Cracking the Lid on Bank Secrecy

This year, Angin Prayitno Aji is not messing around. The head of the taxation directorate-general's Central Jakarta regional office said he had held five taxpayers 'hostage' during the first four months of 2016. This detention of someone against their will by tax officials, which is known in Dutch gijzeling, is a last-ditch effort to force a delinquent taxpayer to pay up. The taxation directorate-general has named 2016 'Law Enforcement Year'.

Only one of the five has been released, after being detained for a month. The taxpayer, whose name begins with an 'U', was freed only after paying off a tax debt of Rp1.6 billion.

May 3, 2016