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‘I did it!’: Six million taxpayers, including Sri Mulyani, report annual tax returns
The ministry announced that 6.27 million taxpayers had filed their annual tax returns as of Monday.
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Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati (left) and Deputy Finance Minister Suahasil Nazara (right) show electronic receipts on their mobile phones after reporting their annual tax returns (SPT) in Jakarta on Tuesday, March 10. (Courtesy of the Taxation Directorate General/-)
F
inance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati could not hide her excitement after filing her annual tax return (SPT) in Jakarta on Tuesday.
“I did it! It just took five minutes,” she said to the delight of the ministry’s high-ranking officials at an event at the Taxation Directorate General office. On the day, Sri Mulyani along with the officials reported their SPTs using an electronic filing feature developed by the tax office.
Soon after the report was filed with the assistance of Taxation Director General Suryo Utomo, Sri Mulyani gleefully showed the receipt on her mobile phone to reporters.
Read also: Better tax collection needed as 2020 tax revenue target ‘hard to achieve’
“To me, being a role model is important. I’d like to show the people that although we at the Finance Ministry manage the state budget, we are also taxpayers,” she said. “So, we want to fulfil our obligation as individual taxpayers.”
The SPT reporting deadline is the end of March annually.
The ministry announced that 6.27 million taxpayers had filed their annual tax returns as of Monday, an increase of 34 percent from 4.7 million taxpayers during the same period last year. Around 262,300 taxpayers filed their SPT manually compared to last year’s figure of 333,453 taxpayers.
“We project that tax collection will be maintained this year despite economic risks,” the former World Bank managing director said.
The global and domestic economic growth rates are expected to weaken this year due to the COVID-19 outbreak, posing risks to tax collection as business activities are disrupted.
Read also: Indonesia’s 2020 budget deficit may widen to 2.8 percent after tax shortfall: Indef
The government collected Rp 103.7 trillion (US$7.25 billion) in total state revenue in January, down 4.6 percent from the same month last year. At the same time, it pocketed Rp 84.7 trillion in tax, down 6 percent compared to the first month of last year.
The minister expressed her gratitude to the taxpayers who have reported their SPTs, adding that around 7,700 volunteers would be deployed to help other taxpayers file their SPTs through e-filing.
“I hope others can follow suit so that our tax collection this year will be in check.”
