After the issuance of the latest operational guidelines of the Tax Amnesty Act, the pros and cons are rife. Taxpayers who have participated in the Tax Amnesty have also been concerned with the issuance of Government Regulation (PP) Number 36 Year 2017 dated September 6, 2017 concerning Imposition of Income Tax on Certain Income in the Form of Net Assets that are Enforced or Considered Income.
The reason is that some tax observers interpret the assets that have been reported by the Taxpayer in the Tax Amnesty can also be corrected if it is deemed to be of unfair value by the tax authorities through the mechanism of determining position. There is even a presumption that this instrument will be used arbitrarily by the tax authorities to pursue revenue targets. What is the real fact?
When viewed from Article 2 of PP No. 36 of 2017 it appears that not only those who have not participated in the Tax Amnesty targeted by the operational guidelines of the Tax Amnesty Act, even Taxpayers who have participated in the Tax Amnesty.
There are three criteria for taxpayer property that can be used as tax objects, namely: additional net assets in the Statement of Assets (SPH), net assets that have not been or have not been disclosed in the SPH, and net assets that have not been reported in the Annual Tax Return (SPT) PPh.
What is meant by net assets here is additional assets less debt related to the acquisition of additional assets that have not been repaid.
For the first and second criteria PP No. 36 of 2017 is indeed targeting taxpayers who have joined the Tax Amnesty, while the third criterion is the target of taxpayers who have not participated and have not reported their assets in the Annual Income Tax Return, it could be due to deliberate or negligence.
Let us examine further the purpose of the additional net assets in the SPH, namely the net assets as referred to in Article 13 paragraph (4) of the Tax Amnesty Act, if the Taxpayer is proven to have not repatriated and invested his assets in the territory of the Republic of Indonesia for 3 years or transferred the assets to outside the Republic of Indonesia before a period of 3 years. Then the assets that have been reported in the SPH will be treated as income in 2016 and subject to sanctions in accordance with the provisions of the tax law.
For net assets that have not been or have not been disclosed in the SPH, the possibility that can occur is the Taxpayer reports the net assets in the Last Annual Income Tax Return (2015 Annual Tax Return) submitted after the enactment of the Tax Amnesty Act (after July 1, 2016), but does not reflect the assets net that has been reported in the Annual Income Tax Return before the Last Annual Income Tax Return (2014 Annual Tax Return).
In this case, there are indications of asset inflation which should be included in the Tax Amnesty. Then the assets found will be treated as income for the current year and subject to tax plus 200% sanctions.
The fundamental difference for taxpayers who have joined the tax amnesty from those who are not: on assets obtained from 1 January 1985 to 31 December 2015, the tax obligation is deemed completed for those who have participated, except for those who do not report their assets in SPH or who failed to do repatriation. However, the opposite treatment is for those who do not participate in the Tax Amnesty.
For those who do not participate in the Tax Amnesty, if the Directorate General of Taxes finds data on assets obtained from January 1, 1985 to December 31, 2015 and has not been reported in the Annual Income Tax Return, the tax can be determined on a position basis. The Directorate General of Taxes puts forward the principle of justice by imposing an even tax burden on all citizens who have not carried out their tax obligations.
This operational guide imposes Final Income at a rate of 25% for corporate taxpayers, 30% for individual taxpayers, and 12.5% for certain taxpayers who have gross income from businesses of at most Rp4.8 billion and in addition to most free businesses / jobs a lot of Rp.632 million. If this rate is multiplied by the Basic Tax Imposition (DPP), that is, from assets considered income, please calculate for yourself how much tax you have to pay along with the sanctions.
Read too : Position of Tax Law in Indonesia
SANCTIONS
The high sanctions imposed on taxpayers who have participated in tax amnesty but have not / less revealed their wealth in the SPH are as a means of law enforcement of the Directorate General of Taxes against the self assessment system that has been implemented during the Tax Amnesty.
A very large discount on tax rates has been given to taxpayers through tax amnesty. Even the taxpayer is also given the authority to appraise his property fairly. And assessments made by taxpayers will not be tampered with again, that is what we want to affirm in this operational guide.
There must be a logical and reasonable reason why for taxpayers who have participated in tax amnesty, but reneged on repatriation and invest their assets in the Republic of Indonesia or transfer assets outside the Republic of Indonesia before a period of 3 years, for assets that have been reported in the SPH will be treated as income in 2016.
With consideration for the greater national interest, the law must be upheld. If assets from repatriation are invested domestically and used to build vital infrastructure, it will become a stimulus to drive the wheels of the national economy.
Here, the state has the authority to control the implementation of the self assessment system whether it runs in line with expectations or not. Because taxes are public contributions to the state (which can be forced) owed by those who are obliged to pay according to general regulations as stated by P.J.A Adriani in Introduction to Tax Law (2005).
And law enforcement in the field of taxation must be carried out immediately, bearing in mind the expiration of the deadline for submitting SPH on March 31, 2017, and the DGT is only given until 30 June 2019 to find data or information about the Taxpayer’s assets that have not been reported in the Income Tax Return.
Not an easy job indeed. Then the support of all stakeholders is needed for this program to succeed.
Posted in Bisnis Indonesia (Saturday 18/11/2017)