TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Finance Commission of the House of Representatives (DPR) will pass the draft government regulation in lieu of law (Perpu) no. 1/2017 on Financial Information Exchange for Tax Purposes into law. The decision was made at a hearing attended by the DPR factions. “Nine factions have decided that Perpu will be introduced to the plenary to be passed into law,” Finance Commission chairman Melchias Markus Mekeng said yesterday at Senayan Parliamentary Complex in Jakarta.
Nine DPR factions agreed to pass the bill into law as a basis for the implementation of the automatic exchange of information. Indonesia, together with 49 members of the G20, will adopt the automatic exchange in September 2018, whereas 50 others will do so in September this year.
The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP) faction said that the bill will provide a strong basis for the Directorate General of Tax to find potential revenue which is currently inaccessible due to bank secrecy. The PDIP has urged the government to calculate the impact of automatic exchange of information on tax revenue and a potential increase in the tax-to-GDP ratio.
Moreover, the PDIP has also warned against the use of banking data for other purposes, particularly because the government will be allowed to examine foreign bank accounts belong to Indonesians with a minimum of US$250 million that were opened before June 31. “[The government] should act prudently in order not to burden and threaten taxpayers that could cause unrest among market players,” the PDIP faction member I Gusti Agung Rai Wirajaya said.
Golkar Party and Nasdem factions have called on the government to issue a regulation on banking data security and limitations of the Tax DG authority to access customer data.
Golkar has also urged an integration of taxpayer identification number (NPWP) into citizens identity number (NIK) and revisions of Banking Law, Law on Tax General Provisions and Tax Procedures (KUP), Capital Market Law, among others.
Meanwhile, Gerindra faction members at the Finance Commission have rejected the inclusion of the automatic exchange of information in the regulation in lieu of law. Gerinda has instead called for a revision of Law on Tax General Provisions and Tax Procedures.
The Finance Minister Sri Mulyani has earlier said that she will issue a ministerial regulation on banking data protection and sanctions to taxmen who misuse the data.
PUTRI ADITYOWATI
