JAKARTA. The secretary-general of the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), Hasto Kristiyanto, has called on the government to fight the tax mafia to eliminate tax evasion in the country.

“Now is the time for the government to crack down on the tax mafia. At the same time, it should also make fundamental changes in its budget policy in the 2015 revised budget draft,” Kristiyanto said as quoted by Antara here on Friday.

According to him, the government can take various measures, such as introducing online tax payments, tax auction in every regional tax office, measuring its objective performance and increasing the country’s tax collection ratio, which is still low at 52.8 percent.

Mitsubishi Destinator: Investasi Terbaik Mobil Keluarga untuk Jangka Panjang

“To significantly improve the health of the state budget, we must crack down on the tax mafia,” he added.

The PDI-P’s central executive board would support the government’s efforts to fight the tax mafia, he remarked.

Last week, the government banned 168 tax payers from leaving the country for showing no good faith to pay their tax arrears. The recalcitrant taxpayers were banned from leaving the country on fears that they would not settle their unpaid taxes, which amounted more to Rp 100 million (US$8,000) each.

The ban will remain for up to six months and will be extended by another six months.

Among the defaulters are 40 foreign tax payers from some Asian countries, the US, Australia, and Europe each with a total debt of Rp 57.2 billion, and 128 Indonesians with a total debt of Rp541.6 billion.