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Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati on Tuesday asked the
Constitutional Court to reject the Supreme Audit Agency's request for a
judicial review of the law on taxation.
"We have never deprived the agency from accessing any information
related to taxation," Sri said during a court session to review Law No.
28/2007 on general rules and procedures of taxation.
The agency is seeking to amend the law, particularly an article
stipulating that it can access government data on tax revenue only with
the permission of the Finance Ministry.
Agency head Anwar Nasution earlier argued an amendment was necessary to
improve the tax administration and to prevent corruption.
Responding to Anwar's argument, Sri said unfettered access to the
state's tax revenue records would infringe on the confidentiality of
taxpayer information, which was protected by law.
"Our Constitution guarantees people's right to keep their personal
information confidential. Hence, protecting taxpayers' personal
information is in line with the Constitution," Sri said.
Sri said there was no evidence that requiring the agency to seek
Finance Ministry permission to access government tax data violated the
Constitution, therefore the court should throw out its request for a
judicial review.
During the same session, the director general of taxation at the
Finance Ministry, Darmin Nasution, dismissed the audit agency's claim
that greater access to tax records would generate more tax revenue for
the government.
"I don't see the logic in that," Darmin said.
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