The Directorate General of Taxation is seeking the dismissal of tax officer Gayus Tambunan for his alleged involvement in a corruption case involving Rp 25 billion (US$2.75 million) of funds.Director General of Taxation M. Tjiptardjo said in Jakarta on Friday that he would request the minister to fire Gayus, who may have fled the country shortly after the court acquitted him in a money laundering and embezzlement case last week.
Tjiptardjo said that the directorate general will also examine other tax officials who have worked with Gayus to anticipate other possible violations.
“I won’t stop there. Other officials, his bosses, will be examined. This is embarrassing. I will eradicate [the tax office] of corruption,” he said.
Tjiptardjo added that Gayus had admitted he received Rp 370 million from taxpayers. “Based on a temporary report, he admitted to receiving Rp 370 million. We will examine his tax returns to check whether there are other funds,” he said.
Gayus said the Rp 25 billion found in his bank account belonged to businessman Andi Kosasih, but Tjiptardjo is suspicious about that. Gayus told the police earlier that Andi, a businessman from Batam, transferred the Rp 25 billion fund to his account to buy a plot of land in Jakarta. Andi is currently under police investigation.
Tjiptardjo said the case should be settled immediately otherwise taxpayers might be reluctant to pay taxes for fear their money could be used in corruption incidents.
“We don’t want the people not to pay taxes. We will ensure our bureaucracy is clean,” he said.
Gayus’ case has now been scrutinized by the Directorate of Internal Compliance for Official Resources Transformation at the Directorate General of Taxation.
The Directorate General of Taxation and the Directorate General of Customs and Excise are responsible for 70 percent of total state revenue.
Inspector General Hekinus Manao at the Finance Ministry said he would work with the Financial Transactions Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK) to scrutinize the transactions in Gayus’ account.
“We want to see the inflow and outflow of transactions in Gayus’ account. We will ask the PPATK,” he said. Hekinus also said he would check companies whose tax files were handled by Gayus for possible violations.
“We will check Gayus’ background, including which companies he worked with,” he said.
Also Friday, Mulyani installed members of the Taxation Supervisory Committee, whose main task is to support the finance minister in supervising tax officials and addressing taxpayers’ complaints.
Former director general of customs and excise Anwar Suprijadi was elected as chairman, while former director general of budgetary affairs Abdul Anshari Ritonga the vice chairman. Other members are Hekinus, professionals Shidarta Utama and Hikmahanto Juwana.
source : thejakartapost
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