Indonesia - Not as Polite or Friendly As They Say

Today, a toll both operator in Bogor got the surprise of a lifetime.  A "bule" [me] almost pulled him out of his toll both and beat him senseless !!

I was driving back into our development where we live in Bogor this morning off of the toll road highway.  The toll from where I went this morning one exit up the toll road north towards Jakarta to the Circuit Sentul exit is 1,000 IDR (rupiah).  I handed the toll operator a 10,000 IDR bill.  He handed me my change, and I drove off.  As I was driving off, I looked at the change in my hand and notice there was no receipt ticket or "bon" / "kwitansi".  This made me next notice that the toll operator had [purposely] shortchanged me and given me back only 4,000 IDR (in two, 2,000 IDR crisp new bills) when my change should have been 9,000 IDR (10,000 - 1,000 toll = 9,000 change) shortchanging me by 5,000 IDR.  

I stopped the car by the side of the road about 40-50 yards (about 41 meters) from the tool booth, and though to myself that I can either:

A)  just forget about it, and drive off and consider it a charitable contribution; or

B)  walk back to the toll operator's booth I had just come from and teach that SON-OF-A-BITCH a  lesson he'll never forget !

I chose option B, and when the toll operator saw my face in his window and me standing there right after a truck had gone through he got the surprise of a lifetime!  NEVER FUK WITH A BULE AMERICAN, EVER AGAIN !  I had to be restrained by a "security guard" or else I would have pulled him out of his booth by his neck.  I got my correct change back.

The point here is not about the money.  We are only talking mere cents in American USD.  The point is about the PRINCIPLE of him assuming I was a stupid ignorant "bule" he could cheat and get one over on.  That toll operator will think twice before cheating a "bule" again.  The funny part is that he thinks he is done with me now; but I am going back to his booth again later today for "round #2" lambasting and berating !!!   LOL

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In another related incident of Indonesians trying to "get one over on you" I pulled into the Pertamina gas filling station earlier this morning on my way up the toll (related to story above) and was waiting in line or "queue" to get some gas behind another automobile.  As I was there waiting for the car in front to finish and pull up, a couple motorbikes (not just one) squeezed in right in front of me (without waiting in queue) by driving through the very marginal space between my car and the pump island pulling up ahead of me to get their gas in front of me.  Their (the Indonesian) way of thinking probably goes something like this:

"I only have a small little 1-2 gallon (5-7 liter) tank and I will be done quickly so why should I have to wait behind that automobile which may take a minute or so to re-fuel?!  I am more important than that car in front of me is, and I need to get along and out of here quickly so I'll just cut in on him/her and it's ok because that's my right any way, and I'll be on my way and (s)he will not have to wait for nearly as long as I would have to wait for them if I stayed in queue behind them"

Ironically, the pump attendant is also thinking along the same lines,

"yeah, just pull right up here in front of the car you were behind and I'll fill you up so you can get on your way more quickly and in front of the automobile you were just behind - you shouldn't have to wait in queue behind anyone, you deserve to go first because you only have a motorbike"

Today, neither the motorbikes nor the pump attendant got their way(s) as I opened my window to say something and shook my finger at the pump attendant, saying that I WAS FIRST and if he took that hose and stuck it into the motorbikes tank first I would take the hose and nozzle and shove it down his GD throat!!

It shouldn't be necessary to have to do either of the two things I had to do today with either the toll operator or the gas station attendant.  Although, Indonesia may be known for its smiling people and general good-natured affable propensities, and not liking conflict; they are also some of the rudest self-centered bastards I have ever had the displeasure of being around since living here.  

In other countries I have been to when taking a photograph of someone I was with or scenery, people of other countries or nationalities will see what you're doing and [politely] not walk directly in between you and the subject your photographing, but will either wait or go around.  Not in Indonesia - again, they couldn't care less and will walk right between you and you'll actually have to put your hand out to tell them to wait a few seconds. Indonesians may be polite on a one-on-one basis; but in a group or in public they are the one of the rudest nationalities I've ever been around.

The epitome of this is yet another recent true story. On the way back to Jakarta recently from Belitung on a Sriwijaya flight, the plane landed and was at the gate and everyone began taking their articles from the over-head bins and were beginning to disembark.  I got out of the isle in polite queue, got my bag from the over-head and was waiting for the people in front of me to move. I felt someone pushing me from behind, and a man a few people behind me actually had the BALLS to say, "sir can you move" even though there were plenty of other people in front of me who were slowly processing and making their way out of the cabin.  I turned around and gestured for him to [try] to crawl over me!!  

If only the bureaucrats and politicians would behave in office like the motorbikes, "ojeks" and people disembarking aircraft having to cut-in and around other people in traffic without waiting in any queue like they were really really late for the second coming of the prophet Muhammad (or Jesus Christ as the case is unlikely to be since this a majority Muslim/Islamic country) then things would actually get DONE around here for a much needed and welcomed change !!

Expatriation (and Income Tax)

The headline news that co-founder of Facebook, Eduardo Sevarin, gave up or renounced his U.S. citizenship to avoid income and estate tax could result in increased interest in expatriation. 

This story is interesting on several fronts. First, people talk about tensions between different countries, but there clearly is a growing international capitalist and cultural elite where borders don't really matter. These people wield immense power and Facebook’s Eduardo Severin will continue to have more power in America than most Americans.

Second, this may be an example of a trend where recent immigrants to the U.S. are not really interested in staying in the country long-term. A more common example is students at universities returning to Asia, or even “maternity tourism” where mothers from foreign countries “drop” their baby(s) on U.S. soil to give the child U.S. citizenship for some future “insurance policy” or “legacy”.  Fundamentally, Americans have to ask themselves if they really want to share U.S. citizenship with people that don't seem to have a strong commitment to being here or who will become "traitors".  The legal definition of a U.S. citizen must change for immigration, cultural and other valid reasons.

It is also clear that the U.S. needs to change the tax code in light of Severin’s “Benedict Arnold” maneuver. The fact that this guy can benefit from the entire U.S. legal and economic framework and simply lower his tax obligations by leaving the country is ludicrous and shocks the senses.

The process of giving up one’s U.S. citizenship, however, has many consequences and needs to be explored here; especially for those taxpayers who have assets or property offshore.

• To expatriate legally, a U.S. citizen must file Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Form 8854 Initial and Annual Expatriate Statement in which they certify that they are in compliance with U.S. Federal tax laws. It also requires notice to the Department of State and to the Department of Homeland Security as to the expatriate’s long term residency, or dual residency, in another country. It also requires the expatriate to make a declaration as to which country’s tax treaty or foreign tax credits they are invoking or claiming. A disclosure must also be made with regard to foreign assets and foreign income reporting.

• The soon to be expatriate must also pay an exit tax of 15% of the appreciated value of all their property subject to a statutory exclusion of $600,000 adjusted for inflation.

• A taxpayer must obtain or already have a second citizenship before surrendering their U.S. Passport at a U.S. Embassy and filing IRS Form 8854, otherwise the expatriate will be a “stateless” person.

• For additional information please see: IRS Notice 2009-85 – Guidelines for Expatriates Under Section 877a.

A reason for renouncing citizenship is to limit the income and estate taxes. The elimination of the “Bush Tax” when it expires December 31, 2012 will result in estate taxes being imposed on estates of $1.0M or more instead of $5.12M as it is currently. The estate tax rates will also go up from 35% to 55%. So, an individual who has assets of $5.12 M will have an estate tax of $2,266,000 on January 1,2013 instead of zero now.

For an individual that has assets that are likely to appreciate, the possible increase in capital gains tax when the “Bush” tax cuts expire may also a factor. The capital gains income tax rates will go up from 15% to 20%. That means every $1.0 M in gain costs an additional $50,000.

Both the income and estate, and gift tax apply to worldwide income and worldwide assets.

The choice for some taxpayers, (approximately 1,800 per year) is to give up their U.S. citizenship and move to a jurisdiction which lacks the worldwide approach to assets, property and taxation. Some foreign diaspora who are either foreign born and naturalized U.S. citizens or who were born in the U.S. may move back to their original country of origin or “motherland”; while others will take up citizenship in other “tax havens”.

Expatriation for some individuals is a form of tax protest; an international or global “Boston Tea Party” if you will. It is not an answer or solution though for those people who currently have unreported foreign financial accounts, and who have failed to file with the Treasury Department the required Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts Report (FBAR). See Form TD F 90-22.1 and Instructions.

People or scofflaws who have failed to comply with rules and laws regarding expatriation and reporting of FBAR’s run the risk of civil and criminal penalties and should highly consider the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (OVDI) “amnesty” type of arrangement rather than considering expatriation as a means to avoid taxation or legal compliance. Another option may be considering immediate gifting programs, including charitable contributions, as part of an individuals’ overall tax planning or asset protection strategies.

If you have a U.S. Passport and are a U.S. Citizen living abroad as an expatriate YOU ARE NOT EXEMPT from the requirement to file a return with the IRS.  I have spoken to several American citizens living in the Jakarta Metro area for many years as an expat who live here with an Indonesian spouse under either a Temporary Social Visit Visa ("KITAS") or a Permanent Resident ("KITAP") and who work and have income in Indonesia from employment or a business enterprise and they [erroneously] believe that their foreign income is exempt from U.S. IRS income tax reporting.

Don't be surprised if one day when you return to the U.S. a sharp and astute U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP) agent questions you about how long you have lived outside of the U.S. and asks you some income related questions.  They do, after all, have access to the "all seeing eye" computer database repository IBIS and TECS which links in with the IRS and other law enforcement agencies.  

To be exempt you would have to denounce your U.S. citizenship and give up your U.S. Passport and be an Indonesian citizen or national.  You cannot have "dual citizenship" by keeping your U.S. Passport and maintaining U.S. citizenship, then claiming to be "Indonesian".  If you are an adult you do not have "dual citizenship".

As a U.S. citizen or resident alien, your worldwide income generally is subject to U.S. income tax regardless of where you are living. Also, you are subject to the same income tax return filing requirements that apply to U.S. citizens or residents living in the United States.

However, several income tax benefits might apply if you meet certain requirements while living abroad. You may be able to exclude from your income a limited amount of your foreign earned income. You also may be able either to exclude or to deduct from gross income your “housing amount” which is the excess, if any, of your allowable housing expenses for the tax year over a “base amount” which is 16% of the annual base salary of U.S. Federal Government employee Grade GS-14 / Step 1 ($84,697 for 2012) figured on a daily basis, times the number of days during the year that you meet the bonafide residence test or the physical presence test. 

Allowable housing expenses are the reasonable expenses (such as rent, utilities other than telephone charges, and real and personal property insurance) paid or incurred during the tax year by you, or on your behalf, for your foreign housing and that of your spouse and dependents if they lived with you. You can include the rental value of housing provided by your employer in return for your services. You can also include the allowable housing expenses of a second foreign household for your spouse and dependents if they did not live with you because of dangerous, unhealthy, or otherwise adverse living conditions at your tax home. Allowable housing expenses do not include the cost of home purchase or other capital items, wages of domestic servants, or deductible interest and taxes.  

To claim these benefits, you must file a tax return and attach Form 2555 Foreign Earned Income. If you are claiming the foreign earned income exclusion only, you may be able to use the shorter Form 2555-EZ, Foreign Earned Income Exclusion, rather than Form 2555.

You may, on your U.S. return, be able to claim a tax credit or an itemized deduction for the foreign income taxes that you pay. Also, under tax treaties or conventions that the United States has with many foreign countries, you may be able to reduce your foreign tax liability. 

See the following IRS publications for further information and instructions:

• Publication 54 - Tax Guide for U.S. Citizens and Resident Aliens Abroad

• Publication 514 - Foreign Tax Credit for Individuals,

• Publication 901 - U.S. Tax Treaties (discuss in detail the treatment of your foreign income, the foreign tax credit, and the general tax treaty benefits available to you.)

Seeking Asylum in the USA Based on Religious Persecution

If a [Christian] Indonesian can’t get a non-immigrant B-1 or B-2 Business or Tourist Visa, or if their immigrant IR-1 Spouse Visa and “Green Card” petition is denied for any reason; they can always use their “ace in the hole” and play down their card seeking asylum in the U.S. on the grounds of suffering “religious persecution” as a Christian by anti-Christian extremist in a majority Muslim/Islamic country.

If you live in Bogor and attend services at GKI Yasmin Church in Bogor, your “religious persecution” claim and "suffering" can most certainly be substantiated and validated and you should be a “shoo-in” for asylum in the U.S.

Any Christian Indonesian seeking to come to the USA has already got an ace up their sleeve whether they realize it or not thanks to notorious hardline extremest groups such as The Islam Defenders Front (FPI) and other extreme and radical Muslim/Islamic groups in Indonesia.   

For more information click on: how to seek Asylum in the USA based on religious persecution, or the fear thereof.

Every year people come to the United States seeking protection because they have suffered persecution or fear that they will suffer persecution due to:

• Race
• Religion
• Nationality
• Membership in a particular social group
• Political opinion

 

On second thought..... if you are a beleaguered Christian in Indonesia, why should you fold like a deck of cards and let them win and run you out of your own country?!  Your right to religious freedom has already been granted to you by the Indonesian Constitution.  

Lobby the President, the Congress, your local or Provincial administrators and the Minister of Religious Affairs to uphold your rights and quash and put an end to religious intolerance and religious terrorism in Indonesia once and for all!