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.
Tax officer acknowledges intervention from superior
Change Size
Tax campaign: People pass by a banner promoting the government's tax amnesty at Tanah Abang textile market in Jakarta. (Antara Photo/Wahyu Putro A)
A
tax officer of the Kalibata tax office for foreign direct investment (KPP PMA Kalibata) confirmed on Monday he received a direct order from his superior to cancel the revocation of EK Prima Exports Indonesia (EKP), a local unit of Abu Dhabi-based Lulu Group, from the corporate taxpayers list (PKP).
Johnny Sirait, chief officer of the Kalibata tax office, said in a hearing at the Jakarta Corruption Court that he received the order to cancel the revocation from Jakarta Special Tax Office head Muhammad Haniv.
“Just cancel it, Johnny,” he quoted Haniv’s order.
(Read also: KPK zooms in on role of Jokowi’s brother-in-law in bribery case)
The case began on Aug. 26, 2015. EKP filed for a restitution of taxes from the Jan. 2012 to Dec. 2014 period, amounting to Rp 3.5 billion (US$ 262,329.55). The KPP PMA Kalibata rejected the request because it found EKP still owed Rp 78 billion to the tax office, according to the tax bill issued on Sep. 6, 2016.
KPP PMA Kalibata later revoked EKP from its corporate taxpayers list (PKP) after it found there were indications of irregularities from the company’s tax restitution request.
In the hearing, Johnny said he did not know the motives of Haniv’s intervention.
The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has named Handang Soekarno a tax official in the Directorate General of Taxation, a suspect for allegedly receiving bribes from EKP director Ramapanicker Rajamohanan Nair, also a suspect, who wanted the official to influence higher ranking tax officials to erase Rp 78 billion from his company’s tax bill.
Nair’s indictment has revealed the alleged role of Arif Budi Sulistyo, President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo’s brother-in-law, as a middleman in the case. (mrc/ebf)
