JAKARTA: In the Dutch language, gijzeling means to take someone hostage. In Indonesia, that’s how authorities describe their strategy to deal with tax dodgers, throwing dozens of people in jail as part of a national crackdown.
Eight months after the government closed an amnesty programme that gave Indonesians a chance to come clean on their tax affairs, it’s taking aggressive action to deal with those who still haven’t paid up. Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati makes no apologies as she races to meet a 1,473 trillion rupiah (US$108bil) tax revenue target with just two months to go before the end of the financial year.