it is almost similar with what has happened in Indonesia, the discrimination between compliant and non-compliant taxpayers," he said. (ebf)
