THEJAKARTAPOST.COM | 23 JUNI 2015
The government’s plan to implement a tax amnesty for financial criminals might bring more harm than good to the Indonesian economy, analysts are warning.
Yustinus Prastowo, an executive director for the Center for Indonesia Taxation Analysis (CITA), said on Monday that the plan could potentially create “moral hazard”, which could discourage existing compliant taxpayers from fulfilling their future obligations.
“I’m not against a tax amnesty, but I disagree with the idea of broadening the pardon to include crimes committed by corrupt officials and money launderers,” said Yustinus, a former member of the Tax Revenues Optimization Team (TOPP).
He said that if it went ahead with the plan, Indonesia would be the first to implement a tax amnesty that pardons politically sensitive crimes such as corruption and money laundering. “Instead of boosting revenues, this controversy might discourage compliant taxpayers from paying their obligations — it’s a moral hazard,” he added.