The profusion of "rich lists" issued by organisations such as Hurun, Forbes or the UK's Sunday Times can be a decidedly mixed blessing, as this article highlights.

Appearing on “rich lists” of glossy publications comes at a price, so it appears.

A report by the Jakarta Post says some people listed on a Forbes magazine list of the richest Indonesians have not yet registered for the country's tax amnesty programme.

The JP quoted a spokesperson from the Finance Ministry’s Directorate General of Taxation as saying the organisation will examine those wealthy Indonesians who have not taken part in the amnesty soon after the amnesty programme ends, due later in March. 

“A significant portion of big taxpayers have taken part in the tax amnesty, only a few haven’t. They will be given special attention,” the spokesperson was quoted as saying.

The organisation will check data it has received from rich businesspeople who had taken part in the tax amnesty with other data that the office has to make sure that all the wealthy individuals have complied with taxation regulations.

The tax amnesty programme is designed to repatriate tens of billions of dollars the government believes has been stashed away in jurisdictions such as Singapore. (To see an article on how the programme has affected bankers in Singapore, click here.) The programme is among dozens of amnesties run by governments around the world to chase after undeclared cash. 

From next year, a second wave of countries will adopt the Common Reporting Standard, a global framework under which nations agree to exchange data to foil tax evaders and their use of foreign bank accounts. The CRS is seen as spelling the death of bank secrecy in countries such as Switzerland.