"The draft law is already completed. It needs only to be submitted by the president to the Parliament," Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro said.
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro said the government will soon propose to the Parliament draft law on tax amnesty through presidential instruction.

"The draft law is already completed. It needs only to be submitted by the president to the Parliament," Bambang said here on Tuesday.

The minister said with the presidential instruction, debate on the draft law could start soon, and hopefully approval would follow before the end of the first half of 2016.

"Hopefully in the first half of 2016," he said.

Earlier Deputy Chairman of the Legislation Body of the Parliament Firman Soebagyo said the government had not submitted its draft law on tax amnesty to the Parliament.

Firman hoped the government would soon submit the presidential instruction that discussion on the draft law, could take place immediately and the House would pass it into law, he said.

The tax amnesty policy is expected to contribute to increasing the state income in tax revenues.

A plenary session of the House of Representatives on Tuesday agreed to include the draft law on tax amnesty in the Houses priority in its program of national legislation this year.

The government hopes to boost tax revenue with the tax amnesty policy which is expected to encourage Indonesians that keep their funds abroad to bring them home and tax could be slapped on them.

Under the draft law , tax payers are required to tax including interest and fine for delay in paying tax , but the government has decided to abolish tax criminal sanction.

Based on provisional calculation, the tax amnesty policy could increase the state income from taxes by as high as Rp60 trillion a year.(*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
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