Bambang Pamungkas
The Imperative for Sustainable Compliance: Background & Context
Indonesia, like many modern economies, operates under a self-assessment tax system, where taxpayers are primarily responsible for accurately calculating, paying, and reporting their tax liabilities. While this system promotes administrative efficiency and places the onus of compliance directly on the taxpayer, it inherently relies on a high degree of honesty and accurate reporting. Historically, this system has presented persistent challenges for the DGT, contributing to a noticeable "tax gap" – the difference between the amount of tax theoretically collectible and the amount actually collected. This gap often stems from various factors, including a lack of taxpayer understanding, intentional evasion, and the sheer difficulty of monitoring a vast and diverse economy that includes both formal and informal sectors.
The economic landscape in 2026, still navigating the complexities of post-pandemic recovery and global economic shifts, has further underscored the critical need for robust and reliable state revenue. Stable fiscal resources are indispensable for funding essential public services, driving ambitious infrastructure development projects, and sustaining social welfare programs without excessive reliance on debt. Therefore, enhancing tax compliance has become a top national priority. The DGT’s commitment to achieving "sustainable taxpayer compliance," as articulated in SE-8/PJ/2026, transcends a mere administrative update; it represents a fundamental strategic shift towards a more proactive, technologically advanced, and assertive enforcement regime. This new approach is specifically designed to effectively close the existing tax gap, broaden the tax base, and ensure equitable contributions from all economic actors, fostering greater fiscal health for the nation.
The circular, dated July 15, 2026, was officially disseminated to all DGT personnel, ensuring immediate operational readiness across its extensive network of offices. Its subsequent public announcement on July 17, 2026, through major media outlets like CNBC Indonesia, swiftly brought the stringent new measures into the public discourse. This rapid transition from issuance to implementation underscores the urgency and seriousness with which the DGT is approaching the imperative of improving tax compliance and strengthening the nation’s revenue generation capabilities.
Broadening the Scope: Registered, Unregistered, and Territorial Oversight
The new guidelines meticulously delineate the targets of supervision, significantly extending beyond the traditionally monitored registered taxpayers to encompass a much broader spectrum of economic activities and individuals. The DGT’s supervision will now be systematically applied to both registered taxpayers – those already recognized and integrated within the national tax system – and, critically, unregistered taxpayers, a segment that has historically operated largely outside the formal tax net. This comprehensive, two-pronged approach is further complemented by "territorial supervision," a novel and strategic initiative designed to enhance the DGT’s physical presence and digital intelligence footprint across all regions of Indonesia.
For registered taxpayers, the supervision framework will continue to utilize established and refined mechanisms such as Periodic Payment Supervision (PPM) and Material Compliance Supervision (PKM. PPM focuses on ensuring the timely and accurate reporting and payment of recurring tax obligations, such as monthly income tax installments, Value Added Tax (VAT), and other periodic levies. PKM, on the other hand, delves deeper into the substance and accuracy of reported transactions and financial statements to verify the material correctness of tax declarations. This often involves more detailed data analysis, potential inquiries into business operations, and reconciliation with third-party information to ensure the integrity of reported figures.
The significant innovation, however, lies in the intensified focus on unregistered taxpayers. For this historically elusive segment, the DGT will significantly ramp up "extensification activities." Extensification involves a proactive and systematic process of identifying new potential taxpayers, bringing them into the formal tax system, and comprehensively educating them about their rights and obligations. This outreach is vital not only for expanding the tax base but also for ensuring that all eligible economic participants contribute their fair share to the national coffers. The directive explicitly states that supervision will also encompass obligations related to Land and Building Tax (PBB), irrespective of whether these property objects have been previously registered or assessed for taxation. This inclusion underscores a holistic approach to asset-based taxation, aiming to capture wealth and property that might have previously escaped the DGT’s comprehensive radar.
Territorial supervision is a critical component aimed at boosting overall compliance and significantly expanding the DGT’s intelligence and enforcement network. This involves systematic data collection on economic activities within specific geographical work areas. By meticulously mapping economic landscapes, understanding local business dynamics, identifying emerging industries, and pinpointing potential areas of non-compliance, the DGT seeks to create a more robust and granular database. This strategy is designed not only to identify new taxpayers but also to gain a deeper, real-time understanding of the economic realities on the ground, thereby substantially improving the effectiveness of both registered and unregistered taxpayer supervision. The emphasis on "penguasaan wilayah" (territorial mastery) indicates a strategic move towards a more pervasive, intelligence-driven, and geographically granular tax administration presence, ensuring no economic activity goes unnoticed.
Modernizing Surveillance: Field and Non-Field Data Collection
To effectively execute these multifaceted supervisory tasks, the DGT is empowering all its personnel with significantly enhanced capabilities for data and information gathering. The new guidelines outline two primary methodologies: field data collection and non-field data collection, both meticulously designed to ensure a comprehensive and systematic acquisition of relevant information from diverse sources. This dual approach maximizes both the depth and breadth of the DGT’s investigative reach.
Field data collection involves direct, on-site engagement, representing a more traditional yet highly effective method. Tax officers are authorized to visit taxpayers’ residences, business premises, places of economic activity, and/or locations of independent professional work. Furthermore, they are permitted to engage directly with related parties who may possess pertinent information. The primary objective of these physical visits is to directly identify tax subjects (individuals or entities liable for tax) and tax objects (assets, transactions, or income streams subject to taxation) that may not be adequately declared or even known to the DGT. This hands-on approach allows for direct observation, physical verification of assets, informal information gathering from local communities, and an on-the-ground assessment of the scale and nature of economic activities. While resource-intensive, this method is particularly effective in verifying the actual existence of businesses, assessing their operational footprint, and uncovering undeclared assets or shadow economic activities.
Complementing this, non-field data collection leverages cutting-edge modern technology and existing administrative resources to gather information remotely and efficiently. This approach significantly minimizes the need for direct physical visits, thereby enhancing efficiency, scalability, and coverage. It includes the utilization of advanced information technology systems, sophisticated data analytics tools, and other available administrative means. This could involve the systematic cross-referencing of data from various government agencies (such as land registries, vehicle registration databases, business licensing bodies), analyzing public records, scrutinizing financial transaction data from banks and other financial institutions, or utilizing data from other regulatory bodies like the Financial Services Authority (OJK) or the Capital Market Supervisory Agency. The strong emphasis on sophisticated non-field data collection highlights the DGT’s unwavering commitment to digital transformation in tax administration. This recognizes that vast amounts of valuable information can be gleaned and analyzed without direct physical interaction, thereby optimizing resource allocation, expanding the reach of surveillance, and enabling intelligence-led compliance actions.
Leveraging Community Networks and Advanced Technology for Compliance
Perhaps one of the most striking and innovative aspects of SE-8/PJ/2026 is the explicit directive to employ an unprecedentedly diverse range of approaches
