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Tax amnesty surpasses expectations in first round
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Tax officers serve those applying for the tax amnesty program at tax office in Medan, North Sumatra, on Sep. 29. (Antara/Septianda Perdana)
T
he tax amnesty program has surpassed the government's expectations with the final day of the first period marked by overwhelming numbers of taxpayers participating, Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung said on Friday.
Pramono said the government had collected over Rp 100 trillion (US$7.7 billion) in redemption fees and more than Rp 3,500 trillion in assets had been declared, adding the figures reflected the growing trend based on data from Friday morning.
"To be honest, this has surpassed any expectations or hopes, because this is still only the first period, there's still the second and third period [to look forward to]," Pramono told reporters at the Presidential Office on Friday.
(Read also: Labor not subject to tax amnesty, govt says)
The system was overwhelmed on the final day of the first three-month period, which officially ended on Sep. 30, he added, saying no official numbers were yet available.
He claimed the success of the program was due to the dedication of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, the team at the Finance Ministry and the officials at tax offices, who had all successfully built public trust in the matter.
"If we see these numbers, then we are number one anywhere in the world, whether in repatriation, declaration or percentage of GDP," Pramono said, adding that the government would continue to monitor Friday's developments.
He expressed the hope that the subsequent periods would see improvements as a result of lessons learned from the first round. (dan)
