DGT: Tax Refunds Not Obstructed, but Must Be Prudent

JAKARTA, DDTCNews - The Directorate General of Taxes (DGT) has affirmed that the disbursement of tax refunds must be carried out prudently and must go through a series of examination and audit stages beforehand.

Inge Diana Rismawanti, Director of Tax Dissemination, Service and Public Relations at the DGT, said that such measures are not intended to hinder taxpayers, but rather to ensure that tax refunds are properly targeted and disbursed only to taxpayers entitled to them.

"Releasing funds that have already entered the state treasury does not imply we will make it difficult for taxpayers to obtain their entitlements. Nevertheless, we must act prudently, we must conduct examinations and audits, so that refunds are indeed given only to those who are genuinely entitled," she said at a seminar, as quoted on Monday (9/11/2026).

Inge explained that the General Provisions and Tax Procedures (GPTP) Law provides that the tax authority is entitled to audit an application for tax refunds. In addition, the DGT is authorised to issue a notice of tax assessment within a specified period after an application is completely received.

She also noted that there are several circumstances that may lead a taxpayer to apply for a tax refund. For instance, the income tax that has been paid or withheld may turn out to be greater than the amount of income tax payable.

"The same applies to VAT. An overpayment arises when the input VAT credited is greater than the output VAT, and this is shown or filed in the form of a periodic VAT return," said Inge.

Inge affirmed that the DGT is endeavouring to accelerate the disbursement of tax refunds to taxpayers more quickly without having to go through a full audit, whilst still proceeding prudently. In line with this, the DGT has implemented an accelerated refund mechanism, known as preliminary tax refunds.

The latest technical provisions and requirements concerning accelerated refunds are now governed by MoF Reg. 28/2026. There are 3 groups of taxpayers that may obtain accelerated refunds, namely taxpayers with certain criteria; taxpayers that fulfil certain requirements; and low-risk taxable persons.

"It is for this reason that a policy has been enacted whereby taxpayers may apply for preliminary tax refunds, although we at the DGT still retain the right to conduct audits," Inge concluded. (dik)