May 22 2017
With a stroke of a pen, President Joko Widodo effectively ended banking secrecy in Indonesia by issuing a decree last Tuesday to grant more powers to the taxman. The move means all banks, insurance firms and financial institutions must open their books to both the local and foreign tax authorities when ordered to do so for tax collection purposes. Starting from April next year, they must also automatically report the identity of any client who deposits more than 500 million rupiah (S$52,000).