Gayus et al

Gayus Hamonan Tambunan was "just" a "small guy" at Director General of Tax with US$1300/month salary but with US$3.04 million in his bank account after less than five years as "civil servant". How many people out there like Gayus, not only at Tax Office, but Finance Ministry, other ministries, National Police, Attorney General's Office and State institutions?

According to Tax Office, Gayus handled 51 tax cases since 2007, of which Tax Office loose the court battle over 40 cases. Well, it's a must for Tax Office to review the cases handled by Gayus, who knows the State could recover more from the big taxpayers.

Gayus salary of US$1300 per month is already way above the national average. Still, it's hard to imagine someone with that salary could buy a luxury house in Gading Park View, apartment in Cempaka Mas, and luxury cars.

Combined, Gayus might be "wealthier" than Hadi Poernomo, former director general of tax, who claimed he has Rp38.8 billion of assets.

A friend of mine had just purchased a big house in Jakarta from a tax officer with total value over US$250,000. "He was in a hurry to sell the house. I was lucky to pay half of the market price," the friend proudly informed about his "bargain house".

Other Gayuses worked smarter, let's say through "legal framework", such as amendment of tax laws or incentives (lower tax rate for companies with over 40% shares controlled by public)...Lots of companies enjoyed lower tax payment of hundreds of billion rupiah due to this tax incentive. Guess how many politicians enjoyed lot bigger than Gayus from helping companies get lower tax rate, saving hundreds of billion rupiah with few billion of rupiahs "investment" in politicians and their flashy campaigns?

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