Indonesia’s directorate general of taxation has stressed there will be no second tax amnesty as the tax office pursues tax cheats

Directorate spokesman Hestu Yoga Saksama said officials were pursuing those who have not declared their wealth either through asset statement letters or annual tax reports.

“The president has agreed that the tax amnesty was a one-time amnesty. The tax office is intensively enforcing the law.

This is fair for those who participated in the tax amnesty,” said Hestu in Manado on Wednesday as reported by kompas.com.

He said there were many taxpayers who had not declared their wealth, both from those who took part in the nine-month tax amnesty that ended in March and those who have not taken part.

Therefore, he said, Finance Minister Regulation No. 165/2017, which was issued recently, gave an opportunity to taxpayers to immediately declare their hidden wealth without being required to pay fines. – The Jakarta Post

Philippine budget deficit widens

As spending on public goods and services jumped by more than a fourth in October, the Philippine government widened its budget deficit that month by 830 per cent to 21.8 billion pesos (Bt14.06 billion) from 2.3 billion pesos a year ago.

However, the latest data showed that the national government continued to underspend during the first 10 months of the year as expenditures of 2.24 trillion pesos were 7-per cent lower than the programmed disbursements of 2.4 trillion pesos.

The end-October expenditures nonetheless exceeded by a tenth the 2.04 trillion pesos posted in the same 10-month period last year.

In October alone, the amount spent by the national government climbed 28 per cent to 226.9 billion peso from 177 billion peso in the same month last year.

Disbursements that month, however, were lower than the peso 265.6-billion programme .

Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno told reporters on Wednesday that the jump in disbursements last month was the fastest so far this year, reversing the year-on-year declines of 6.9 per cent a year ago and 1.8 per cent a month ago. –Philippine Daily Inquirer

Greater Jakarta light rail cost jumps

The cost of the Greater Jakarta light rail transit (LRT) project, also known as LRT Jabodetabek, will swell to 31 trillion rupiah (US$2.29 billion) from an initial cost of 26.7 trillion rupiah.

Transport Minister Budi Karya Sumadi said the increase was caused by changes in signaling technology.

“It is not swelling. The cost depends on the technology that we will use,” Budi said in Jakarta on Tuesday as reported by tempo.co.

He said the government had two choices of signalling technology, namely fixed block or moving block technology. He said the choice to use moving block technology was the reason for the increase in costs.

He said the use of moving block signalling would help increase capacity on the LRT. “With fixed block technology, the LRT’s capacity will only be 300,000 passengers per day, while with moving block technology, the LRT could transport 430,000 passengers per day,” he added.

There are two LRT lines passing through Jakarta, namely the Greater Jakarta (LRT Jabodetabek) and the Jakarta LRT.

The Greater Jakarta LRT will depart from Bogor, Bekasi, Cawang, Kuningan and terminate at Sudirman Station, while the Jakarta LRT will depart from Kelapa Gading, Rawamangun, Manggarai and also terminate at Sudirman Station. |– The Star, Kuala Lumpur