May 10, 2016 edition
Over the past year, the government has been aggressively pursuing negligent taxpayers. President Joko Widodo set a goal of Rp1.29 quadrillion for 2015, but the government was only able to collect Rp1.06 quadrillion. This year, the target has been increased to Rp1.55 quadrillion.
Several factors have prevented the government from reaching its target. One is that businessmen have stashed huge sums of untaxed money abroad. To reach its target, the government is planning to pardon these tax dodgers in the hope they will start paying taxes again.
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More Indicator articles in other editions
May 3, 2016 edition
THE government has not budged from its refusal to apologize for the September 30, 1965 tragedy, when hundreds of thousands of Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) members and those thought to be affiliated with the group were killed or arrested and held for years without trial. Vice President Jusuf Kalla said the victims of the tragedy had been the army generals whom PKI members allegedly killed in an attempted coup.
Both the families of generals and the families of those killed and jailed in the ensuing crackdown have been wronged.
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April 26, 2016 edition
After being exposed by the Panama Papers, Icelandic Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugson chose to step down. A similar fate befell Spain's Industry, Energy and Tourism Minister Jos Manuel Soria, while British Prime Minister David Cameron has been forced to release his tax returns in the face of public protest.
So what about Indonesia? It was easy to predict how those linked to the documents would react-denial.
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April 19, 2016 edition
JAKARTA Governor Basuki Tjahaja 'Ahok' Purnama says no one can manipulate his leadership. The pledge was made after the Corruption Eradication Committee (KPK) slapped a travel ban on staff member Sunny Tanuwidjaja for allegedly bribing a Jakarta lawmaker from the Great Indonesia Movement (Gerindra) Party, Mohamad Sanusi, in relation to the Jakarta Bay reclamation project.
The KPK confiscated Rp140 million and US$8,000 from a Rp1 billion agreed-upon fee. Sunny is suspected of acting as the middle man between Sanusi and a group of investors involved in the reclamation project. These firms were united in opposition to a hike in 'added contribution' that was then being debated at the Jakarta City Council (DPRD).
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April 12, 2016 edition
'TO hit with someone else's hand'.
This may be the best way to describe the fishermen angry over a bevy of new regulations passed by Fisheries and Marine Affairs Minister Susi Pudjiastuti. Several of these groups sent data to Vice President Jusuf Kalla, allegedly indicating mass layoffs and diminishing incomes as a result of her policies.
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April 5, 2016 edition
THE emergence of app-based taxis has aroused the ire of conventional taxi companies. On March 22, hundreds of taxi drivers under the Association of Land Transport Drivers (Organda) held a demonstration in Jakarta. The rally triggered huge traffic jams and turned violent in several locations.
The taxi drivers wanted the government to ban the apps. They complained of losing customers to the cheaper, friendlier, faster service. Their incomes, they said, plummeted.
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March 29, 2016 edition