The government booked double-digit growth in tax and non-tax state revenues in the first quarter of 2018, and experts are calling for quick measures in securing the momentum going forward amid an economic recovery.

Tax revenue, comprising income tax from oil and gas, value added tax (PPn), property tax (PBB) and luxury goods tax (PPnBM), was recorded at Rp 244.5 trillion (US$17.76 billion) in the first three months of this year.

The figure represents a 16.2 percent increase from the same period in 2017, a relatively substantial growth considering the tax office no longer collected penalties from the tax amnesty, which ran from July 2016 to March 2017, said Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati.

In the first quarter of 2017, year-on-year (yoy) growth stood at 11.82 percent.

“We had the tax amnesty last year [which contributed to growth in 2017]. This year, the growth is even higher without counting [the penalties derived] from the program,” she said in a press conference on Monday.

The program contributed some Rp 12 trillion in tax revenue during the first quarter of 2017. If this year’s first-quarter calculations were to take into consideration penalties collected from the program, tax revenue growth would stand at 9.94 percent.

The yoy increase was spurred by corporate income tax, which rose 28.4 percent to Rp 34.8 trillion. Personal income tax (PPh 21) reached its highest point since 2013, growing by 15.7 percent yoy to Rp 30.39 trillion.

“This indicates an increase in employment and wages,” Sri Mulyani said.

Revenues from customs and excise, meanwhile, grew 15.8 percent to Rp 17.89 trillion in the first three months of 2018.

It was the highest growth in the last three years following contractions of 7.07 percent and 48.8 percent seen in the same period of 2017 and 2016, respectively.

Therefore, total taxation revenue, which is made up of taxes as well as customs and excise, reached Rp 262.4 trillion in the first quarter of the year, indicated a momentum of economic recovery, Sri Mulyani said.

While first-quarter growth showed a rebound in tax revenue, the government should maintain the positive momentum through the upcoming implementation of the Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) in September, said Yustinus Prastowo, executive director at the Center for Indonesia Taxation Analysis (CITA).

He added that the AEOI, a global initiative to combat tax avoidance and tax evasion, would provide a trove of data that would be helpful in increasing compliance among taxpayers.

“The government should track down taxpayers who did not join the tax amnesty to ensure fairness [for participants],” he said, pointing out that the government had a short window of opportunity to find recalcitrant taxpayers.

The 2016 Tax Amnesty Law stipulates that the Taxation Directorate General has three years since the law takes effect to pursue taxpayers who did not partake in the tax amnesty.

Bawono Kristiaji, a partner at the Danny Darussalam Tax Center (DDTC), voiced a similar opinion, saying tax officers were challenged to secure tax revenue through fully utilizing AEOI data.

At the same time, he added, the government’s move to revamp its tax incentive schemes was a “rational” one amid global competition to attract investments.

The Finance Ministry also reported on Monday a double-digit growth in non-tax revenue (PNBP), which rose 22.16 percent yoy to Rp 71 trillion in the first quarter of 2018. The figure is equal to 25.8 percent of the targeted Rp 275.42 trillion in the 2018 state budget.

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