Below is a list with tagged columns and company profiles.
Latest Reports Tax Fraud
Indonesian authorities are currently investigating a suspicious transfer, involving USD $1.4 billion, by Standard Chartered Plc made in late-2015. British multinational banking and financial services company Standard Chartered held these funds - the majority on behalf of Indonesian clients - at Guernsey, a Channel Islands in the English Channel near the French coast.
In its "war on tax evasion" Indonesia scored another victory by reaching an agreement ("Bilateral Competent Authority Agreement") with Hong Kong to share data of Indonesian taxpayers who hold accounts in the Asian wealth management hub. Indonesia's Tax Office assumes (or better: knows) there are plenty of wealthy Indonesians who take advantage of the low tax regime in Hong Kong and deliberately do not report these funds to Indonesian authorities.
After decades of the "banking information secrecy" culture in Indonesia, local banks now seem more willing to share clients' financial information to tax authorities (both local and foreign authorities). Earlier, Indonesian banks were reluctant to disclose this information as such transparency could mean banks would lose valuable clients. These "big clients" supply over half of banks' deposits. However, the situation has now changed due to the government's tax amnesty program.
There is concern about Indonesia's tax buoyancy. Tax buoyancy is the indicator that measures efficiency and responsiveness of revenue mobilization in response to growth in gross domestic product (GDP) or national income. While, Indonesia's GDP accelerated 5.02 percent (y/y) in 2016, the country's tax revenue realization only rose 4.2 percent (y/y) to IDR 1,104.9 trillion (approx. USD $83.1 billion). Since 2011 (when commodity prices plunged heavily) tax buoyancy has been weakening in Indonesia.
US multinational technology company Google failed to reach a tax settlement with Indonesia's Tax Office in 2016 and therefore directors of Google Indonesia could risk a prison visit. In September 2016 Muhammad Hanif, Head of the Tax Office's Special Cases Department, said Google could face claims for five years of back taxes, including a bill of more than USD $418 million for full-year 2015 as the company is estimated to have paid less than 0.1 percent of the total income and value-added taxes it owed Indonesia in 2015. In Indonesia, Google generates income from online advertisement.
There are plenty of Indonesian names mentioned in the Panama Papers, the massive leak of about 11.5 million confidential documents from the database of Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca. Here we present the top 20 of largest Indonesian companies mentioned in the leaked documents. Although it is widely known that offshore firms (special purpose vehicles) in tax havens are set up to engage in tax evasion, it needs to be emphasized that not all people and companies named in the documents are in fact involved in violations of the law.
Due to the lengthy talks needed among the Indonesian government and House of Representatives (DPR) about the Tax Amnesty Bill, there may be a further delay in implementing the bill that was originally planned to be implemented in early 2016. The government's proposed Tax Amnesty Bill offers low tax rates (and protection from prosecution) to those who declare untaxed wealth and repatriate their funds back to Indonesia. Through this bill the government aims to finance the widening budget deficit and obtain fresh tax revenue.
Not only in Indonesia but also around the globe tax evasion remains a major problem for governments and tax offices. This problem was again highlighted by the Panama Papers, the massive leak involving around 11.5 million confidential documents from the database of Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca. These documents make mention of political figures, businessmen, celebrities and sport stars who have created secret shell companies and offshore accounts in an effort to avoid tax obligations. World leaders have again vowed to combat tax evasion.
Reportedly, around 3,000 Indonesian individuals and companies are mentioned in the Panama Papers, the massive leak involving around 11.5 million confidential documents from the database of the world's fourth-largest offshore law firm, Mossack Fonseca. These documents show how political figures as well as celebrities, sport stars and businessmen exploit secretive offshore tax regimes. Icelandic Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson became the first victim of the leakage (he resigned on Tuesday). What about Indonesia and the Panama Papers?
Indonesian Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro announced on Tuesday (05/04) that Indonesia's tax revenue reached IDR 194 trillion (approx. USD $14.7 billion) in the first quarter of 2016, down 2.1 percent from tax revenue in the same period one year earlier. Brodjonegoro blamed this poor result on lower income from value-added taxes (VATs) due to tax restitution and people's low consumption amid sluggish economic growth. Meanwhile, he informed that Indonesia plans to cut the personal income tax, a move aimed at boosting tax compliance.
Latest Columns Tax Fraud
In early 2016 Ford Motor Indonesia, the local unit of American car-maker Ford Motor Company, announced it will have completed its exit from Indonesia (and Japan) by the start of 2017. This decision was made because Ford has been unable to compete with its Japanese counterparts on the markets of Indonesia and Japan. The sudden move to exit Indonesia was not warmly welcomed by Ford Motor Co's dealers in Indonesia. The 31 Ford local dealerships demanded USD $75 million in compensation. More recently, Ford Motor Indonesia has become the center of a tax scandal.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) called for an investigation into the Indonesian people and companies mentioned in the Panama Papers, the massive leak involving 11.5 million confidential documents from the database of Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca. These documents list names numerous people - including of political figures, businessmen, celebrities and sport stars - who have created secret shell companies and offshore accounts in tax havens (possibly in an effort to avoid tax obligations).
Good news for taxpayers in Indonesia. The Indonesian government plans to lower personal income tax, which currently ranges between 5 and 30 percent, in early 2016. Indonesian Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro said lower personal income tax will make it easier for taxpayers to comply with the tax law, while giving a boost to Indonesians' purchasing power. However, he declined to inform to what extent personal income tax will be cut as this is still being studied.
A high positioned government official said that the government of Indonesia plans to cut corporate tax gradually from 25 percent currently to below 18 percent in a bid to make Indonesia a more lucrative place to conduct business. Luhut Panjaitan, President Joko Widodo’s Chief of Staff, confirmed that Widodo has already ordered this latest tax move. Over the past few weeks we have seen the announcement of a number of new tax policies as the government aims to boost tax collection by 30 percent in 2015.
