TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Finance Minister Sri Mulyani said that she will take legal actions in accordance with the prevailing laws when the tax amnesty program ends on March 31. He said that Indonesia’s tax compliance is still low. “We will improve the enforcement. In this case, legal actions,” she said last weekend, as quoted by Antara.

According to her, 20 million out of 32 million registered taxpayers are obliged to submit their annual tax return (SPT). However, only 12 million had actually paid their taxes. Sri Mulyani said that tax compliance rate stands at merely 62.3 percent. “Imagine, if we had 80 percent compliance rate, our tax revenue will increase.”

The Finance Minister said that Indonesia’s tax ratio stands at 11 percent, behind other ASEAN member states. Malaysia and Thailand’s tax ratio are 15 and 16 percent, respectively. Therefore, Minister Sri Mulyani has urged taxpayers to join the third period of the tax amnesty program.

The former World Bank official said that the government is striving for a more systematic tax data management, including to remind taxpayers to pay their taxes. Reminders may be sent through e-mail.

As of the end of the second period, the tax amnesty program has booked Rp4,274 trillion in declared assets. Moreover, 697,822 assets statement letters were submitted by 616,234 taxpayers. Retribution fees have reached Rp103.2 trillion of the targeted Rp165 trillion.

ALI N.