Filing an Appeal at the Tax Court

The Tax Court plays a major role as an institution to seek justice and obtain taxpayers’ rights. Taxpayers that do not agree with the tax authorities’ decisions are allowed to submit legal remedies to the Tax Court.

In obtaining justice at the Tax Court, two types of legal remedies may be undertaken by taxpayers, namely appeal and lawsuit. The two legal remedies may be filed based on certain terms and criteria.

In this tax class article, we will first review the appeal process at the Tax Court. The other legal remedy, namely lawsuits, will be discussed in the next tax class.

Appeals may be filed after a taxpayer undergoes the objection process. If the taxpayer remains unsatisfied with the objection decision letter issued by the tax authorities, the taxpayer may file an appeal to the Tax Court.

Pursuant to Article 1 letter 6 of Law No. 14/2002 concerning the Tax Court, an appeal refers to a legal action that may be undertaken by a taxpayer or a tax bearer against tax collection or a decision against which an appeal may be filed.

Terms and Conditions

In filing an appeal, the taxpayer must prepare the letter of appeal as well as possible. The taxpayer must ensure that the letter fulfils the formal and material requirements.

Article 35 in conjunction with Article 36 of Law No. 14/2002 states several terms and conditions for filing an appeal. First, an appeal is filed using a notice of appeal in the Indonesian Language. The notice of appeal is subsequently submitted to the Tax Court.

Second, the appeal is filed within 3 months from the date of receipt of the decision subject to the appeal. For example, if the decision subject to the appeal is received on 10 May 2020, the deadline for sending the notice of appeal is 9 August 2020.

In principle, this period is set to render sufficient time for the appellant to prepare the notice of appeal, underlying reasons as well as evidence to support the legal reasons.

If after three months, an appeal is not filed, the taxpayer is deemed to agree with the contents of the objection decision the taxpayer has received. However, this period may be extended in the event of circumstances beyond the appellant’s control (force majeure).

Third, one notice of appeal shall be submitted against one objection decision only. This implies that in this case, an appeal cannot be filed against two or more decisions. The notice of appeal must also include the date of receipt of the decision letter subject to the appeal.

Fourth, the Taxpayer’s notice of appeal shall be attached with the decision subject to the appeal. 

The notice of appeal must contain clear posita and petitum. Posita contains the reasons why the notice of appeal was filed. In addition, the posita also describes facts, such as bookkeeping or recording, tax calculations or other material matters (Pudyatmoko, 2009).

This description will later serve as the basis for filing a petitum (the petition). The appellant may complete the notice of appeal to comply with the applicable provisions insofar as the abovementioned period has not elapsed.

An appeal can be filed by the taxpayer, heir/heiress, management or attorney. If the appellant passes away during the appeal process, the appeal can be continued by the heir/heiress, attorney or custodian if the appellant is bankrupt.

In the event of a merger, consolidation or liquidation, the accountable party for this matter may continue the appeal process.

An appeal may be revoked by submitting a statement letter of revocation to the Tax Court. The revoked appeal will later be removed from the list of disputes using the statement letter of the Chief of Justice of the Tax Court or the statement letter of the Judiciary Panel/Single Judge. If the appeal has been revoked, the taxpayer cannot file another appeal for the same case.

This is a brief explanation of the process of filing an appeal at the tax court. Look forward to and follow the next tax class article which will review the process of filing a lawsuit at the Tax Court. (kaw)