BUSINESSES GIVE POSITIVE RESPONSE TO TAX AMNESTY PROGRAM

by Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Aug 16 (Antara) - The Indonesian capital market, entrepreneurs and public accountants have all positively responded to the tax amnesty program launched by the government to prompt those who have multi-trillion worth of assets stashed abroad to repatriation these.          The Indonesian Young Entrepreneurs Association (Hipmi), the Indonesian Stock Exchange (BEI) and the Accountant & Business Advisers firm, a PKF-affiliated public accountant office, were among those who responded favorably to the tax amnesty plan.          "The tax amnesty program is the best chance and the best solution for tax payers to solve their tax problems," Ahmadi Hadibroto, the executive director of the PKF Public Accountant Office, said in a seminar on tax amnesty in Bandung, West Java, on Monday.          The program, according to Hadibroto, was launched to facilitate taxpayers to fulfill their obligations and to free them from the tax related mistakes they had made in the past. It also aims to bring assets parked overseas by Indonesian businesses so that these could be used for development at home.         "The government continues to improve its tax regulation system and, at the same time, also set accountancy standards at par with international standards," Hadibroto stated.         Therefore, Ajib Hamdani, the chairman of the Tax Center of Himpi, reiterated that his association¿s members are also trying their best to popularize the tax amnesty program of President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) among businesspeople.         "We will make all efforts to help popularize the program across the country and to make it a success," Hamdani remarked in Jakarta on August 7.          He added the members of Hipmi will indeed participate in the government¿s tax amnesty program. A meeting will be held to discuss ways to make it a success.          "We have no doubts about taking part in the program. Hipmi will appeal to its members/taxpayers that the time has come for them to report their assets," Hamdani stressed.          Through its extensive national network, Hipmi will show its commitment to joining the tax amnesty program by holding a national seminar and a national coordination meeting. It, therefore, welcomed the national tax amnesty campaign programs through a national seminar organized by PT Hartadinata Abadi, Winnindo and PKF Accountant & Business Advisers.          He underlined that the tax amnesty program was the middle path to usher in reforms in the taxation field for a better system in the future. Moreover, he reminded, since 1984, the national taxation program has been carried out through a self-assessment system that had much potential for mistakes on the part of taxpayers.          Hipmi has therefore highlighted the importance of adopting a follow-up step for the management of repatriated assets obtained from the tax amnesty program.          "Hipmi does not want to see the failure of the tax amnesty program but its success," Hipmi General Chairman Bahlil Lahadalia noted.           Lahadalia pointed out that one of the indictors of the success of the program was the immediate repatriation of overseas assets belonging to Indonesian businessmen.              Lahadalia has suggested that the government should prepare follow-up strategies in order to obtain further positive response from the public.              "If possible, the government should prepare future policies or a special strategy, so that overseas asset owners would soon take advantage of the cheaper redemption facility. Hence, the sooner the taxpayers filed applications for the program, the cheaper the redemption tariff rate would be for them to pay," the Hipmi general chairman noted.          The tax amnesty program will run for nine months, beginning July 15, 2016, to March 31, 2017. It is divided into three periods of three months each. Those availing the amnesty program are required to pay redemption and declaration fees for the assets they have stashed abroad.         The declaration tariff for asset at home and overseas has respectively been set at two percent and  four percent  for the July-September period; three percent and six percent for the October-December period; and five percent and 10 percent for the January-March 2017 period.         Similarly, the repatriation tariff has been set at two percent for the July-September period, three percent for October-December and five percent for the January-March 2017 period.           At least Rp4,000 trillion worth of funds stashed overseas are expected to be declared and Rp1,000 trillion of these are expected to be repatriated and invested in the country. The government is optimistic of earning Rp165 trillion from the tax amnesty program in the form of asset redemption and declaration.          In the meantime, the Indonesia Stock Exchange (BEI) believes that industry players in the capital market are pinning their hopes on the success of the tax amnesty program as it will have a positive impact on the nation's economic development.          "The Indonesian capital market is ready to support the implementation of the tax amnesty policy, both in terms of regulation and infrastructure," President Director of BEI Tito Sulistio stated on the sidelines of the inauguration of the Tax Amnesty's Integrated One-Stop Services.***3***(A014/INE)EDITED BY INE(T.A014/A/BESSR/A. Abdussalam) 16-08-2016 21:35: