Suahasil Appoints DGT Officials: Focus on Economy & Taxpayer Behaviour

JAKARTA, DDTCNews - The appointment of 14 Ministry of Finance (MoF) officials has sparked public attention this week.

Of the 14 officials, 4 are echelon-2 officials within the Directorate General of Taxes (DGT). The 4 officials include Agung Krisdiyanto as Advisor for Tax Services, Sekti Widihartanto as Head of the Special Region of Yogyakarta Directorate General of Taxes Regional Office, Ihsan Priyawibawa as Head of the East and North Kalimantan Directorate General of Taxes Regional Office and Ani Natalia as Head of the Papua, West Papua and Maluku Directorate General of Taxes Regional Office.

Minister of Finance, Suahasil Nazara, stated that the appointment of officials within the Ministry of Finance represents a refinement of inaugurations that had been carried out previously. According to him, the refinement was implemented based on a report from the MoF's Position and Rank Advisory Board (Badan Pertimbangan Jabatan dan Kepangkatan/Baperjakat in Indonesian).

He said that each appointment of officials was not merely intended to fill vacant positions. In his view, the process of filling positions was of great significance to the MoF as an organisation.

At the inauguration ceremony, Suahasil also called on DGT officials to grasp economic conditions and taxpayer behaviour. He said an understanding of both aspects was needed when making decisions in the tax sector.

"We need a DGT that is able to read the Indonesian economy, understand taxpayers' behaviour and translate that into sound decisions," he remarked.

Suahasil said that going forward, the DGT needs to establish a credible and fair tax system capable of sustainably supporting the government’s financing needs.

In addition to the appointment of MoF officials, several other tax issues also garnered readers’ attention over the past week. These included preparations for the transfer of the Tax Court to the Supreme Court (Mahkamah Agung/MA in Indonesian) and the registration of GloBE taxpayers through coretax.

Here is a review of the latest tax articles.

MoF Holds Public Consultation on Tax Court Presidential Regulation

The MoF has assured that the transition process for bringing the Tax Court under the Supreme Court will not disrupt services for disputing parties.

The assurance was given during a public consultation on the draft presidential regulation concerning the Transfer of Organisational, Administrative and Financial Guidance of the Tax Court from the MoF to the Supreme Court. The drafting of the presidential regulation was undertaken to follow up on the unification of the Tax Court under the Supreme Court pursuant to Constitutional Court Decision Number 26/PUU-XXI/2023.

"It would be ideal if we conducted meaningful participation, whereby stakeholders gather and provide input on the concept and design we have prepared," said Bismar Fahlerie, Deputy Secretary of the Tax Court.

DGT Urges Coordination with Parent Entity Before GloBE Registration

The DGT is urging taxpayers that are members of a multinational enterprise (MNE) group to first coordinate with their parent company before registering as a GloBE taxpayer.

Tax Instructor at the Special Jakarta Regional Tax Office, Fransiska Yansye, said that such coordination is necessary to ensure that the MNE group intending to register is genuinely within the scope of GloBE. "Before carrying out registration, we always advise taxpayers to coordinate with their ultimate parent entity (UPE)," she said

To add GloBE taxpayer status, a corporate taxpayer that is a constituent entity of a GloBE-covered MNE group must independently add the status via coretax.

SPP-TDLN Not Yet Applied, DGT: Final Preparation Stage

The DGT has stated that the tax collection system for foreign digital transactions (sistem pemungutan pajak transaksi digital luar negeri/SPP-TDLN in Indonesian) has not yet been officially implemented. Originally, the implementation of SPP-TDLN was scheduled to commence on 10 September 2026.

DGT Director of Tax Dissemination, Service and Public Relations, Inge Diana Rismawanti, stated that the SPP-TDLN is currently in its final stage of refinement and is almost ready to be operationalised. However, the government has not yet officially launched or operationalised the system.

"The [SPP-TDLN] is currently in its final preparation stage to go live," she claimed.

Don‘t Ignore Distress Warrants, DGT Explains the Consequences

Taxpayers are urged not to ignore distress warrants issued by the DGT in the tax collection process.

DGT Senior Tax Instructor, Gede Suarnaya, explained that a distress warrant is one of the stages in the active collection process after a taxpayer has failed to settle their tax liability pursuant to the applicable provisions.

He noted that a distress warrant is not merely a warning letter, as it may be followed by confiscation and even auction of assets if the tax liability remains unsettled.

"The distress warrant holds a very important position. It is issued by a tax bailiff and is not merely an ordinary warning letter. This document carries executorial legal force, meaning it is equivalent to a court decision with permanent legal force," he said.

With Refund Management, Domestic VAT Performance Rises 53.9%

Domestic VAT revenues were recorded as surging by 53.9%, with a realisation of IDR314.8 trillion for the period January to August 2026.

According to Minister of Finance, Suahasil Nazara, the said surge was caused by refund management in the large-scale fuel trading sector. Domestic VAT also became the type of tax with the largest contribution to total tax revenues up to August 2026, at 22.3%.

"Domestic VAT grew strongly on a cumulative basis because it includes the refund management I mentioned earlier," said Suahasil. (dik)