- Title: Indonesian workers protest against tax amnesty
- Date: 29th September 2016
- Summary: JAKARTA, INDONESIA (SEPTEMBER 29, 2016) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS MARCHING STREET WITH FLAGS, BANNERS AND PLACARDS WORKERS HOLDING LARGE BANNER READING (Bahasa Indonesia): "JOKOWI AND JUSUF KALLA ADMINISTRATION HAS FAILED, THEY PREFER TO PROTECT THE CAPITAL OWNERS AND RICH PEOPLE" VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS MARCHING STREET VARIOUS OF POLICE OFFICERS STANDING BY PROTESTERS HOLDING BANNER PROTESTER WEARING BANDANA OVER FACE PLACARDS READING (Bahasa Indonesia, English): "REJECT TAX AMNESTY, IT DOES NOT SUPPORT THE SMALL CITIZENS", "TAX AMNESTY REGULATION IS AN ORDER FROM THE TAX DODGERS". PROTESTERS HOLDING PLACARDS (SOUNDBITE) (Bahasa Indonesia) PRESIDENT OF THE CONFEDERATION OF INDONESIAN WORKERS UNION, SAID IQBAL, SAYING: "All the workers and poor people diligently paid their taxes. If we didn't pay the tax on time, we paid the charges. But the big capital owners, corporations, rich people, they didn't pay their taxes for years and years. Then suddenly, those tax dodgers are being pardoned. This is about a sense of justice." WORKERS UNION FLAGS FLYING PROTESTERS STANDING, LISTENING PROTESTERS WALKING ON STREET
- Embargoed: 14th October 2016 09:41
- Keywords: Indonesia protest tax tax amnesty Jakarta march
- Location: JAKARTA, INDONESIA
- City: JAKARTA, INDONESIA
- Country: Indonesia
- Topics: Budget/Taxation/Revenue,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA00151MAXXH
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Thousands of Indonesian union workers marched to the heart of Jakarta on Thursday (September 29) to protest against a government tax amnesty scheme, which they say unfairly pardons wealthy tax dodgers.
The amnesty program, launched in July, is a top priority for President Joko Widodo who needs the repatriated funds to help cover a large budget deficit and broaden the tax base.
However, a rising number of blue-collar workers, who make up the bulk of Indonesia's workforce, consider it unconstitutional because they say it forgives the past crimes of rich taxpayers.
"All the workers and poor people diligently paid their taxes... But the big capital owners, corporations, rich people, they didn't pay their taxes for years and years. Then suddenly, those tax dodgers are being pardoned. This is about a sense of justice," Said Iqbal, the president of the Confederation of Indonesian Workers Union, told Reuters.
Iqbal said there could be further protests, including work stoppages, if the government continued with the amnesty.
His union, along with three other groups, have filed legal action against it in Indonesia's Constitutional Court. That has created some uncertainty over its future, with a court ruling not expected for weeks.
But the government has vigorously defended the program, and is banking on it to bring in 165 trillion rupiah ($12.60 billion) in 2016 to help keep the budget deficit from breaching a legal limit of 3 percent of gross domestic product.
Friday (September 30) marks the end of the amnesty's first phase, during which the lowest penalties for registering previously unreported assets applied. The penalty rates will rise after September under the program, which lasts until March 2017. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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