BERITA TERKINI
JAKARTA, DDTCNews - A number of tax issues dominated public discourse over the past week. Two of the most prominent concerns were that the personal tax relief (penghasilan tidak kena pajak/PTKP in Indonesian) threshold is set too high, and the government’s plan to issue a regulation on MSME final income tax in the foreseeable future.
Let us examine them one by one.
In respect of personal tax relief, Director General of Taxes, Bimo Wijayanto, highlighted the large volume of income that remains unrecorded within the tax administration system. According to Bimo, this issue is inextricably linked to the relatively high personal tax relief threshold compared to the average individual income in Indonesia.
“This pertains to roughly IDR60 million in non-taxable income, while our income per capita is below that level. Inevitably, it becomes very difficult to capture individuals in the lower-middle formal sector, and even more so those in the informal sector,” he claimed.
As stipulated under PER-3/PJ/2026, individual taxpayers excluded from the obligation to file annual tax returns include, first, individual taxpayers engaged in business activities or independent personal services who receive or accrue income not exceeding the personal tax relief threshold.
Second, individual taxpayers who do not conduct business activities or independent personal services but receive or accrue income from a single employer, with annual net income not exceeding the personal tax relief.
Despite the fact that the income of such taxpayers is not filed in annual tax returns, the Directorate General of Taxes (DGT) continues to seek its inclusion in the tax administration system through tax intelligence activities and canvassing conducted by account representatives (ARs) at small taxpayer offices (Kantor Pelayanan Pajak Pratama/KPP Pratama in Indonesian).
Following canvassing, the ARs are instructed to continuously remind taxpayers to exercise their tax payment obligations. This outreach applies to taxpayers across all income brackets, from the highest to the lowest.
Bimo expressed confidence that the measures undertaken by the tax authority could generate additional revenues of up to IDR200 trillion.
Further, turning to micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) final income tax, Minister of Finance, Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa, stated that a new government regulation (Gov. Reg.), which will serve as the legal basis for MSME final income tax, is expected to be issued in the first half of 2026.
Purbaya explained that the draft Gov. Reg. revising Gov. Reg. 55/2022 is currently in the finalisation stage. Once completed, the revised Gov. Reg. 55/2022 can be signed by President Prabowo Subianto and promulgated.
“It is currently being processed and will be issued soon [possibly within the first half of 2026]. It is already completed, including the harmonisation stage,” he said.
The government is revising Gov. Reg. 55/2022 to accommodate the policies on the extension of the utilisation period of MSME final income tax. Under the revision, the government plans to nullify the time limit for individual taxpayers and sole proprietorship corporate taxpayers to benefit from the MSME final income tax scheme.
Bimo Wijayanto previously noted that the revision of Gov. Reg. 55/2022 took longer as it had to be reprocessed, although he did not elaborate on the reasons behind the delay.
Beyond these two issues, several other topics also merit attention. These include the rise of coretax “jockey” services, the appointment of marketplaces as collection agents, personnel reshuffles within the DGT and Purbaya’s remark that the World Bank had miscalculated Indonesia’s economic growth projection.
The rising trend of “jockey” services for filing annual tax returns via the coretax system has come under scrutiny of the Minister of Finance, Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa. He acknowledged that this trend reflects the fact that numerous taxpayers still struggle to operate the DGT Coretax.
According to Purbaya, a new business, i.e., coretax jockey, has emerged as individuals capitalise on opportunities when taxpayers face difficulties accessing the coretax. He pledged to improve the coretax platform to make it more user-friendly, eliminating the need for intermediary services.
“In any economy, where there is an opportunity, there will always be those who step in. Looking ahead, we will fix it to enable the use of the coretax without relying on jockey services,” he told reporters at the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs Office.
Minister of Finance, Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa, revealed plans to begin designating marketplace providers as Article 22 Income Tax collection agents in the second quarter of 2026.
He noted that this policy was initially planned for last year but was postponed due to economic headwinds. The execution of the policy, he added, will depend on stable economic conditions.
“At that time, the economy was still somewhat disrupted, so we held off. Now conditions are improving. If the second quarter remains favourable, we will consider implementing Article 22 Income Tax collection by marketplaces,” he remarked.
The DGT has continued its large-scale personnel reshuffle. The process began in early March 2026, when Director General of Taxes, Bimo Wijayanto, reassigned 2,043 employees, consisting of 1,828 account representatives and 215 objection reviewers.
On Tuesday (7 April 2026), the reshuffle continued with the issuance of three director general decrees. KEP-59/PJ/2026 stipulates the transfer and reappointment of 1,576 employees to supervisory positions within the DGT.
On the other hand, KEP-60/PJ/2026 and KEP-61/PJ/2026 have been issued to formalise the reassignment and reappointment of 1,807 employees to functional positions within the DGT.
Bimo Wijayanto stated that the Ministry of Finance is preparing a regulation on the application of cooperative compliance.
The legal basis for the cooperative compliance initiative will take the form of a ministerial regulation (MoF Reg.), which is expected to be finalised this year.
“God willing, it will be completed this year. The MoF Reg. will be formally issued this year. Please keep us in your prayers,” Bimo stated.
Minister of Finance Purbaya expressed his view that the World Bank’s projection of Indonesia’s economic growth is likely to miss the mark.
He argued that the projection issued by the World Bank does not align with current domestic economic conditions, asserting that Indonesia’s economy could grow by as much as 5.6% in the first quarter of 2026.
“The first quarter alone could reach 5.5% to 5.6%, or even higher. This implies that the World Bank is expecting a significant downturn. I believe the World Bank has miscalculated,” Purbaya claimed. (sap)
