Gov't Increases Threshold for Automatic Bank Information Exchange
Jakarta. The Ministry of Finance will increase the minimum threshold for bank accounts to be subject to automatic bank information exchange to ease the burden of small businesses and to simplify banking administration, the ministry said in a statement on late Wednesday (07/06).
Under the new policy, only a bank account with at least Rp 1 billion ($75,000) will be entered into the information exchange system for the ministry's tax directorate general.
The current system, which is enforced by the ministry's regulation 70/PMK.03/2017, requires those with bank accounts worth minimum Rp 200 million to be entered by banks to the system.
"The government has heard that people have been asking to make the regulation reflect fairness and support for the micro, small and medium enterprises, and to simplify administration," the statement said.
A higher threshold will allow micro, small and medium enterprises to grow before they become scrutinized by the tax office.
The statement came late on Wednesday, just days after the government released a ministerial regulation on how bank information should be collected and managed.
The current regulation was released to combat tax evasion.
Center for Indonesia Taxation Analysis (CITA) executive director Yustinus Prastowo, said changing the regulation midway may not be the best move, but it is a necessity knowing that it still needs the House of Representatives to enact it.
"The timing [to lower the threshold] is not right amid the rising staple food prices and Idul Fitri celebrations," he said.
"I think [the Rp 1 billion threshold] is pretty moderate, especially if the government imposes an aggregate bank account balance which could list several accounts owned by an individual," he said.
According to the statement, there are about 496,000 savings accounts with a balance above Rp 1 billion, or 0.25 percent of all savings accounts in the country.
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