The Indonesian government will soon issue a regulation that will give its tax office access to the banking industry's data on savings accounts, the head of the tax office said on Thursday (23/02), as authorities step up efforts to crack down on tax evaders.
The government had already put together a draft that "will allow banking accounts to be opened for tax purposes", tax chief Ken Dwijugiasteadi said, after attending a coordinating meeting on preparations for Indonesia's pledge to join the OECD's Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI).
The regulation is set to be issued near the time a flagship tax amnesty program ends in March, he said. The amnesty, announced last year was aimed at flushing out tax evaders and bringing back billions of dollars stashed overseas.
More than 670,000 taxpayers have joined the program, declaring Rp 4,395 trillion ($329 billion) worth of assets previously not disclosed to authorities.
The government has already proposed to parliament a bill that will give the tax office broader access to banking data, but Indonesia cannot wait for the passage of the bill as it has to meet certain deadlines for the AEOI, officials have said.
It may take a year for parliament to discuss various details of the bill, which also covers general administrations of Indonesia's tax system, Andreas Eddy Susetyo, a member of a parliamentary committee overseeing the debate of the bill, said earlier this month.
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