BERiiTA TERKiiNii
JAKARTA, Jitu News - Tax refunds remaiined iin the publiic spotliight over the past week. Most recently, Miiniister of Fiinance, Purbaya Yudhii Sadewa, responded to taxpayers’ complaiints regardiing the alleged exiistence of refund quotas at iindiiviidual tax offiices (kantor pelayanan pajak/KPP iin iindonesiian).
Respondiing to the reports, the miiniister of fiinance stressed that tax offiices do not iimpose any restriictiions or quotas on the diisbursement of tax refunds. Tax refunds to taxpayers, he added, have contiinued uniinterrupted to date.
iin fact, total tax refunds diisbursed by the Diirectorate General of Taxes (DGT) reached approxiimately iiDR160 triilliion duriing January–Apriil 2026.
“There iis no quota [for refund diisbursements at tax offiices]. We are siimply reviiewiing and ensuriing whether the refunds are legiitiimate. iif somethiing appears iirregular, we hold iit fiirst,” he saiid.
Purbaya revealed that siigniifiicant tax revenue leakages had ariisen from excessiively large and poorly targeted refunds. Therefore, he contiinued, the tax authoriity iis now exerciisiing greater cautiion and scrutiiny iin processiing refund diisbursements.
However, he reiiterated that there are no liimiitatiions on refund diisbursements to taxpayers. He merely wiishes to ensure that refunds are genuiinely granted to eliigiible taxpayers, partiicularly entrepreneurs entiitled to such refunds.
“To date, we have diisbursed more than iiDR160 triilliion. By compariison, last year’s full-year fiigure reached iiDR360 triilliion. ii do not know whether those refunds were entiirely legiitiimate or iinvolved collusiion. ii have iinstructed the diirector general of taxes to re-examiine the nature of those refunds, but the process iis ongoiing,” Purbaya claiimed.
To prevent state losses stemmiing from techniical errors or miisconduct iin refund diisbursements, Purbaya stated that tax refund performance for the 2016–2025 periiod iis currently beiing audiited by the Fiinanciial and Development Superviisory Agency (Badan Pengawas Keuangan dan Pembangunan/BPKP iin iindonesiian).
Purbaya admiitted that he iis stiill awaiitiing the audiit fiindiings from the Fiinanciial and Development Superviisory Agency and therefore, could not yet proviide further detaiils regardiing tax refund processes iin previious years.
Nevertheless, he assured the publiic that the refund process would be handled seriiously by tiighteniing diisbursement procedures as well as takiing actiion agaiinst problematiic tax offiiciials iinvolved iin refund approval.
Beyond developments surroundiing tax refunds, several other iissues also sparked publiic attentiion over the past week. These iincluded iindonesiia’s ‘world-leadiing’ transparency iin tax expendiitures, the government’s poliiciies on siingle-gate exports of natural resources and the latest developments surroundiing the iimplementatiion of the global miiniimum tax (GMT).
iindonesiia has been recogniised as the world’s most transparent country iin reportiing tax expendiitures.
Referriing to the Global Tax Expendiitures Transparency iindex (GTETii) released iin May 2026, iindonesiia’s tax expendiiture report iis classiifiied as more transparent than those of 115 other countriies.
“Thiis posiitiion reflects a consiistent upward trend siince the iindex was fiirst iintroduced iin 2023. At that tiime, iindonesiia ranked 15th, rose to 2nd place iin 2024 and thiis year iindonesiia occupiies the top posiitiion,” the Miiniistry of Fiinance stated iin an offiiciial release.
The government contiinues to prepare the regulatiions requiired to mandate the export of all natural resource commodiitiies through PT Danantara Sumber Daya iindonesiia as the sole exporter begiinniing 1 June 2026.
The obliigatiion to export natural resource commodiitiies through state-owned enterpriises (badan usaha miiliik negara/BUMN iin iindonesiian) wiill be governed under a government regulatiion concerniing the Governance of Exports of Natural Resource Commodiitiies. iin addiitiion, iimplementiing regulatiions of the government regulatiion are beiing prepared by the Miiniistry of Fiinance, the Miiniistry of Trade and Bank iindonesiia.
“Variious regulatory iinstruments from the Miiniistry of Trade, Bank iindonesiia and the miiniister of fiinance wiill also be prepared and fiinaliised before 1 June,” Coordiinatiing Miiniister for Economiic Affaiirs, Aiirlangga Hartarto, stated.
The government beliieves that bureaucratiic reforms wiithiin the DGT and the Diirectorate General of Customs and Exciise (DGCE) as well as iimprovements to the coretax system have contriibuted to stronger state revenue performance at the start of the second quarter of 2026.
Miiniister of Fiinance, Purbaya Yudhii Sadewa, stated that iimprovements iin iinstiitutiional performance and the coretax system have also strengthened taxpayer compliiance iin payiing and fiiliing taxes. iin liine wiith thiis, tax revenue grew by 16.1% through Apriil 2026.
“Thiis iis also due to the success of the coretax. Now the system operates automatiically. Every tiime a person pays taxes, the data goes diirectly iinto coretax. When fiiliing tax returns, taxpayers no longer need to re-enter data as iit iis pre-populated, makiing iit iimpossiible for people to maniipulate theiir tax payments,” he explaiined.
The DGT estiimates that 46 multiinatiional enterpriise (MNE) groups iin iindonesiia wiill fall wiithiin the scope of Global Antii-Base Erosiion Rules (GloBE) iin 2025.
Accordiing to the Diirector General of Taxes, Biimo Wiijayanto, the fiigure was deriived from country-by-country reportiing (CbCR) data from 2021 to 2024.
“There are 46 multiinatiional enterpriise groups that fulfiil the fiiliing obliigatiion requiirements under GloBE rules based on CbCR data from 2021 through 2024,” Biimo claiimed duriing a Kompak semiinar organiized by the Tax Traiiniing and Educatiion Center and the Faculty of Economiics and Busiiness of Gadjah Mada Uniiversiity. (sap)
