Jakarta. Tax dodgers who want to come clean about their unreported assets can start approaching 18 commercial lenders appointed by the government to manage their tax amnesty application, a senior official said.

Indonesia's Minister of Finance had singled out 18 banks — out of 118 commercial lenders in the country — to receive payments related to the tax amnesty program, director general of debt and risk management at the Finance Ministry Robert Pakpahan said on Monday (18/07), as quoted by Antaranews.com.

"19 banks were deemed eligible [to handle the back taxes payment], but only 18 returned the ministry's call," Robert said.

The banks include regional development bank Jawa Barat dan Banten (Bank BJB), state-controlled lenders Bank Rakyat Indonesia, Bank Negara Indonesia and Bank Mandiri as well as its Islamic banking unit Bank Syariah Mandiri.

Should the tax dodgers prefer foreign lenders to handle their payment they can report to Citibank, DBS Indonesia, Standard Chartered, Deutsche Bank or UOB Indonesia, Robert said.

The list also includes Indonesia's biggest lender by market value Bank Central Asia, and listed lenders Bank Danamon Indonesia, Bank Permata, Maybank Indonesia, Bank Pan Indonesia, CIMB Niaga, Bank Mega and Bank Bukopin. Each of these banks has at least Rp 5 trillion in core capital.

A statement from the directorate general of taxes released on Tuesday explained that tax dodgers should calculate their own tax duties and then make the payment at the banks. After that, they must fill an asset declaration and drop it at the nearest tax office to get a tax amnesty notice from the Finance Minister.

Once they receive the notice from the minister, they will need to open a special account at one of the banks appointed by the government to manage repatriated assets — that is, if they do decide to also bring home their assets.

Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) said it has 1,070 branches and 120 service centers ready across Indonesia to help the tax dodgers declare their assets.

BRI also offers a one-stop service that provides a selection of investment instruments for the tax dodgers to keep their declared assets — including time deposits, multi-currency savings, bonds, medium-term notes, negotiable certificate of deposit, bancassurance and mutual funds.