Tax officers cannot directly access bank account information: Official

The Directorate General of Taxation has given assurances that the government will strictly regulate the accessing of banking information by tax officers to avoid irregularities.

Regulation in Lieu of Law (Perppu) No. 1/2017 on financial information access for tax purposes has ended the country’s bank secrecy regime as it allows tax officers to access information regarding the accounts of bank customers. The Perppu was issued to enable the country to commit to the Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI).

Director General of Taxation Ken Dwijugiasetiadi said on Tuesday that his office was preparing a supporting regulation on procedures for tax officers who can access bank customers’ financial information.

The criteria for authorized officers will also be included in the regulation, he added.

“Not all tax officers will be able to directly approach banks and ask for customers’ financial information,” Ken said as quoted by kompas.com, adding that the regulation would have articles that prevented tax officers from abusing their power.

Any tax officer who violates procedure will be severely punished, he said.

Ken said people should not worry about tax officers having the authority to access bank information, stressing that the financial information of bank customers would remain confidential.

Ken also guaranteed that the implementation of the regulation would be supported by information technology that met international security standards.