Half A Heart Do not Tax Reform

Tax reform has been in effect at least since 2005 with two main strategies, namely intensification and taxes. Extensification direct hit on the working people, regardless of income, because it is a program of increasing the number of active taxpayers.
While intensification is much more felt by the taxpayer who had been held for a long time to pay taxes because it is a program of excavation may be money to be paid on the taxpayer. With these two major strategies, the Directorate General of Taxes optimistic in 2010 the total tax money that can be collected from the community is Rp 1,000 trillion, or nearly double the tax revenue that has been collected at this time.

In the midst of "hot pursuit" of new taxpayers and deepening of deposit old taxpayer was raging case of a broker tax and the Tax Court that gave rise to the figure of a young employee (still class IIIA), Gaius Tambunan.

With the contents of the account, the total incoming and outgoing funds, approximately USD 25 billion, earnings Gaius concluded by the police as abnormal.

However, as stated by the Director General of Taxes Mohammad Tjiptardjo, Gaius only claimed to enjoy the money of Rp 370 million. Well, this is clear to people that Gaius does not violate the norms as a civil servant or a legal ethics (not yet proven the courts) by himself.

As a civil servant who admitted receiving the money outside the main income which reached Rp 12 million per month, Gaius is definitely wrong and therefore the Minister of Finance could be dishonorably dismissed as soon as possible.

However, the case flow of funds of Rp 25 billion which is expected to go into the pockets of someone else's account (some are calling the police, rogue prosecutor, to the Tax Court judges) can not be resolved because Sri Mulyani Indrawati Minister of Finance position is very limited.

If tax reform want to be thorough, do not expect too much on internal reforms undertaken Directorate General of Taxation. Gaius case shows not only the Directorate General of Taxation officials involved, but also obligatory tax that provides funds and other persons who also receive cash flow from Gaius.

Seeing America

For the observer taxes, Darussalam, the steps taken by the President of the United States, Barack Obama moments after his election as President enviable. Obama believes tax reform, not only can be submitted to the Ministry of Finance, but also must be handled directly by the President.

For this reason, Obama formed The Volcker Task Force or a special task force led by former tax reform governor of the Federal Reserve Paul Volcker (81). Members there are four people, among others, senior economic adviser to Obama, Austan Goolsbee namely; and Harvard University economist Martin Feldstein, and Professor of Economics, University of California at Berkeley, Laura D'Andrea Tyson.

Composition of the Supervisory Committee members resemble Taxation (KPP), the newly appointed Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati on March 26, 2010. However, the Volcker Task Force report directly to the President, while KPP only report to the minister.

Herein lies the weakness of KPP, only focused on the relation DG Taxation and tax payers, regardless of any other party involved. And, the thing is, only the President who has the authority across the institution.

Moreover, there are those who claim, the case contains a potential danger Gaius fundamentals, which eroded the tax revenue that should be paid to the state budget.

If the bribe money in circulation reached USD 25 billion, imagine the value of receiving state money that should have won by countries in various disputes in the Tax Court. Surely it would be bigger.

Views Melchias Mark Mekeng, Vice Chairman of Commission XI of the House, could sharpen our gaze on what happens in the Tax Court today.

If a tax dispute that won many taxpayers, there are only two possibilities that occur. First, the apparatus DG Taxation and Tax Court judges are bribed. Second, there are legal loopholes that can be used taxpayer "naughty" to defeat the state. Both can occur simultaneously and are very dangerous if allowed to continue to happen.

25 percent

The impact of uncertainty in the Tax Court could at least be palpable through the Directorate General of Taxation stating data, from tax receivables that reached Rp 44 trillion (data as of February 19, 2010), only 25 percent of the annual target which is likely to be billed again.

While 75 percent of the annual billing target stuck in the process of dispute in the Tax Court. That's not taking into account the amount of the embezzled money for bribes or facilitation payments in settlement of tax disputes.

If traced back, when Nasution (while still serving DGT) never mentioned, the potential lost tax revenues (tax gap) due to bribes, smuggling, and other criminal reach Rp 300 trillion per year.

That equals 34.8 percent of the maximum potential tax revenue that should be accepted, ie USD 860 trillion per year.

For the tax gap problem is also likely Obama formed a task force Volcker. Therefore, the tax gap in America even crazier, ie 300 billion dollars per year. This is the difference between the tax liability of individuals and companies in America with a tax collected by DG Taxation them. "America needs an effort that could be as aggressive as possible," said Budget Director Peter Orszag America.

Especially in Indonesia, tax revenues accounted for 70 percent of state revenue. If the sources of revenue that the broker bothered tax, its impact is clear and not much choice, namely to add debt. For, the state budget has only three sources of funds to cover spending, namely tax, non-tax revenue, and debt.

In America there's even extreme views that appear to reform taxation, as stated by a writer who is also the real estate business practitioners from Memphis, Gwyn Guess.

According to Guess, the only formula for tax reform in America's most potent is disband the IRS (a kind of American Taxation Office).

Guess the reason is scientific. Transaction even in the underground economy will not be able to avoid the tax, ranging from prostitution, gambling, illegal liquor to the dealers. Therefore, the hidden economic actors will definitely spend the money. By the time they spend money that is exposed to the Value Added Tax (VAT), ranging from clothes shopping, food, luxury jewelry, or a new car.

However, Guess still requires that the tax system has been developed in which there are no corrupt officials and tax must already have a high compliance rate. "The function of the IRS audited only business income rather than digging individual personal data on every taxpayer in the U.S.," he said.

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