"If we see the experience of many countries, we will learn that tax amnesty led to more failures than successes. Therefore, we should be careful while taking this step," Hendrawan Supratikno, a member of Commission XI on financial affairs of the House of Representatives (DPR), said here on Wednesday.
Supratikno, a politician of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP), reminded that Indonesia had adopted the same approach in 1964 and 1983 but it had failed because the political conditions in the country at that time were not conducive.
In the meantime, Ecky Awal Mucharam, also of Commission XI, said there were many studies indicating that tax amnesty was not a good policy. "Tax amnesty hurts those who obediently pay taxes," argued Ecky.
Ecky, who is also a politician of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), noted that most Indonesian taxpayers who pay their sales tax and income tax will be hurt if tax amnesty is granted to those who did not report their assets worth thousands of trillions of rupiah, stashed at home and abroad.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2016
