Huge Big Businessmen Don't Pay Taxes, Gerindra Legislator Asks Conglomerate Chairul Tanjung To Unload The Names: Can Raise Our Tax Ratio

JAKARTA - Members of the Indonesian House of Representatives Commission XI from the Gerindra Kamrussamad faction asked conglomerate Chairul Tanjung (CT) to provide clarity regarding the information on the number of entrepreneurs who have not been registered as taxpayers.

According to him, this is very important to increase the potential for tax revenues needed by the state to build the nation's economy.

“Pak Chairul Tanjung's suggestion that the government hunt taxes in the 'forest' not in the zoo is an important suggestion. But instead of just complaining, CT should also disclose data on owners of money that have not been covered by taxes," he said in a written statement on Thursday, July 21.

Kamrussamad explained that he was quite curious about the figure of a businessman who is believed to have quite large assets but has not been detected by the government.

"I'm sure there are many big-time entrepreneurs with trillions of rupiah in assets that have not been taxed," he said.

Furthermore, the Senayan legislator views this as an urgency in itself. This is because the significant contribution of business actors is considered to be able to support the tax ratio in Indonesia, which has been on a gentle trend.

"That Indonesia's tax ratio has declined since 2015. The tax ratio once reached 13.7 percent in 2014, but then continued to decline in the next 3 years," he asserted.

Kamrussamad also revealed that in 2015, Indonesia's tax ratio fell to 11.6 percent before falling back down to 10.8 percent in the 2016 period.

"In 2017, the tax ratio fell again to 10.7 percent. Then, in 2018 the tax ratio was recorded at the level of 11.5 percent and last year our tax ratio was 9.1 percent," he said.

Kamrussamad then compared national conditions with the current situation in several world countries. It was explained that based on Revenue Statistics in Asian and Pacific Economies 2019, Indonesia is called the OECD as a country with the lowest tax ratio when compared to other countries in the Asia Pacific region.

“We are far below the average of 34.2 percent of OECD member countries. So, instead of creating a polemic, it is better for CT to mention and reveal big businessmen who are stubborn on taxes. It will definitely increase our tax ratio," he concluded.