TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The cancellation of plans to apply value-added tax to toll road users shows the government's lack of coordination and preparedness. The Finance Ministry through its Tax Directorate-General should be more creative in attracting more taxes by building appropriate measures. Going back and forth with its regulations will weaken the government's position and integrity and ultimately complicates the effort to achieve this year's tax target, which is 30 percent more than last year, to become Rp1.489 trillion.
We should not be wasting energy and time to aim for small targets like 10 percent of toll users. With a predicted addition of only Rp500 billion, the hassle of getting it rejected by the public of Tax Regulation No. 10/2015 which is supposed come into effect on April 1, is not worth the while. We get the impression the government is looking for a short-cut, because at the same time, the opportunities to go after much bigger targets is not being taken up.
Additional burden on toll users will be seen as unfair, given the low quality of service that should really be given free. The story would radically change if the public gets what it is promised. It's best to focus on the obstacles and legal problem which so far have tied officials' hands when they go after tax evaders and shirkers. The state seems also to have difficulties in collecting taxes from people who hide their assets behind the banks' policy of privacy and secrecy.
Together with the Financial Services Authority and the central bank, Bank Indonesia, the government needs to redefine what should be kept secret from depositors. In many developed countries, such data can be opened in the interest of the common good. Of course, the government and the House of Representatives (DPR) must revise the laws and create a mechanism to guarantee that the depositors' data are not misused. Account holders must also be convinced that they will be protected from the possibility of exploitation or become the target of other crimes.
We can learn from Switzerland, which is known to tightly maintain bank secrecy policies, which has become the favorite 'haven' of many corruptors. A few years ago, the US asked for information on the account holders of UBS, the biggest bank in Switzerland. With the approval of the Swiss parliament, UBS eventually ceded 4,550 data on American citizens is suspected of being tax evaders. This move was followed by France and the UK, which asked the Swiss to amend and renew the tax treaties with the two countries.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has also issued official guidelines along with an information exchange on account holders, in the interest of increasing tax revenues. Indonesia must capitalize on this opportunity, with Singapore, Hong Kong or other 'tax haven' countries.
Other unachieved targets include transactions enjoyed only by the elites, like the sale and purchase of luxury homes and cars. Financial reports of high-end professionals such as artists, doctors, consultants, notaries, architects and lawyers, can still be pursued to ensure to pay their appropriate taxes. (*)