Government issues regulation to end bank secrecy
The Indonesian government on Tuesday issued a regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) to end bank secrecy in the country, with officials of tax offices allowed to directly access bank accounts owned by both Indonesian citizens and foreigners.
Perppu No. 1/2017 on financial information access for taxation purposes was signed by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo on May 8.
Coordinating Economic Minister Darmin Nasution confirmed that the Perppu applied to customers of both Indonesian banks and foreign banks.
“We used to have a regulation only for accessing foreign bank customers. But now the regulation is for customers of both foreign and Indonesian banks,” Darmin said as reported by kontan.co.id on Wednesday, adding that the Perppu annulled all regulations ensuring bank secrecy.
Under the Perppu, the Directorate General of Taxation is allowed to access bank accounts without having to secure permits from the Finance Minister or Bank Indonesia governor. Before the Perppu was released, the Directorate General of Taxation was required to get a permit from both institutions before accessing a bank account.
