Today Marks the Start of Marketplace Art. 22 Income Tax Collection

JAKARTA, DDTCNews - The implementation of Article 22 Income Tax collection on the income of online merchants by marketplace providers has become one of the tax issues that has garnered the most public attention in the past week.

On 1 July, the Directorate General of Taxes (DGT) officially designated four marketplace providers as Article 22 Income Tax collection agents: Tokopedia, Shopee, Lazada and Blibli. However, the 0.5% tax collection by marketplace providers will only be effective starting today, 1 August 2026.

" This is part of our effort to update and develop a tax governance framework that is fairer, simpler and more in keeping with the development of the digital economy," said Director General of Taxes, Bimo Wijayanto.

The plan to designate marketplace providers as collection agents emerged last year through the issuance of MoF Reg. 37/2025. Implementation of this policy was delayed due to the wait for a more stable economic climate.

DGT stated that the appointment of marketplace providers as collection agents has taken into account various aspects, including the system readiness of the marketplace providers, transaction scale, administrative capacity, the use of escrow account mechanisms and the readiness of marketplace providers to conduct tax collection, remittance and filing electronically.

The appointment of marketplace providers as collection agents does not constitute the imposition of a new type of tax. This policy aims to align the tax administration mechanism with the development of transactions in the digital era as well as establish fairer tax treatment for both online and conventional merchants.

With tax collection by marketplace providers, he assured that tax administration for merchants would become simpler, as collection is conducted through the existing transaction systems. Collection receipts will also be available in the coretax system, making them easily accessible.

Meanwhile, Inge Diana Rismawanti, DGT Director of Tax Dissemination, Service and Public Relations, stated that the number of marketplace providers appointed as collection agents will continue to grow. According to her, the DGT will appoint other marketplace providers that have satisfied the requirements and are deemed ready in terms of infrastructure and administration.

"Other [marketplaces] are still in the assessment stage, and if they are ready, we will appoint them as other parties," she claimed.

In addition to the collection of Article 22 Income Tax by marketplaces, several other tax issues have also attracted readers' attention over the past week. These include emails sent to taxpayers who omitted withholding receipts from their annual tax returns and the prohibition on recording the provision of explanations regarding letters of inquiry (surat permintaan penjelasan atas data dan/atau keterangan/SP2DK in Indonesian) via video conference.

Here is a complete review of the tax articles.

Taxpayers Banned from Recording SP2DK Explanations

The DGT, through SE-8/PJ/2026, bans the recording of the delivery of explanations regarding a letter of inquiry (surat permintaan penjelasan atas data dan/atau keterangan/SP2DK in Indonesian). This prohibition applies to explanations of the SP2DK submitted directly by taxpayers, their representatives, attorneys or employees via video conference.

Inge stated that this prohibition aims to safeguard the confidentiality of taxpayer data.

"When taxpayers are permitted to record, there is no guarantee that the data and content of the discussion will not be disseminated. Thus, the primary objective is prevention," she claimed.

DGT Emails 317,923 Taxpayers, Including Those Filing Nil Returns

DGT has sent a total of 317,923 emails containing advisories to amend annual income tax returns to taxpayers as of July 2026.

Inge stated that these advisories are issued primarily for taxpayers that fill in tax facilities or tax credits that do not correspond to the actual condition. As a result, the status of the taxpayer's return may end up as nil.

"Previously we sent those emails to those that zeroed out [their returns], to taxpayers that filled in columns that should not have been filled in," she claimed.

SP2DK May Lead to Re-examination

The series of requests for data and/or details (penjelasan data dan/atau keterangan/P2DK in Indonesian) may result in the DGT repeating its material compliance examination.

A material compliance examination will be repeated, among others, where the report on the results of the request for data and/or details (laporan hasil permintaan penjelasan data dan/atau keterangan/LHP2DK in Indonesian) concludes that there is new data in the system that has not been incorporated into the KKPt and LHPt materials constituting the basis for the issuance of the letter of inquiry (surat permintaan penjelasan data dan/atau keterangan/SP2DK in Indonesian).

...the conclusion referred to in number (2) letter (l) shall be followed up on by the implementation of re-material compliance examination," reads SE-8/PJ/2026.

2025 SKPKB to Exceed IDR104 Trillion, Majority Disputed by Taxpayers

The DGT issued notices of tax underpayment assessment (surat ketetapan pajak kurang bayar/SKPKB in Indonesian) and notices of additional tax underpayment assessment (surat ketetapan pajak kurang bayar tambahan/SKPKBT in Indonesian) totalling 268,245 letters, with a total assessment value of IDR104.36 trillion and USD8.68 billion throughout 2025.

Of the total assessment value, the amount disputed by taxpayers reached IDR74.47 trillion and USD8.61 billion. This implies that approximately 71.35% of the assessment value denominated in rupiah and 99.2% of the assessment value denominated in US dollars were not agreed to by taxpayers.

"From 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025, the number of SKPKB/SKPKBT issued was 268,245, with a total assessment value of IDR104.36 trillion and USD8.68 billion," reads the DGT Financial Report 2025, cited on Tuesday (28/7/2026).

World Bank: SME Final Income Tax Threshold of IDR4.8bn Excessive

The gross turnover threshold for the SME final income tax scheme, currently set at IDR4.8 billion, is still considered too high by the World Bank. In a report entitled Indonesia: Unlocking Businesses' Tax Potential for Growth, the World Bank states that the high turnover threshold for alternative final tax eligibility allows larger firms to benefit from the tax regime.

The threshold enables relatively large firms— potentially with sufficient capacity to manage CIT requirements—to remain under a simplified tax system, creating inefficiencies and revenue loss," wrote the World Bank.

The excessively high turnover threshold also encourages businesses to engage in splitting operations to continue benefiting from the SME final income tax scheme. (dik)