Supreme Court: Tax Disputes at IIFC Should Remain Handled by Tax Court

JAKARTA, DDTCNews - The Supreme Court (Mahkamah Agung/MA in Indonesian) has requested that tax disputes at the Indonesia International Financial Centre (IIFC) continue to be handled by the tax court, rather than by a specialised court at the IIFC.

The Head of the Supreme Court Supervisory Chamber, Syamsul Ma'arif, stated that tax disputes at the IIFC must still be resolved through the tax court in order to maintain legal uniformity.

"If such authority is to be delegated to the IIFC, it must be reviewed whether it is appropriate for the IIFC court to remain under the general judiciary," he said at a meeting with Commission XI of the House of Representatives (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat/DPR in Indonesian), as cited on Thursday (9/7/2026).

Moreover, should the authority to handle tax disputes at the IIFC be delegated to the IIFC's specialised court, it must be ensured that the judges at that court possess competence in taxation.

Judges at the IIFC court need to have competence in the field of taxation to maintain legal certainty and to prevent divergences in tax dispute decisions between the IIFC court and the tax court.

"The issue is legal certainty, so that there is no divergence between decisions of the IIFC court and the tax court, which would ultimately give rise to legal uncertainty," said Syamsul.

Further, Syamsul noted that the Supreme Court is currently also initiating the establishment of a specialised tax chamber. As such, the plan to grant the IIFC court authority to handle tax disputes is considered in need of further review.

"We are currently exploring the possibility of establishing at the Supreme Court a chamber in addition to those for criminal, civil, religious and administrative matters — a tax chamber. This is to reduce divergences in decisions between tax judicial panels," said Syamsul.

On another note, the IIFC Draft Law also contains a clause underpinning the establishment of a specialised court at the IIFC. Under the draft Draft Law, the IIFC court will have authority to examine, adjudicate and decide 5 types of disputes, namely:

• disputes related to business activities at the IIFC;
• disputes arising from contracts, where part or all of which are or will be implemented at the IIFC;
• disputes arising from the granting of tax facilities;
• disputes arising from any event occurring or transaction at the IIFC implemented partly or wholly within the IIFC;
• any legal question or issue concerning all activities related to the IIFC, the jurisdiction, competence, and authority of the IIFC court, including the interpretation of IIFC council regulations. (rig)