Squeeze until the pips yawn

What an encouraging headline this is, from The Jakarta Post:

Ceremony, pomp as 10 millionth taxpayer feted

The article reports that "the Presidential Palace was suddenly turned into a glamorous stage on Wednesday to celebrate the self-proclaimed success of the Directorate General of Taxation in expanding the taxpayer base to 10 million companies and/or individuals."

Wow. 10 million taxpayers in a country of 220 million people. The latest UNDP report shows that 52% of the population live below $2 per day, so are exempt from taxes (which kick-in at about $150 per month), Of the remainder, 30% are probably under age 15 and 4% over 65 (again, according to the UN stats). This leaves around 60 million people who are currently 'unknown' to the tax authorities. That is almost the population of the UK. Still quite a long way to go then.

Perhaps these refuseniks are simply following the example of Pak Suharto in pursuing personal gain at the expense of the wider community. Transparency International(TI), in its Global Corruption Report, created a list to show how political corruption and private bribery hurt development, and former President Suharto of Indonesia tops the all-time corruption league table.

Suharto's alleged haul of $15-$35bn in 31 years of rule, TI said, demonstrated how abuse of power "undermines the hopes... of developing countries". Let us not forget how some of this graft came about from UK arms manufacturers such as Alvis and BAe Systems, using the Export Credit Guarantee Scheme to ensure the deal was underwritten by the UK taxpayer.

Another recent Jakarta Post headline less encouragingly reports:

An Indonesian bears $600 in debt

The paper reports that the fact that "...one in five Indonesians still lives on less than US$1 a day is made even gloomier by the fact that every person in the country — including those extremely poor and even newborn babies — already has nearly Rp 6 million (US$600) in debt to shoulder.

Such a sad, but true reality was unveiled on Monday when Minister of Finance Jusuf Anwar told the House of Representatives’ Commission XI for financial affairs that Indonesia’s outstanding debt through this year’s first quarter amounted to Rp 1.28 quadrillion (some US$128 billion), or 52 percent of the 220-million population’s gross domestic product (GDP)."

The legacy of Suharto, and the Western politicians who supported him as a bulwark against communism, continues to drain this country of cash, natural resources and hope. Seen in this context, perhaps it is remarkable that as many as 10 million Indonesians bother to pay their taxes.