Low, doctors participation in tax amnesty

JAKARTA. Doctor is a profession targeted by tax amnesty program. Directorate General of Taxation recorded low participation of doctors in tax amnesty program in both first and second periods. Directorate General of Taxation is also pursuing the hospitals managements.

Data of Directorate General of Taxation show that only 4% or 7,125 of 177,588 doctors in throughout Indonesia participated in tax amnesty. The doctors involvements in tax amnesty yielded as much as IDR727.1 billion. The tax authority recorded participation only 5%, 4%, and 3% of 114,617 general doctors, 31,748 specialist doctors, and 31,223 dentists, respectively in tax amnesty.

The hospitals also recorded as low as doctors’ participation in the tax amnesty. To date, only 5% or 145 out of 2,583 hospitals have participated in tax amnesty, while only 70 directors of hospitals joined the program.

Director of Counseling, Service, and Public Relations Affairs at Directorate General of Taxation Hestu Yoga Saksama said that a doctor is a taxpayer, who is eligible to join tax amnesty.

According to Hestu, the doctors become the target, since most of them only reported the incomes from the hospitals or clinics where they work after income tax on their annual tax letters. In this case, the doctors did not report other incomes. “Some doctors open private practice at their houses, while others run pharmacies’, he said.

Director of Indonesian Health Consumers Empowerment Foundation Marius Widjajarta said that the incomes of doctors, who work for hospitals or other health centers, have been deducted automatically by the employees. Marius said that the doctors supposed to not join tax amnesty, except for those who own hospitals or drug factories.

Marius suggested tax authority to distinguish the occupational doctors with other doctors, who own hospital or pharmacy. “The government should not oversimplify”, he said. He said that some doctors, who have not participated in tax amnesty, still do not understand of the tax amnesty rules. “There should be counseling (from government)”, he said. (MUHAMMAD FARID/Translator)