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View all search resultsCivil groups demand withdrawal of military role in monitoring taxpayers
A coalition of civil society groups has issued legal notices against the government over a policy allowing military and police personnel to assist tax officials in monitoring taxpayer compliance, warning that the policy could undermine civilian supremacy.
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A tax officer helps customers file their annual tax return via the new Coretax system of the Directorate General of Taxes on March 27 at the Meulaboh Tax Office in West Aceh, Aceh.
(Antara/Syifa Yulinnas)
A
coalition of civil society groups has issued legal notices against the administration of Prabowo Subianto demanding that the government revoke a policy allowing military and police personnel to assist tax officials in monitoring taxpayer compliance over concerns that the policy could undermine civilian supremacy.
The notice was sent on Monday to Prabowo, Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa and House of Representatives Speaker Puan Maharani, giving them three days to respond before it considers taking legal action to challenge the policy.
The coalition, which comprises groups including the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI), the Center of Economic and Law Studies (Celios), the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) and Imparsial, insisted that tax administration should remain under civilian institutions.
“We believe the government has shown a lack of awareness and urgency in responding [to our concerns] while the House has failed to demonstrate the courage to exercise its authority to keep [the government] in check,” Muhammad Isnur of YLBHI told a press conference on Monday. “Ultimately, we were forced to issue this legal notice.”
The dispute centers on a circular issued on July 15 by the Directorate General of Taxes, which listed Indonesian Military (TNI) village supervisory officers (Babinsa) alongside the National Police's neighborhood security officers (Bhabinkamtibmas) as part of the Tax Office's "information network”.
The circular listed field visits, canvassing, direct observation, remote sensing, web scraping and media monitoring among the methods used to monitor taxpayer compliance.
The policy quickly drew condemnation from critics, including the civil group coalition, who warned that involving the police and military risks expanding the role of security personnel beyond their traditional duties and blurring the line between civilian and security functions.
