DGT Reveals BPK Findings as Reason for Accelerated Refund Revision

JAKARTA, DDTCNews - The Directorate General of Taxes (DGT) has stated that the revision of the expedited tax refund provisions set out in Minister of Finance Regulation (MoF Reg.) 28/2026 was prompted by findings of the Audit Board (Badan Pemeriksa Keuangan/BPK in Indonesian).

The Director of Tax Dissemination, Service and Public Relations at the DGT, Inge Diana Rismawanti, said that the BPK's audit findings revealed that accelerated tax refunds had been granted to high-risk taxpayers. The revision of the accelerated tax refund provisions was therefore necessary to address those findings.

"From the BPK audit, it became apparent that this preliminary refund process was, in fact, frequently granted to those who posed a high compliance risk as taxpayers. That is why MoF Reg. 28/2026 was issued," she said at the Taxplore UI 2026 seminar on Thursday (5/11/2026).

The revision of the accelerated tax refund provisions was also driven by an increase in tax refund disbursements. In 2025, the value of refunds disbursed reached IDR361.15 trillion, up 35.94% compared with the IDR265.66 trillion realised in 2024.

Inge acknowledged that tax refunds are a taxpayer's right. Nevertheless, the state needs to conduct further examination in response to this trend.

"It is not that we fail to understand that this is a taxpayer's right. We are examining whether there is a trend being exploited by taxpayers, such that more comprehensive examination must be conducted into those requesting a tax refund," said Inge.

The change in provisions is expected to improve the accuracy of tax refunds and ensure that expedited refunds are genuinely utilised by taxpayers who are entitled to them.

On another note, accelerated tax refunds are granted to taxpayers that fulfil certain criteria under Article 17C of the General Provisions and Tax Procedures (GPTP) Law, certain requirement taxpayers under Article 17D of the GPTP Law, and low-risk taxable persons under Article 9 paragraph (4c) of the VAT Law.

In general, MoF Reg. 28/2026 tightens the requirements for taxpayers to obtain accelerated tax refunds. For example, the cap on accelerated tax refunds for VAT overpayments applicable to certain requirement taxpayers has now been set at a maximum of IDR1 billion, down from the previous limit of IDR5 billion.

To obtain a VAT refund of up to IDR1 billion, the total supplies by certain requirement taxpayers in the relevant taxable period must exceed IDR0 and be no more than IDR4.2 billion.

MoF Reg. 28/2026 was enacted on 30 April 2026 and declared to have taken effect from 1 May 2026. (rig)