Taxpayers Urged to Submit Their Returns Early This Year
Jakarta. Individual taxpayers are urged to submit their tax returns early this year, as the deadline coincides with the government's amnesty program.
More than 19 million of the country's 30 million registered individual taxpayers must submit their returns for 2016 because their incomes are higher than the taxable income. Taxpayers usually tend to postpone the submission of their returns until the deadline, which puts a strain on officials, making it difficult for them to provide an efficient service.
"We urge taxpayers not to wait until the deadline," Hestu Yoga Saksama, director of counseling, service and public relations at the Directorate General of Taxation, told the Jakarta Globe.
By law, individual taxpayers must submit their returns by March 31 every year.
Hestu said taxpayers who wish to join the amnesty program also need to complete the process first before submitting their tax returns.
"So, when they are filing their tax returns, they can report the correct assets, debts and earnings that reflect the actual condition," he said.
There are several alternatives to submit tax returns, including manually at tax offices and temporary locations at offices or shopping malls across the country; sending it by post to the tax office where the taxpayer is registered; or online through e-filing or the tax office's third-party partners.
Hestu said the tax office also expects more taxpayers to submit their returns through e-filing, because it is easier and accessible from anywhere.
Last year, more than 5.5 million taxpayers used this method to submit their returns, short of the 7 million target. The tax office said it has not set a target for this year because it wants to focus on the tax amnesty program.
Suryo Utomo, an expert on tax compliance at the Ministry of Finance, said separately on Tuesday (21/02) that the tax office is certain that its computer systems will be ready to receive millions of returns and submissions of amnesty data simultaneously close to the March 31 deadline.
Individual taxpayer's who are late in submitting their returns are liable for a Rp 100,000 ($7.50) penalty.
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