The next five months will be a game changer for the government to prove its promise on tax revenue, as tax collection in the first half of the year only shows modest growth, even with support of the much-hyped tax amnesty.

Total tax revenue, including from oil and gas businesses, reached Rp 510.24 trillion (US$38.27 billion) in the first six months of 2017, an increase of 10.4 percent from the same period in 2016, according to the Tax Directorate General.

Income tax from non-oil and gas entities remained the largest contributor, making up more than half of the revenue.

The six-month realization represents 39 percent of this year’s tax target, which is set at Rp 1.31 quadrillion.

“We are optimistic [about meeting] the tax revenue target in the remaining months. Of course, there will be challenges, but we hope we can focus on improving taxpayers’ compliance after the tax amnesty,” the Tax Directorate General’s tax revenue and compliance director, Yon Arsal, said on Friday.

Yon based his conviction on the 20 percent annual increase in income tax (PPh) that occurred from January to June, and said valueadded tax (VAT) had shown a positive growth trend at around 17 percent to 18 percent per month.

However, the latest achievement turned out to be similar to the January-June period in 2016, when the tax amnesty began.

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