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Indonesia’s 100 worst tax-dodgers, including a slew of state-owned enterprises and some well-known private and listed companies, owe the state nearly $1.9 billion in back taxes, the Finance Ministry revealed on Thursday.

“As of December 2009, the 100 top tax-dodgers [owed] Rp 17.5 trillion,” Tjiptardjo, the ministry’s tax chief, told a hearing with the House of Representatives’ Commission XI, which oversees finance.

“First we will send a warning letter, then we will force them to pay or we will confiscate their assets. Lastly we will freeze their bank accounts. The point is they have to pay,” he said.

Tjiptardjo revealed that state-owned enterprises on the list owed Rp 7.6 trillion in unpaid taxes at the end of last year. “In 2009, the total balance of taxes owed by state-owned companies was Rp 8.1 trillion. There were also new tax arrears of Rp 2.3 trillion. They paid Rp 2.8 trillion in 2009, so there is still an outstanding balance of Rp 7.6 trillion,” he said.

A Tax Directorate General document distributed to lawmakers showed state oil and gas company PT Pertamina sitting at the top of the list, followed by its subsidiary, Karaha Bodas Co., private pulp and paper firm PT Industri Pulp Lestari and the defunct Indonesian Banking Restructuring Agency.

Also on the list were state lender PT Bank Negara Indonesia, shrimp producer PT Central Proteinaprima (CP Prima), state train operator PT Kereta Api Indonesia, plantation company PT Sampoerna Agro, miner PT Kaltim Prima Coal, cement company PT Holcim Indonesia and flagship air carrier PT Garuda Indonesia.

The document did not reveal how much tax each company owed, nor did it confirm that the ranking was based on the amount owed.

Muhammad Said Didu, secretary for the State-Owned Enterprises Ministry, questioned the figure, saying similar claims were made last year but that the amounts owed turned out to be smaller.

“We need to meet the tax office first to clarify their numbers,” Didu told the Globe. “They tend to miscalculate, [mixing up] the numbers of unpaid taxes with disputed taxes.”

He said the Finance Ministry had agreed not to levy tax on some unprofitable SOEs undergoing restructuring, such as PT Merpati Nusantara Airlines, until they return to profitability.

In response, CP Prima’s corporate communications manager said he was surprised by his company’s presence on list and had no knowledge of it. Garuda Indonesia president director Emirsyah Satar claimed Garuda “never has any tax arrears.”

BNI president director Gatot Suwondo speculated that the bank’s inclusion on the list might be due to confusion over taxation on a Shariah unit.

Bank Bukopin director Tri Joko Prihanto echoed Gatot.

“Bukopin is a good tax payer, and the tax we paid is huge,” he said.

A September 2009 revision of the law on the value-added tax prevented a double-taxing of murabahah , Islamic trade-finance transactions involving a purchase and deferred-payment resale. But the law’s retroactive effects may have confused tax officials when calculating the tax owed, Tri said.

Melchias Markus Mekeng, a Commission XI deputy chairman, said the House would form a working committee to scrutinize how the tax office recorded such huge tax arrears and “how far it has dealt with it.”

The 100 Offenders

The top 100 companies avoiding tax, as listed by the Finance Ministry's Tax Office:

1. Pertamina (Persero)
2. Karaha Bodas Company LLC
3. Industri Pulp Lestari
4. Badan Penyehatan Perbankan Nasional
5. Kalimanis Plywood Industries
6. Siemens Indonesia
7. Angkasa Pura II (Persero)
8. Bentala Kartika Abadi
9. Daya Guna Samudera Tbk
10. Direct Vision
11. Hyaat International-Asiapacific Limited
12. Djarma Aru
13. Televisi Republik Indonesia
14. Likpin LLC
15. Multi Kontrol Indonesia
16. Kereta Api Indonesia (Persero)
17. Bank BNI
18. TH Indo Platations
19. Ing International
20. Surya Dumai Industri Tbk
21. DSM Kaltim Melamine
22. Cosa International Group Limited
23. Bank Bukopin
24. Pasifik Satelit
25. PT Bukit Makmur Mandiri Utama
26. Bank Global International
27. DP3KK
28. Gandhi Memorial International School
29. Sarana Niaga Perdana
30. PT Perdana Karya Perkasa Tbk
31. PT Sampoerna AGro Tbk
32. Seaunion Energy (Limau) LTD
33. Agoda Rimba Irian
34. Total E & P Indonesia
35. Avera Pratama
36. PT Steady Safe Tbk
37. Toyota Tsusho Indonesia
38. Kaltim Prima Coal
39. Jakarta Llyod Kantor Pusat
40. Universal Foodwear Utama Indonesia
41. Sumalindo Lestari Jaya Tbk
42. General Food Industries
43. Inti Indosawit Subur
44. Holcim Indonesia Tbk
45. Kinantan Senaputra
46. Pembangunan Sarana Jaya
47. Planet Electrindo
48. Mobil Exploration Indonesia
49. Textra Amspin
50. Semen Tonasa
51. Kaltim Methanol Industri
52. Eka Manunggal Lestari
53. Perkebunan Nusantara XIV
54. Toyo Denso Indonesia
55. Pertamina Unit Pembekalan
56. Salim Ivomas Pratama
57. Gajah Tunggal Mulia
58. Intimutiara Kimindo
59. Perkebunan Hasil Musi Lestari
60. Petro Oxo Nusantara
61. Dwi Satya Utama
62. Jamsostek (pusat)
63. Wira Insani
64. Ragam Logam
65. PT Catur Gatra Eka Perkasa
66. Persero Perkebunan
67. Pakerin
68. PT Central Proteinaprima Tbk
69. Daesung Eltec Indonesia
70. Merpati Nusantara Arlines
71. Madya Semarang
72. Hyundai Indonesia Motor
73. Aspirasi Luhur
74. Istaka Karya
75. Dongfang Electric Corporation Indonesia Project
76. Cakrawala Mega Indah
77. Gapura ANgkasa
78. Sun Hope Investment
79. Texmaco Taman Synthetics
80. Singgar Mulia
81. Pulau Sambu
82. Il Jin Sun Garment
83. LKBN Antara
84. Pabrik Kertas Tjiwi Kimia
85. Astina Putera
86. Pindo Deli Pulp And Papermills
87. Sragen Abadi Textile Industri
88. Kaltim Parna Industri
89. Korina Semarang
90. Tiga Ombak
91. Menara Tiga Diesel
92. Valu Trada Indonesia
93. Asrigita Prasarana
94. Ivo Mas Tunggal
95. Sinar Kencana Inti Perkasa
96. Mandiri Eka Mandiri
97. Deutsche Bank AG
98. Wirakarya Sakti
99. Gunung Bayan Pratamacoal
100. Garuda Indonesia