Tax Exemptions From Hajj Financial Management Agency To Support Sharia Financial Development

JAKARTA - The Hajj Financial Management Agency (BPKH) has responded positively to the government's stimulus which has exempted income tax (Pph) for hajj fund management for the Hajj Financial Management Agency (BPKH) through the Job Creation Law. The new provision is mentioned in Article 45 paragraph (2) of the Minister of Finance Regulation (PMK) 18/2021.

Head of BPKH, Anggito Abimanyu, said there were four positive benefits from the tax exemption, both for the economy and sharia finance, prospective pilgrims to the future performance of BPKH. In fact, this tax exemption for BPKH can increase the value of benefits that will be provided to prospective pilgrims.

"The first conclusion is of course that tax exemptions have an impact on the quality of the haj pilgrimage organizers, meaning that the available funds are larger, thereby reducing our dependence on the state budget," said Anggito The Finance Forum with the theme "Exclusion of BPKH Tax Incentives for Sharia Economics and Finance", Wednesday, March 10.

Anggito explained, for the second benefit, namely an increase in liquidity in Sharia Banks (BPS-BPIH) and the Sharia Investment Business. While the third benefit is an increase in economic activity caused by an increase in the amount of Hajj Cash that can be invested or placed in sharia-based instruments.

Meanwhile, the fourth benefit is that Islamic banks are expected to be oriented towards sharia-based investment in the future.

"We hope that the sharia bank will be oriented towards sharia-based investment using BPKH funds," said Anggito.

Anggito Abimanyu stated that the existence of an income tax exemption for the management of Hajj funds at BPKH could increase the value of the benefits to be given to prospective pilgrims. According to him, in 2020, his party had paid Pph of almost Rp1.49 trillion. Thus, it is hoped that this figure can be channeled into the value of the benefits of Hajj.

"So we calculated that last year the value of our pilgrimage benefits was Rp. 7.4 trillion, we were Rp1.49 trillion to pay Pph taxes (in 2020) for both banks and investment managers. Now roughly this is the value of BPKH benefits," said Anggito.

He said the hajj managed funds are professionally managed by BPKH in safe and liquid sharia instruments and continue to grow, especially with the BPKH tax exemption. With tax exemptions, it will have an impact on economic improvement. Moreover, if vaccination runs normally, management performance will be even tighter in the future.

The tax exemption at BPKH has an impact on improving the quality of the haj pilgrimage, increasing the liquidity of Islamic banks (BPS-BPIH) and the sharia investment business, increasing economic activity due to an increase in the amount of hajj cash that can be invested and / or placed in sharia-based instruments, Islamic banks need to sharia-based investment reorientation.

"The implication is huge, including for BPKH tax exemptions. If we can get bigger funds, we can provide optimal funds for Hajj customers," said Anggito.

Deputy President Director II of Bank Syariah Indonesia (BSI) Abdullah Firman Wibowo also revealed that tax exemption incentives for BPKH can increase the benefits of Hajj in the community.

"Of course we support the existence of tax incentives because this will have an impact on everything. Then from the community it will certainly increase the benefits of Hajj for those who want to do Haj because of course it will be covered in terms of the value of benefits generated by the management in BPKH," he added.

In addition, he continued, tax incentives will also make it easier for the Indonesian Sharia Bank (BSI) to manage funds. He believes that this tax relief or exemption will increase yield which in turn will make fund management more efficient.

"Of course the burden from BPKH which previously placed it in high yielding banks, of course with the relief, this tax exemption would of course yield higher, and from our point of view, it could be more efficient later," he explained.

Meanwhile, Bahana TCW Director for Investment Strategy Budi Hikmat stated that the tax exemption on haj management would be able to increase the investment portion of the hajj funds managed by BPKH.

"There is uniqueness in the management of the hajj fund. Pilgrims pay long-term installments in rupiah. Meanwhile, many operations use US dollars. So there is a mismatch in the duration and denomination of assets," said Budi.

For this reason, he advised BPKH to look for investment products that have high productivity but with controlled volatility. Through tax exemptions, he argues that the government has provided various facilities. Now, BPKH only needs to manage and optimize these incentives.

"BPKH needs to find a way to create products through MI that are able to overcome the duration and denomination. The method is assets that have high productivity but with controlled volatility," he concluded.