After joining 120 countries in the Automatic Exchange of Information in 2018, the tax office has obtained information about the wealth of Indonesian nationals that is deposited in financial institutions in 65 countries, according to the Finance Ministry’s Taxation Directorate General.

Taxation Director General Robert Pakpahan said the tax office was scrutinizing the data. “We are cross-checking the data with tax identification numbers,” Robert said as reported by kompas.com.

He said the verification process was being carried out very carefully and the office would not immediately publish a list of Indonesians who kept their wealth abroad.

“We believe that the clarification of taxpayer data should be implemented carefully,” Robert said, adding that after the process was complete, the tax office would send the findings to the people in question who should follow it up with the tax office.

He declined to mention the countries that had revealed the wealth of Indonesian nationals. He also did not mention the value of the wealth. He said he would be happy if all the wealth had been included in the relevant documents that had been submitted to the office.

During the tax amnesty from July 2016 to March 2017, Rp 4.8 quadrillion (US$345.24 billion) was declared by wealthy Indonesians, Rp 3.8 quadrillion of which was kept in Indonesia while Rp 1 quadrillion was kept in other countries.

However, according to the Tax Justice Network, at least $331 billion is parked overseas, a much higher figure than the Rp 145 trillion in overseas funds that were repatriated. (bbn)