Finance Minister: Amnesty for Corrupts being Reviewed

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro said the government is still reviewing the policy to give amnesty for corruptors. The minister said he is currently asking for opinions from all parties, especially law enforcement.

Sigit Priadi Pramudito, director general of tax at the Finance Ministry, plans to give a special amnesty for corruptors in the form of tax crime, general crime and specific crimes to the corrupt criminal. The amnesty will be granted if the corruptors' assets are placed in Indonesia, and they will be required to pay the assets' taxes.  

Sigit said this is something that needs to be done as the Tax Directorate General feels it is too difficult to track down corruptors' assets placed overseas.

"We do not have a database that can be fully utilized to increase tax revenues," said at the Parliament Complex Senayan, Jakarta on Wednesday May 20.

According to Sigit, the government would not resort to a special amnesty if the DG has qualified data. "We would pursue [the assets] if that's the case," he said.

The main consideration for applying the apply special amnesty, Sigit said, is the benefit that the state will get from the corruptors' assets. This type of special amnesty, he said, already applied in some countries such as South Africa, India, and Italy.

"The amount of tax to be charged is still under consideration, around 10-15 percent," he said.

Sigit is aware that this policy would invite controversy. "We will see how the public react," he said.

TRI ARTINING PUTRI