Tax Return Amendment Rules Revised, Notional Underpayment Removed
JAKARTA, DDTCNews – The issuance of the Director General of Taxes Regulation No. PER-12/PJ/2026 is expected to provide certainty to taxpayers that amend their tax returns. This topic is among the reviews featured in the national media today, Monday (5/10/2026).
Director General of Taxes, Bimo Wijayanto, stated that the implementation of PER-12/PJ/2026, which revises the former regulation PER-11/PJ/2025, will eliminate the potential emergence of phantom underpayments arising from tax return amendments.
"This eliminates notional underpayments at the time of tax return amendment. This applies to amendments of Article 21/26 Income Tax returns, unified income tax returns, VAT returns and annual tax returns," he claimed.
It should be noted that under the previous regulation PER-11/PJ/2025, the VAT underpayment or overpayment in an amended return took into account the underpayment or overpayment in the return being amended.
"To be completed with the amount of VAT underpaid or (overpaid) at item III.E minus the amount of underpaid or (overpaid) VAT in the previously amended periodic VAT return at item III.F," reads the completion guidelines for periodic VAT returns in the Appendix PER-11/PJ/2025.
Meanwhile, under PER-12/PJ/2026, the VAT underpayment or overpayment in an amended return takes into account the VAT that has been remitted and/or the VAT overpayment for which a preliminary tax refund decision letter (surat keputusan pengembalian pendahuluan kelebihan pajak/SKPPKP in Indonesian) or notice of tax overpayment assessment (surat ketetapan pajak lebih bayar/SKPLB in Indonesian) has been issued.
"To be completed with the amount of VAT underpaid or (overpaid) at item III.E minus the difference between the total amount of VAT remitted and the total amount of VAT refunded via the preliminary tax refund decision letter before the amendment at item III.F," reads the completion guidelines for periodic VAT returns in the Appendix of PER-12/PJ/2026.
PER-12/PJ/2026 prevents phantom underpayments given that the overpayment taken into account in the amended return is the VAT overpayment for which a SKPPKP or SKPLB has been issued, not the overpayment on the return being amended.
For example, in the periodic VAT return for the December 2026 taxable period, a taxable person declares an overpayment of IDR200,000 and requests a refund through an audit.
However, on 20 February 2027, before the audit process starts, the taxable person amends the periodic VAT return for the December 2026 taxable period and declares a lower overpayment of IDR150,000.
With PER-12/PJ/2026 in effect, the VAT overpayment stated in the amended periodic VAT return for the December 2026 taxable period is IDR150,000.
Under the former regulation, amending a periodic VAT return by reducing the VAT overpayment from IDR200,000 to IDR150,000 potentially gave rise to a VAT underpayment of IDR50,000 if the taxable person does not tick the Replace previous return option.
In addition to that topic, there are reviews on the Director General of Taxes' plan to monitor all regional offices of the Directorate General of Taxes (DGT). There are also discussions on the tax ratio target, taxpayer power of attorney, the tax consultant competency certification examination, government-borne employee income tax and other matters.
The following is a full review of the tax articles.
With PER-12/PJ/2026, DGT Adds New Taxable Object Codes
The DGT has added a number of new taxable object codes (kode objek pajak/KOP in Indonesian) through the Director General of Taxes Regulation No. PER-12/PJ/2026. The additions were made by revising Appendices A and B of PER-11/PJ/2025.
Referring to Appendix A, there is 1 additional KOP for non-final withholding tax. The KOP is used in the preparation of the Withholding Receipt (Bupot) Form BP21, namely KOP 21-100-39.
The KOP in question relates to the taxable object of remuneration paid to competition participants across all sectors, including sports, arts, skills, science, technology and other competitions. In addition, there are also 7 new KOPs for the preparation of unified withholding receipts. (DDTCNews/Kontan)
DGT: Power of Attorney Not Required for Employees' Routine Duties
The DGT has reiterated that employees are not automatically required to become tax attorneys to exercise the tax rights and obligations of the taxpayer by whom they are employed.
Head of the Sub-Directorate for General Tax Provisions and Tax Collection Using Distress Warrants at the DGT, Meidijati, stated that employees whose duties include signing withholding receipts and tax invoices, preparing draft tax returns or providing information during an audit are not required to become tax attorneys.
"If the regulation does not state 'taxpayer', no power of attorney is needed. In the regulations, the signing of tax invoices, withholding receipts, the provision of information during an audit and the receipt of SP2DK are never stated in the regulation to be performed by the taxpayer," she said. (DDTCNews)
Director General of Taxes Monitors 34 DGT Regional Offices
Director General of Taxes, Bimo Wijayanto, is actively reviewing 34 DGT regional offices spread across various regions. This monitoring aims to ensure that each DGT regional office remains on track and is capable of meeting the revenue targets set for this year.
"In 2026, I and the directors, the board of directors (BOD) at the head office, are dividing ourselves evenly across the 34 regional offices to monitor them one by one," he said.
Through these monitoring activities, Bimo also wishes to ensure that all DGT regional offices understand the characteristics of taxpayers and the sectors that contribute significantly to revenue within their respective regions. (DDTCNews/Kontan)
BPPK's Latest Scheme for Tax Consultant Competency Certification Exam
The Financial Education and Training Agency (Badan Pendidikan dan Pelatihan Keuangan/BPPK in Indonesian) of the Ministry of Finance (MoF) will conduct a tax competency examination (uji kompetensi pajak/UKP in Indonesian) under a new mechanism pursuant to MoF Reg. 55/2026 from mid-October through December 2026.
Head of the BPPK Tax Consultant Professional Competency Certification Examination Working Team, Suyuti, stated that BPPK will organise the UKP to the greatest extent possible with a participant quota higher than that of the tax consultant certification examination (ujian sertifikasi konsultan pajak/USKP in Indonesian).
"Currently there are approximately 3,000 participants; this will be multiplied many times over up to hundreds of thousands. We will prepare the examination capacity to facilitate participants in sitting this examination," he said. (DDTCNews)
Government-Borne Employee Income Tax, DGT Calculating Impact
The DGT has indicated that the government is still reviewing plans to extend the government-borne (ditanggung pemerintah/DTP in Indonesian) Article 21 Income Tax incentive to all sectors in 2027.
Director General of Taxes, Bimo Wijayanto, stated that one of the aspects under review is the fiscal impact of extending the government-borne Article 21 Income Tax incentive to all sectors. At present, the draft incentive is being reviewed by the Directorate General of Economic and Fiscal Strategy (Direktorat Jenderal Strategi Ekonomi dan Fiskal/DJSEF in Indonesian).
"DJSEF is processing this matter; we are also submitting the results of impact calculations per layer of taxpayers that will be affected by the policy scenarios. So, this has not yet been decided," he said. (DDTCNews)
DGT Targets 9.26% Tax Ratio in 2027, Highest in 10 Years
The DGT has set a tax ratio target of 9.26% for the 2027 fiscal year. The tax ratio target set for 2027 is claimed to be the highest in the past 10 years.
"The tax ratio in terms of the taxation performance indicator for 2027 is targeted at 9.26%. We are grateful that this can return to above 9%. If we look at the past decade, the figure has never been above 9%," said Director General of Taxes Bimo Wijayanto.
Bimo noted that the tax ratio last reached 9.2% in 2015. In subsequent years, the tax ratio remained below 9% for a decade. He is optimistic that the tax ratio target can be achieved. (DDTCNews)