Taxpayers crowded tax offices throughout the country to apply for the tax amnesty, a nine-month program that is ending on Friday.

Hundreds of people were seen at the main tax office on Jl. Gatot Subroto, South Jakarta, with their documents waiting for their turn to apply for the program.

Ariston, a tax consultant, said he had advised his client to take part in the tax amnesty a long time ago, but his client had needed to collect various documents before making his submission to the tax office.

“It is a widespread habit to wait until the final days. We can see the same pattern in how people submit their annual tax returns,” Ariston told The Jakarta Post.

(Read also: Tax offices open until midnight on Friday)

He said that his client was aware that Friday was the final day.

Another tax consultant, Kurniawan, who accompanied his client to the tax office, said that the Finance Ministry’s directorate general of taxation had done its best to inform the people about the program.

Kurniawan added that the other reason the final days were so crowded was because people were reluctant to disclose their real assets to the government officials and needed time to think before finally applying for the amnesty.

A total of 196,786 tax amnesty participants were people who had previously not filed annual tax returns, 635,845 were people who regularly reported their wealth and 16,709 were people who did not pay taxes. (bbn)

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The writer is an intern at The Jakarta Post.

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