Long-Term Goal is to Strengthen the Economy

President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has said that the purpose of the newly passed tax amnesty was not just to cover the budget deficit this year. In the long term, it was intended to strengthen the economy through a better taxation system so that in the future tax revenues would be higher.

"The purpose of the tax amnesty is not to cover the budget deficit, in the long term, it is intended to strengthen our economy through a better tax base, so that tax revenues will be higher," the President said in a meeting with a number of economic editors at the State Palace on Thursday.

Finance Minister Bambang PS Brodjonegoro, Agriculture Minister Amran Sulaiman, Presidential chief of staff Teten Masduki and Presidential spokesperson Budi SP attended the meeting.

The President mentioned a number of benefits that could be achieved if Law No. 11/2016 on tax amnesty was properly implemented. These benefits would include a stronger rupiah exchange rate, increased foreign exchange reserves, improved bank liquidity and increased state revenue.

When asked about several issues that still worried potential participants of the tax amnesty, the President said that so far conditions were good and nothing should be feared. Related to the confidentiality of taxpayer data, the President has formed a task force comprising the Development Finance Comptroller and intelligence.

"Confidentiality is guaranteed. The data provided by taxpayers cannot be used for investigation or prosecution, and cannot be given to anyone. Anyone who leaks this data can be taken to court," the President said.

Brodjonegoro said that amid uncertainty in the global economy, proceeds from the tax amnesty would be a new source for economic growth. Several changes would occur as a result of the program, including that data on people's assets overseas would be closer to real conditions as people would have correctly reported their assets and paid taxes.

With overseas funds being brought into Indonesia, private sector debt would fall because the funds would become business capital when repatriated. Foreign ownership of government securities would also decline because the funds currently invested in government bonds were actually owned by Indonesian citizens through companies abroad.

"Another consequence is foreign investment will fall, as it will partly become domestic investments. For instance, foreign direct investment, which has so far been from Singapore, will become domestic investment. So, it will not be because the economy is worsening, but because there is a change in fund status after repatriation," he said.

Meanwhile, regarding the suggestion by some parties that, for improved results, the tax amnesty would be better implemented in 2018, when the Automatic Exchange of Information, or exchange of tax information, would be formally launched, Brodjonegoro said the deal would be only related to the declaration of assets and there was no guarantee that the money would be brought into the country.

"We need fund flows and there should be clarification now. For example, if we postpone infrastructure projects, there will be additional costs in the future," he said.

According to the minister, currently some countries were offering a number of incentives to persuade asset holders to bring their assets to those countries.

Judicial review

Due to the judicial review proposed to the Constitutional Court by a number of organizations on the issuance of Law No. 11/2016 on tax amnesty, the government has formed a special team. In addition to setting up the team, the government also continues to identify strategic projects that could be funded with funds obtained under the tax amnesty.

Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Darmin Nasution said that the establishment of a special team had been discussed at the ministerial coordination meeting. 

The team comprises the Finance Ministry and the Ministry of Law and Human Rights, who will be directly in charge of dealing with the judicial review.

Several other ministries, as well as the State Secretariat, will be involved in its monitoring. Members will be taken from first echelon officials of each ministry involved. 

"The request for a judicial review is the right of every citizen. We are ready to conduct focus group discussions and monitor the process. Until now, the request for a judicial review has not been uploaded to the Constitutional Court's website," Darmin said.

Earlier this week, the One Justice Foundation (YSK) and the Struggle for Indonesian Justice Federation (SPKRI), along with four individuals, unveiled their plan to apply to the Constitutional Court for a judicial review of the Tax Amnesty Law. They are challenging Article 11 of the law with 12 reasons. One of these is that the Tax Amnesty Law pardons tax evaders.

At the same time, the Ministry of Finance's secretary general, Hadiyanto, said that the judicial review of the Tax Amnesty Law should not discourage people from taking part in the tax amnesty program. The substance of the law was to provide legal certainty for taxpayers.

The impact of the law is considered appropriate because the proceeds of the tax amnesty could be used for development projects. At present, his office has opened registration for those wanting to benefit from tax amnesty program.

He said that the Finance Ministry was finalizing regulations that would be used to implement the Tax Amnesty Law. At least three draft regulations are being prepared. The entire process is expected to be completed this week.

Source Kompas, Friday, July 15, 2016

Optimasi UU Tax Amnesty

DALAM APBN-P 2016, pemerintah mematok target pendapatan Rp1.786,2 triliun dengan porsi penerimaan pajak sebesar Rp1.347,78 triliun. Rinciannya porsi dari PPh sebesar Rp855,84 triliun, PPN Rp474,23 triliun, dan PBB Rp17,71 triliun. Sementara itu, target belanja negara mencapai Rp2.082,95 triliun. Meski pemerintah sudah memasukkan target perolehan dari tax amnesty dalam APBN-P 2016, patokan fiskal tampaknya belum terlalu realistis dengan kondisi ekonomi saat ini. Potensi shortfall tampaknya masih cukup besar.

Selain target pengampunan pajak masih dipatok di level yang cukup tinggi, ada efek Brexit yang bisa saja mengancam pemulihan ekonomi global. Jika berkepanjangan, ekonomi dunia bisa meriang, khususnya negara mitra dagang Indonesia. Efeknya, target penerimaan pajak bisa tambah loyo. Celakanya, pemerintah juga sulit menggantungkan penerimaan dari ekspor komoditas. Dus, jika penerimaan pajak terganggu, imbasnya belanja pemerintah pun harus dipangkas kalau tak mau defisit anggaran melebar.

Sementara itu, dalam APBN-P 2016, pemerintah telah mematok target defisit anggaran sebesar 2,35% terhadap pertumbuhan domestik bruto. Namun, tampaknya bagi pemerintah, apa yang telah disepakti dengan DPR ialah angka-angka yang sudah sangat realistis. Selain mendorong kebijakan tax amnesty, supaya penerimaan pajak tercapai, pemerintah pun berjanji akan melakukan ekstensifikasi dan intensifikasi penerimaan pajak.

Pemerintah juga akan membenahi sistem administrasi dan teknologi informasi perpajakan. Selain itu, perubahan asumsi rata-rata harga minyak dalam negeri atau Indonesia crude price (ICP) yang kini jadi US$40 per barel dan peningkatan target lifting minyak diyakini bisa membuat penerimaan negara dari sektor itu mencapai Rp57 triliun.

Namun, apakah faktanya selama ini mengena? Data bicara, selama lima bulan pertama di tahun ini, rata-rata harga ICP masih berkutat di level US$34,5 per barel. Sementara itu, realisasi lifting minyak pada Mei 2016 sekitar 807 barel, atau di bawah target APBN-P sebesar 820 barel per hari sehingga wajar saja jika ada pertanyaan yang menyisa, sanggupkah pemerintah mampu memanfaatkan momen pengampunan pajak untuk amankan anggaran sekaligus untuk meningkatkan kepatuhan pajak?

Payung hukum
Yang jelas, dengan disahkannya Rancangan Undang-Undang (RUU) tentang Pengampunan Pajak menjadi undang-undang (UU), pemerintah mempunyai instrumen fiskal tambahan untuk memenuhi target penerimaan negara yang telah ditetapkan. Lebih dari itu, pemerintah pun diharapkan bisa sedikit bernapas untuk tidak memangkas belanja-belanja prioritas, terutama yang terkait dengan belanja infrastruktur.

Pengesahan RUU tersebut memiliki arti bahwa pemerintah kini mempunyai payung hukum yang kukuh untuk memberi pengampunan kepada orang atau badan yang selama ini tidak membayar pajak sesuai dengan harta yang dimilikinya. Tentunya pengampunan tidak bisa dibilang percuma karena ada konsekuensi berupa tarif tebusan. Nah, dengan demikian, negara punya kans besar untuk mengantongi tambahan pendapatan dari tarif tebusan yang akan dibayarkan.

Jika tak ada aral melintang, kebijakan penghapusan pajak alias tax amnesty mulai diberlakukan pada Juli 2016. Tentu pengesahan RUU tersebut menjadi kabar baik tersendiri bagi pemerintah. Dalam APBN-P 2016, penerimaan negara dipatok sebesar Rp1.786,2 triliun. Sumbangan terbesar diharapkan dari penerimaan pajak yaitu Rp1.347,78 triliun. Dari target tersebut, pemerintah menggadang-gadang tambahan penerimaan dari tax amnesty sebesar Rp165 triliun.

Mau tak mau, pemerintah harus kerja keras mengejar dana dari pengampunan pajak supaya tak terjadi lagi shortfall atau kekurangan pendapatan sebagaimana 2015. Dari perkembangan data yang ada, hingga akhir Mei 2016, realisasi pendapatan negara masih sekitar Rp496,6 triliun. Angka tersebut baru mencapai 27,80% dari target pendapatan yang dipatok dalam APBN-P 2016.

Sementara itu, sumbangan dari penerimaan pajak baru mencapai Rp364,1 triliun, atau 27,01% dari target. Pemerintah boleh sedikit lega karena toh potensi penerimaan pajak cukup terbuka lebar. Alasannya cukup masuk akal, masa berlaku kebijakan pengampunan pajak telah ditetapkan untuk diperpanjang menjadi sembilan bulan (Juli 2016-Maret 2017), dari rancangan awal hanya enam bulan.

Bahkan kabarnya pemerintah agak sedikit sesumbar bahwa penerimaan negara bisa saja melebihi Rp165 triliun. Kelebihan tersebut digadang-gadang akan berasal dari tiga bulan terakhir periode pengampunan pajak, atau Januari-Maret 2017. Bagaimanapun, pemerintah tentu punya dasar perhitungan. Target tersebut berdasarkan pada adanya potensi wajib pajak (WP) yang melakukan deklarasi di luar negeri senilai Rp3.500 triliun-Rp4.000 triliun.

Dengan asumsi rata-rata tarif uang tebusan sebesar 4% saja, ada potensi penerimaan pajak sebesar Rp160 triliun, ditambah potensi deklarasi dan repatriasi aset di luar negeri sebesar Rp1.000 triliun. Jika dikalikan dengan asumsi rata-rata tarif 2%, potensi penerimaan pajak akan bertambah sebesar Rp20 triliun. Menurut pemerintah, potensi penerimaan pajak tersebut didasarkan pada data intelijen terkait dengan WP yang selama ini menyimpan aset di luar negeri. Salah satunya, data wajib pajak di negara surga pajak alias tax haven yang jumlahnya mencapai 6.519 warga negara Indonesia (WNI).

Peluang manipulasi
Secara prinsip, setiap wajib pajak (WP, OP, dan WP badan) berhak mendapatkan pengampunan pajak. Pengampunan pajak diberikan melalui pengungkapan harta yang dimiliki dalam surat pernyataan. Pengecualian bagi WP yang sedang tahap penyidikan dan berkas penyidikannya telah dinyatakan lengkap oleh kejaksaan (P21), sedang proses peradilan, atau sedang menjalani hukuman pidana di bidang perpajakan. Pengampunan pajak meliputi penghapusan pajak yang seharusnya terutang, tidak dikenai sanksi administrasi perpajakan, dan sanksi pidana di bidang perpajakan.

Kewajiban perpajakan yang mendapatkan pengampunan terdiri atas pajak penghasilan (PPh), pajak pertambahan nilai (PPN), dan penjualan atas barang mewah (PPnBM). Peluang memanipulasi data terkait dengan pemberlakuan UU Tax Amnesty tampaknya juga terbuka lebar. Apalagi, fasilitas yang ditawarkan pemerintah melalui kebijakan tax amnesty cukup menggiurkan. Selain dibebaskan membayar denda atas pajak yang belum dilaporkan dalam SPT, pemerintah memberikan tarif uang tebusan yang jauh lebih rendah dari tarif PPh yang diatur. Apalagi, jika aset yang dilaporkan itu disertai dengan pengalihan aset dari luar negeri ke dalam negeri (repatriasi).

Oleh karena itu, pemberlakuan tax amnesty berpotensi menjadi moral hazard. Karena tarif tebusan dihitung dari harta bersih setelah dikurangi utang, bisa jadi seolah-olah ada utang dan dibesarkan. Oleh karena itu, pengawasannya harus pula dilakukan secara baik dan superketat. Ditakutkan, pengampunan pajak justru dijadikan kesempatan bagi WP untuk bersih-bersih sebelum pemerintah nantinya bisa mendeteksi setiap harta yang ditempatkan di sejumlah negara lain.

Jadi pendeknya, sangat perlu bagi pemerintah untuk memperlakukan tax amnesty tidak hanya sebagai instrumen untuk memenuhi hasrat minimnya pemasukan pajak, tapi juga harus diperlakukan untuk meningkatkan kepatuhan wajib pajak secara luas dengan membenahi sistem dan administrasi perpajakan sebagai salah satu agenda prioritas. Semoga.

oleh Ronny P Sasmita

disadur dari Media Indonesia, Jum’at, 15 Juli 2016

Repatriation Increases Liquidity - Tax Amnesty Law has Positive Impact on Banks

Law No. 11/2016 regarding tax amnesty carries a positive impact for banks because the repatriation of funds, as mandated in the legislation, will increase liquidity. The repatriation will also come at the right time as the loan to deposit ratio (LDR) in the Indonesian banking sector currently stands at 89.5 percent.

The additional liquidity from the repatriation of funds kept overseas by Indonesian citizens will loosen the LDR. PT Permata Bank economist Josua Pardede told Kompas on Monday (11/7) that potential repatriated funds could reach Rp 560 trillion (US$42.6 billion).

The repatriation will increase the lenders' third party funds (DPK), which in April stood at Rp 4,478 trillion. "With the third party fund increase, the lenders' intermediation function will improve as the loan to deposit ratio will decrease to around 86-88 percent by the end of this year," he said.

With improving liquidity, full year credit growth could hit 12-14 percent by the end of 2016.

Josua added that the banking sector's intermediation function would improve, thus it would be able to support finance in the real sector, which is expected to improve in the second half of this year. Credit growth is estimated to reach 11-13 percent.

Josua is optimistic that the tax amnesty program will run well this year given the response from market players, particularly from the financial industry, which indicated that the tax amnesty would have the potential to boost state income and repatriated funds.

Those who are interested in participating in the tax amnesty program are attracted to the low rate of tax to be imposed. "I think Bank Indonesia's assumption of Rp 560 trillion [repatriated funds] is relevant considering the automatic exchange of information agreement that will become effective in 2018. The tax amnesty will be very good momentum," he said.

Therefore, Bank Indonesia and the banking sector need to prepare instruments to accommodate the repatriated funds. Bank Indonesia is preparing to issue short-term foreign currency convertible bonds and negotiable certificates of deposit (NCD).

A foreign exchange-denominated instrument could be an alternative so that the repatriated funds are not easily withdrawn from the banks. The government could also issue foreign exchange bonds to serve as a source of financing for productive posts, such as infrastructure development and investment.

Judicial review

Bahana Securities Head of Corporate Strategy and Research Harry Su said the tax amnesty program would continue despite some groups taking the Tax Amnesty Law to the Constitutional Court for a judicial review.

"I think the tax amnesty program will keep running. Indonesia is not the only country to run such a program," Harry said.

He said he hoped that the judicial review process at the Constitutional Court would not affect the tax amnesty program. The One Justice Foundation (YSK), Struggle for Indonesian Justice Federation (SPKRI) and four other civil groups filed a judicial review on Wednesday, July 13. YSK chairman Sugeng Teguh Santoso said his group would soon complete the documents for the judicial review process, in which it would submit 11 articles in the law for review based on 12 reasons. One reason was that the Tax Amnesty Law allowed for tax evaders. The law also did not include the principle of transparency, so it did not promote equality before the law, particularly regarding tax discipline.

Constitutional Court head Arief Hidayat said there was no timeframe or deadline for the judicial review of any law according to the court's internal rules. However, the Tax Amnesty Law review was seen as urgent.

House of Representatives Commission XI chairman Ahmadi Noor Supit of the Golkar Party faction said the request for a judicial review was a consequence of a particular law, which was considered as going against a higher legislation or sense of justice. However, the Tax Amnesty Law should be seen as a short- and long-term solution to improve the economy.

"When the House was discussing this law, we knew there were several problems. But after the government convinced us that the law would be mean a boost to state income, we agreed to give it a chance," Supit said.

A member of the House special committee discussing the Tax Amnesty Law, Ecky Awal Muharam of the Prosperous Justice Party faction, said a judicial review was the constitutional right of every citizen.

However, House Commission XI member, Heri Gunawan of the Gerindra Party faction, doubted the effectiveness of the judicial review of the Tax Amnesty Law given that the law would be effective until March 31, 2017 only. "It is fine for certain groups to ask for a judicial review. But this law will be effective for a short period of time. I don't think the time [for the judicial review process] will be sufficient," he said.

 

Source Kompas, Tuesday, July 12, 2016