BERITA TERKINI
JAKARTA, DDTCNews - The parliament has once again pressed the Directorate General of Taxes (DGT) to promptly complete the improvements to the coretax system’s operations. This issue has surfaced as a topic of public discussion over the past week.
Deputy Chairperson of Commission XI of the House of Representatives (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat/DPR in Indonesian), Fauzi Amro, delivered the statement concerning the coretax system. He highlighted the urgency of the completion of the coretax improvements due to its critical role in optimising tax revenues in the second semester of 2025.
“We expect the coretax system to effectively function in the third and fourth quarters of 2025, enabling taxpayers [constrained] in the previous period to pay their entire tax liabilities,” he remarked.
Tax revenue in the first semester of 2025 was still recorded to have contracted by 6.21% with a realisation of only IDR837.8 trillion. This realization is equivalent to 38.26% of the target of IDR2,189.3 trillion.
A breakdown by type of tax reveals that corporate income tax in the first semester of 2025 only contributed IDR152.49 trillion to tax revenues, reflecting a decrease of 11.7% compared to the first semester of 2024. On the other hand, the combined realisation of value added tax (VAT) and sales tax on luxury goods (STLGs) stood at IDR267.27 trillion or contracted by 19.7%.
In contrast, the realisation of personal income tax reached IDR14.03 trillion, marking a notable increase of 35.6%. Similarly, the realisation of revenues from land and building tax (L&B Tax) amounted to IDR11.53 trillion, reflecting a substantial rise of 247.2%.
Fauzi believes that there remains significant potential to accelerate tax revenues in the second half of 2025. Under the leadership of the Director General of Taxes Bimo Wijayanto, he expressed optimism that the implementation of the coretax system would play a pivotal role in optimising tax revenues.
Nevertheless, the government has acknowledged that tax revenues are projected to fall short of the specified target. The current tax revenue outlook stands at only IDR2,076.9 trillion, or 94.9% of the target of IDR2,189.3 trillion.
“We expect that, on account of the support from the coretax and IT, the necessary means and infrastructure will be in place to strengthen the state’s tax revenues,” he added.
Beyond the developments surrounding the coretax system above, several other noteworthy issues emerged this week. These include the latest provisions on the collection of Art. 22 Income Tax on gold, a significant rise in tax refunds and the appointment of marketplace platforms as collection agents.
The DGT has clarified that the public as end consumers purchasing gold bullion or jewellery are not subject to Art. 22 Income Tax.
According to the Director of Tax Regulations I of the DGT, Hestu Yoga Saksama, end consumers are expressly excluded from Art. 22 Income Tax collection.
Yoga illustrated that manufacturers, merchants and bullion banks typically acting as gold sellers generally collect Art. 22 Income Tax at a rate of 0.25% of the selling price. However, the income tax is excluded for the public as end consumers who purchase gold.
The DGT has instructed tax officers in the regions to rigorously examine the application for preliminary or accelerated refunds submitted by taxpayers.
Examinations are crucial to mitigate the surge in refunds, which has placed downward pressure on tax revenues this year.
“The fundamental principle is to know your taxpayer. I urge my colleagues in the vertical units of the Tax Office to ensure that refund applicants genuinely conduct business at their registered locations and that their business is legitimate,” stated Director General of Taxes Bimo Wijayanto.
The Director General of Taxes is set to appoint marketplace operators that use escrow accounts as Art. 22 Income Tax collection agents.
Marketplace providers will be appointed as collection agents if they fulfil specific criteria pursuant to the Director General of Taxes Regulation PER-15/PJ/2025, inter alia, conducting transactions with service users in Indonesia amounting to more than IDR600 million annually or IDR50 million in a month.
“Certain criteria ... are electronic commerce operators that use escrow accounts to deposit income and fulfil the following thresholds: the transaction value with service beneficiaries in Indonesia exceeds IDR600 million in 12 months or IDR50 million in 1 month,” reads Article 4 letter a of PER-15/PJ/2025.
The DGT retains the authority to revoke the designation of a marketplace operator as another party that collects and remits Art. 22 Income Tax.
Such revocation may occur if the marketplace provider no longer satisfies the specified traffic criteria and minimum transaction threshold. In addition, the revocation may also be executed based on the DGT's discretion.
The revocation of the appointment of the marketplace provider as a tax collection agent may be conducted ex officio by the DGT or based on the notification submitted by the marketplace provider. Such revocation is initiated if the marketplace provider fails to fulfil the criteria stipulated under Article 4 of PER-15/PJ/2025.
Marketplace providers, as other parties, are required to submit the account names of domestic merchants operating on their platforms.
According to the Head of the Section of Withholding Tax and Income Tax Collection Regulations II of the DGT, Ilmiantio Himawan, the information on account names is essential due to the common use of aliases by merchants, which frequently differ from their actual names.
“Online merchants listed on the marketplace often adopt unique identifiers. For instance, a merchant may name their store rizal123 or gatarakeren, which does not reflect their real name,” he explained. (sap)
