Jakarta (ANTARA News) - President Joko Widodo has asked Finance Minister Sri Mulyani to complete all regulations on implementation of the tax amnesty without any delay.

Regulations on the tax amnesty must be completed soon, so the program could be carried out, Minister Mulyani said at the presidential palace, here on Thursday, after receiving a directive by the President on the tax amnesty for officials of the tax directorate general of the finance ministry.

The tax amnesty program has a specific period, therefore there should be no delay in its implementation, she quoted the President as saying.

The tax amnesty program is effective from July 15 to September 2016, and is designed to be a significant incentive for taxpayers, since the compensation interest to be charged is only two percent, according to the minster.

"We are trying, during the period from now until September, to create trust building, convenience and, finally, success in developing a tax system," she said.

The president asked every tax officer to not only be ready to implement the tax amnesty program, but also to secure the state revenue, in general.

For that purpose, tax officers should be honest, professional and have no conflicts of interest.

In his directives, President Jokowi said he believed that the momentum to carry out the tax amnesty is right at present, as the public has been enthusiastic in attending the tax amnesty education sessions that have been held.

The tax amnesty socialization activities have been well received, as the number of people attending the events were larger than those invited for the events, he explained.

"From three socialization activities that we have carried out, I have seen huge enthusiasm from the public and businessmen. In Surabaya, 2,000 people were invited, and 2,700 people came. In Medan, it was even more. 3,000 people were invited, and 3,500 people came to the event," the President said.

Jokowi is scheduled to carry out the tax amnesty sessions in Makassar, Jakarta, and even Singapore.

In addition to tax officers, the Presidents directive event was also attended by Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Darmin Nasution, Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Wiranto, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani, Governor of Bank Indonesia Agus Martowardoyo, National Police Chief General Tito Karnavian, and Attorney General Muhammad Prasetyo.(*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
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