BERITA TERKINI
JAKARTA, DDTCNews - As January 2026 draws to a close, the Minister of Finance, Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa, has initiated his plan to reorganise the structure of the organisation under his lead. After reshuffling officials within the Directorate General of Customs and Excise (DGCE) this week, Purbaya is set to rotate officials of the Directorate General of Taxes (DGT) next week. This issue has garnered the greatest attention from netizens over the past week.
As reported, a total of 36 echelon II officials at the Ministry of Finance were replaced this week, 31 of whom are DGCE officials. The replaced officials ranged from secretaries, directors and advisors to heads of regional offices to port chiefs. At the inauguration ceremony, Purbaya highlighted that every official would be held accountable for their leadership and required to uphold ethical standards and performance.
The move does not stop there; Purbaya has revealed plans for a large-scale reshuffle of officials within the DGT next week. At least 70 DGT officials are expected to be rotated. This measure is being undertaken to improve tax revenue performance this year.
“[DGT officers] who are found to be playing around will be transferred to quieter postings. So we are carrying out genuine reforms,” Purbaya said.
“[DGT employees] who are found to be messing around will be transferred to quieter postings. As such, we are carrying out genuine reforms,” Purbaya remarked.
More broadly, Purbaya has duly prepared several strategies to boost tax revenues. These include improvements to the coretax, restructuring of DGT employees, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to combat under-invoicing as well as the strengthening of tax audits and enforcement.
On account of these improvements, the government hopes to collect tax revenues more optimally without tax rate hikes.
In addition to news on the rotation of officials within the Ministry of Finance, several other developments merit attention. These include plans to add an additional tier to cigarette excise tariffs, scrutiny of sailing permit regulations and increasingly stringent supervision of taxpayers.
Minister of Finance, Purbaya, is determined to eradicate individuals or organisations suspected of backing fraudulent practices, such as the manufacture and distribution of illegal cigarettes in the domestic market.
To that end, Purbaya plans to work with the Coordinating Ministry for Political and Security Affairs (Kementerian Koordinator Politik dan Keamanan/Kemenko Polkam in Indonesian) in implementing supervision and enforcement. The aim is to ensure that tax revenues are not undermined by such powerful backers.
“Earlier, I met with the coordinating minister for political and security affairs to discuss this, and we have agreed to cooperate by involving Political and Security Affairs elements, such as the police, the military and so forth, so that those backing networks will vanish,” he claimed.
Minister of Finance Purbaya stated that his ministry would strengthen tax audits as well as on-the-ground raids.
This reinforcement is crucial to take action against taxpayers who are claimed to have backing. Audits and raids will be conducted jointly with the Coordinating Ministry for Political and Security Affairs.
“People say that in the field, there is always some kind of backing. Earlier, I met with the coordinating minister for political and security affairs to discuss this, and we have agreed to cooperate by involving Political and Security Affairs elements, such as the police, the military and so forth, so that those backing networks will vanish,” Purbaya remarked.
The government is currently formulating plans to introduce an additional tier to tobacco excise tariffs. This policy aims to encourage illegal cigarette manufacturers to enter the formal, legal system.
Minister of Finance, Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa, explained that the additional cigarette excise tariff tier would be more expensive than hand-made clove cigarettes (sigaret kretek tangan/SKT in Indonesian) but relatively cheaper than machine-made clove cigarettes (sigaret kretek mesin/SKM in Indonesian).
“We are providing space for illicit cigarettes to enter the system. [The tariff] will be slightly lower than regular machine-made cigarettes, but more expensive than [hand-made] clove cigarettes. We are trying to position it in between,” he stated.
Minister of Finance Purbaya believes that several provisions on sailing permits need to be improved to ensure fair tax treatment between vessels owned by domestic companies and those owned by foreign companies.
In his view, Indonesia should emulate foreign practices, under which the authorities only issue sailing permits once vessels present documents in the form of a tax payment slip (surat setoran pajak/SSP in Indonesian) before departure.
“Please note that we will implement equal treatment for our vessels and foreign vessels operating here, similar to the treatment of foreign countries. There must be proof before a vessel can sail. After all, the sailing permit is issued by the Harbormaster and Port Authority Office (Kantor Kesyahbandaran dan Otoritas Pelabuhan/KSOP in Indonesian),” he remarked.
Family tax unit (data unit keluarga/DUK in Indonesian) consists of information on family members, including both dependants and other, broader family members.
The DGT stresses that updating the family tax unit is crucial, as the pre-population of the annual tax return data refers to the structure of the family tax unit. Accordingly, the DGT urges taxpayers to ensure the accuracy of their family tax unit before filing their annual individual income tax return.
“Therefore, individual taxpayers must ensure that their family tax unit data are accurate and up to date before completing and filing their annual individual income tax return,” the DGT explained. (sap)
