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Experts urge govt to not be complacent with tax revenue
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This file photograph shows a building of the Taxation Directorate General in Jakarta. (kontan.co.id/File)
T
he government should not be complacent with its current efforts to collect tax revenue following a weak performance in the first two months of the year, taxation experts have said.
Tax revenue collected in the first two months of the year was equal to 10.2 percent of the targeted Rp 1.57 quadrillion (US$110.8 billion) as outlined in the 2019 state budget.
According to the Finance Ministry’s estimates, tax revenue will have to grow 22.1 percent between March and December this year from the Rp 1.15 quadrillion collected over the same period last year in order to reach the 2019 goal.
The tax revenue performance in the first two months of the year should serve as a reminder for the government to swiftly improve collection efforts, said Yustinus Prastowo, the executive director of the Center of Indonesia Taxation Analysis (CITA).
Prastowo suggested that the tax authority tighten the monitoring of value-added tax collection by increasing surveillance in supply chains and widening the corporate taxpayers list (PKP) in high-risk sectors – or industries that are more likely to be audited – as they were big contributors to tax revenue.
The tax authority could also intensify efforts to crack down on the abuse of tax invoices, he said.
Prastowo also suggested that the tax authority send a strong message to recalcitrant taxpayers by conducting an investigation based on taxpayer data provided by the Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) – a global initiative to fight tax evasion and tax avoidance – and information gathered through the previous tax amnesty.
