President Has Names Of Indonesians Parking Money Abroad

Jakarta (Antara Bali) - President Joko Widodo said he has the list of names of all Indonesians parking  money abroad evading tax.

"I already know who they are. Soon I would invite them to meet  me at a small forum for discussion  and I would ask them to meet their obligations," the president told a number of mass media leaders at a meeting  also attended by Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro, Agriculture Minister Amran Sulaiman, Chief of Presidential Staff Teten Masduki,  and Presidential spokesman Johan Budi.

He said he  and the finance minister already know the persons and the amount of their money parked abroad.

The government, therefore,  could send the bill to the right addresses and  ask them to invest their money in the country, he added.

The House of Representative has approved  and passed a tax amnesty bill into law, which is expected to result in repatriation of the funds parked abroad by many rich Indonesians.

There are thousands of Indonesians parking money abroad, the president said giving no names, adding he could not give the names as it would be against the law.

"What is certain is that shortly I would call for them  and ask them to bring their money home to be invested in  the country," he said.

He said the data held by the government is strictly confidential and  could not be used for  investigation  and legal prosecution against the tax payers.

In addition, the data could not be given to anyone for any purpose, he said.

"Even those found leaking the secret information could be punished with a jail term of up to 5 years," he said.

The president acknowledged that the  tax payers could not easily understand the legal protection offered by the government   because of the psychological factor.

The government, therefore would continue to launch socialization  in the regions that  big or small companies  could fully understand  tax amnesty .

"Tomorrow the finance minister and me would go to  Surabaya for a meeting with big and small business leaders for that purposes," he said.

The government has also set up a task force involving the finance ministry and the  Supreme Audit Agency (BPKP) to guarantee implementation of the tax amnesty law  and protection for the tax payers.

The president said he was optimistic the tax amnesty law would be a success  and the target would be reached  as a number of business leaders already gave  positive signals to bring their funds home to Indonesia.

"We don't expect all of those funds repatriated . Even half of them is good enough," he said.

Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro said it is a good opportunity for tax amnesty , adding in August and September many business leaders  are expected to make use of the tax amnesty .

 Bambang said if the tax amnesty  could run well as expected the government would have additional source of fund to finance economic development.

"Currently, amid the global slump, nations are racing to get capital for development," he said. (WDY)