House to deliberate tax amnesty bill after recess

JAKARTA. The deliberation of a draft tax amnesty bill will likely start in April, when the House of Representatives resumes its sitting session, a lawmaker has said.

“We are anticipating that the deliberation process will be conducted as soon as the recess period ends,” House Deputy Speaker Agus Hermanto said after a plenary meeting at the House complex in Senayan, Central Jakarta.

The delay will affect the House’s initial target of passing the draft bill into law before entering its recess period on March 18.

Separately, House Deputy Speaker Fadli Zon confirmed that the deliberation would likely take place after the recess. “The deliberation depends on the stance of political party factions within the House’s Steering Committee (Bamus). There are also other agenda items that must be immediately finished and the House schedule is tight right now,” Fadli said.

Last week, the House postponed discussions on the draft tax amnesty bill, saying the factions needed more time to study the draft comprehensively.

During a Bamus meeting on Feb. 25, leaders of the House's factions asked for more time to consider the draft bill, which was submitted by the government on Feb. 23. “We decided to delay the discussion of the draft tax amnesty bill until the upcoming Bamus meeting, when all factions will give suggestions and will understand the draft bill clearly," Agus, who led the meeting, told the press.

Fadli, who is a Gerindra Party lawmaker, said his faction was currently studying the draft although it tended to reject the government’s bill initiatives.

The bill would allow taxpayers to apply for an amnesty between January and March to pay only 2 percent of the value of their assets as a penalty for unpaid dues. The penalty will increase to 3 percent if the application is lodged between April and June, and to 5 percent if a taxpayer submits his or her amnesty application between July and December. (Erika Anindita Dewi)