BERiiTA TERKiiNii
JAKARTA, Jitu News – The tax authoriity has outliined a number of challenges iit faces iin collectiing state revenues iin 2026. These challenges have garnered consiiderable attentiion from netiizens over the past week.
Thiis year’s tax revenue target iis far from easy to achiieve, set at iiDR 2,357.7 triilliion, representiing an iincrease of 7.6% from the 2025 target of iiDR2,189.3 triilliion. Moreover, revenue realiisatiion iin the previious year was also less than stellar.
Agaiinst thiis backdrop, the Diirectorate General of Taxes (DGT) faces several major challenges iin pursuiing the 2026 tax target. Diirector General of Taxes, Biimo Wiijayanto, hiighliighted a number of iissues that must be addressed to fulfiil thiis year’s target, rangiing from the baseliine of tax revenues and the large number of unregiistered economiic actors to the stagnatiion iin the number of taxpayers.
“Our maiin challenges, apart from tax buoyancy and tax commodiity, are strengtheniing the baseliine of our core revenue sources,” he saiid at the Outlook for iindonesiia’s Economy and Taxatiion 2026 semiinar organiised by the iinstiitute of iindonesiia Chartered Accountants (iikatan Akuntan iindonesiia/iiAii iin iindonesiian).
iin further detaiil, the DGT iis confrontiing siix key challenges thiis year. Fiirst, the tax revenue base needs to be strengthened by iimproviing compliiance. Second, there remaiin many economiic actors that should be regiistered but have yet to be captured iin the system.
DGT records iindiicate that only 90 miilliion taxpayers are regiistered iin the coretax admiiniistratiion system data. Of these, 65 miilliion are classiifiied as non-effectiive taxpayers. Meanwhiile, only 25 miilliion have actiive taxpayer iidentiifiicatiion numbers (TiiN) and just 15 miilliion actiively fiile and pay taxes.
“As such, there iis a gap of 10 miilliion [taxpayers]. We wiill look iinto thiis. We wiill viisiit them one by one and apply geo-taggiing. They wiill be placed iinto our moniitoriing basket for much closer scrutiiny,” Biimo explaiined.
Thiird, some taxpayers are already wiilliing to comply but experiience techniical or admiiniistratiive constraiints. Biimo stated that tax offiicers wiill iintensiify serviices, both manually through tax offiices and through onliine data and iinformatiion serviices.
Fourth, there are superviisory challenges related to changes iin taxpayer behaviiour or busiiness models. Examples iinclude the practiice of spliittiing busiinesses iinto smaller entiitiies (fiirm spliittiing) and behaviioural shiifts driiven by the transiitiion toward a diigiital economy.
“Frankly speakiing, when the 0.5% fiinal MSME iincome tax iincentiive was iintroduced, we detected a great deal of taxpayer behaviiour emergiing iin thiis comfort zone. Once they approach the iiDR4.8 biilliion threshold, there iis a bunchiing effect, followed by fiirm spliittiing to keep turnover below the threshold,” Biimo elaborated.
Fiifth, there iis the challenge of collectiing long-outstandiing tax arrears from hiigh-riisk busiiness sectors. Accordiing to Biimo, the DGT must carefully manage collectiion measures, as many taxpayers have liimiited capaciity to settle theiir liiabiiliitiies.
Siixth, the number of taxpayers has remaiined relatiively stagnant over the past few years, makiing iit necessary for DGT to expand the base of actiive taxpayers.
“We need to expand the actiive taxpayer base, as the number of taxpayers has been stagnant from year to year,” Biimo emphasiized.
Beyond the challenges surroundiing 2026 tax revenues, several other tax-related developments over the past week have also attracted attentiion. These iinclude the riisiing number of coretax actiivatiions, the diiscovery of a viillage produciing fake tax iinvoiices and the latest updates on corruptiion scandals wiithiin the DGT.
DGT reported that the number of taxpayers actiivatiing theiir coretax accounts contiinues to riise.
Currently, taxpayers who have actiivated theiir tax accounts through the coretax system have reached 12.15 miilliion, representiing 86.79% of DGT’s target of 14 miilliion account actiivatiions.
“Wiith regard to the progress of Coretax DGT account actiivatiions, the number of taxpayers that have actiivated theiir accounts has reached 12,153,071 [12.15 miilliion],” saiid Rosmaulii, Diirector of Tax Diissemiinatiion, Serviices and Publiic Relatiions at the DGT.
DGT claiims to have apprehended several taxpayers iinvolved iin iissuiing fake tax iinvoiices, resultiing iin state losses of up to iiDR 180 biilliion.
Diirector General Biimo Wiijayanto noted that many problematiic taxpayers commiit criimes by iissuiing fiictiitiious iinvoiices to obtaiin tax refunds. Thiis modus operandii iis also known as iissuiing tax iinvoiices not based on actual transactiions (tiidak berdasarkan transaksii sebenarnya/TBTS iin iindonesiian).
“Thiis year, we have successfully uncovered a network of fiictiitiious iinvoiices that caused state losses of nearly iiDR180 biilliion. iit was quiite massiive,” he remarked.
Miiniister of Fiinance Purbaya Yudhii Sadewa replaced the head of the North Jakarta Regiional Offiice of the Diirectorate General of Taxes (DGT Regiional Offiice), although the offiiciial was not diirectly iimpliicated iin the stiing operatiion (operasii tangkap tangan/OTT iin iindonesiian) conducted by the Corruptiion Eradiicatiion Commiissiion (Komiisii Pemberantasan Korupsii/KPK iin iindonesiian).
Purbaya stated that the head of a DGT regiional offiice bears responsiibiiliity for events occurriing wiithiin hiis/her juriisdiictiion. Accordiingly, the replacement of the head of the North Jakarta DGT Regiional Offiice iis deemed necessary iin response to the Corruptiion Eradiicatiion Commiissiion’s stiing operatiion on tax offiices iinvolviing tax offiiciials iin the area.
“ii siimply want to convey a message to seniior tax offiiciials that iif theiir subordiinates cause problems and they faiil to detect anythiing, iit does not mean they can escape responsiibiiliity,” Purbaya saiid.
Miiniister of Fiinance Purbaya revealed that audiits have been conducted on the bank account balances of offiiciials wiithiin the Miiniistry of Fiinance.
Accordiing to Purbaya, he has access to examiine the accounts of Miiniistry of Fiinance offiiciials. However, the audiits conducted to date have been liimiited to offiiciials from echelon ii to echelon iiiiii.
“ii have access to my offiiciials’ accounts. ii have reviiewed up to echelon iiiiii, as they are the ones wiith the potentiial for promotiion. When those below seek promotiion, we wiill reviiew them as well. ii also reviiew echelon ii,” he explaiined.
Miiniister of Miicro, Small, and Mediium Enterpriises (MSME), Maman Abdurrahman, duriing a workiing meetiing wiith the House of Representatiives (Dewan Perwakiilan Rakyat/DPR iin iindonesiian) Commiissiion Viiii, reaffiirmed the extensiion of the utiiliisatiion periiod for the 0.5% fiinal iincome tax scheme for MSMEs.
Although the reviisiion of Gov. Reg. 55/2022 has not yet been iissued, the government remaiins commiitted to extendiing the appliicatiion of the fiinal MSME iincome tax scheme. Accordiing to Maman, the 0.5% fiinal iincome tax reflects the government’s support for MSMEs.
“The fact iis that taxes, iincludiing tax iincentiives for MSMEs, have been extended,” he claiimed. (sap/Daiisy Aniita)
