TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Ken Dwijugiasteadi, Director General of Tax (Tax DG), the Finance Ministry, said that his office has changed the status of Google tax bill case from examination to investigation after both failed to reach an agreement.
The tax collector will continue to pursue Google’s overall tax bill based on its business in Indonesia since 2011. Tax DG’s accounts indicate that Google’s revenues in 2015 reached Rp6 trillion (US$450 million) with Rp 3 trillion (US$225 million) penalty.
Ken is confident that Google will comply with the Tax DG demand to verify its transaction data of ads, servers and other business dealings that have been collected by the tax forensics team. A meeting will be held today, January 19, 2017.
“I will demand an explanation to confirm it,” Ken said. He is ready to take the case to investigators if Google fails to meet the demand. The entire Google officials may face investigations. “All will be held accountable.”
Jakarta Special Tax Office head Muhammad Haniv said that his team would need Google’s transaction data to determine its tax bill. Thereafter, the government may decide whether to impose a special tax on over the top (OTT) content providers like in India pending the parliament’s approval.
PUTRI ADITYOWATI