President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has reverted to his political campaign mode to rally support for his tax amnesty program, which could significantly plug the widening budget deficit.
Jokowi worked the crowd of more than 10,000 people on Monday who joined the campaign to raise awareness on the program, saying that the fate of the country’s financial stability depended on the public’s participation.
The program, which is targeted to reap Rp 1.53 quadrillion in repatriated funds, ensures financial incentives for people and businesses who sign up to have their overseas assets declared and returned, to help fuel the economic growth engine.
Jokowi, who said that he could understand if many remained in the dark over how the tax amnesty scheme worked, assured the packed hall at JIExpo Convention Center in Kemayoran, East Jakarta that the money that they bring home to Indonesia would remain intact under a proper legal umbrella.
He also convinced the crowd that the funds could be used for investment in the public sector to accelerate growth.
“Think of the investment opportunities for your money. It can go into helping short-term projects such as transportation infrastructure or strengthening our energy services, or even into long-term projects such as developing our tourism sites or developing new industrial estates. People, I need your support,” he pitched in his trademark relaxed manner on Monday.
Those who are interested in joining the tax amnesty program are able to sign up until March next year. The government deduced that most overseas-parked funds will enter Indonesia by August and September to the tune of US$6 billion.
Jokowi also added that due to an international transparency agreement signed by Indonesia and a number of other countries, which will take force in 2018, it will be futile for any Indonesian citizen to hide their funds from government oversight.
The President also assured that data leaks would be unlikely in the tax amnesty scheme, as any individuals caught stealing or leaking information on any amnesty participants from the government database would be severely prosecuted.
“Let me be clear, your financial information that we are collecting for the tax amnesty will not and never be used as a basis for investigation or used in legal prosecution. Your data is safe with us,” he addressed the cheering businessmen, government officials and members of the public alike.
Supporting Jokowi’s claim, newly appointed Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati helped outline the technicalities of how the amnesty will work in front of the mostly starstruck crowd.
Details she elaborated on included warning those who had signed up for the program but chose to keep their money abroad that they were “welcome to do so, but will have to pay more in fees”.
The crowd lightly gasped when Sri Mulyani gave details on different penalty rates for participants who delay the repatriation of their funds, starting from 2 percent until the end of September, 3 percent until December, and 10 percent between January and March.
Currently, only 344 people have signed up for the program since the Tax Amnesty Law was enacted in late July, with a total asset record of Rp 3.7 trillion.
The amnesty comes as a bit of a relief for some members of the audience, including purchasing company worker Ferdi, who attended the President’s event only to get assurance that this funds overseas were “safe”.
“At least now the legal precedent is clear, and my funds can be returned intact. I have certainty and I’m relieved,” he said.
The Jakarta Tax Amnesty awareness event comes after similar events held in Surabaya and Medan.
Penulis: Dylan Amirio
Sumber: thejakartapost.com
http://www.pengampunanpajak.com
Kategori:Tax Amnesty in English
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