Marketplace Will Be Taxed, Netizens Criticize Spicy Sri Mulyani

JAKARTA - The plan of the Directorate General of Taxes at the Ministry of Finance (Kemenkeu) to collect taxes on transactions carried out by merchants in the marketplace or e-commerce received criticism from netizens, aka netizens.

Even though the plan is still in the discussion stage at the Directorate General of Taxes, the issue continues to be a hot topic of conversation among the public.

Many netizens rejected the plan. In fact, they did not hesitate to criticize the Minister of Finance (Menkeu), Sri Mulyani Indrawati, on her official Instagram account.

Based on VOI's monitoring, Saturday, June 28, 2025, many negative comments met one of Sri Mulyani's uploads on the official Instagram account @smindrawati.

One of the @deakha*** netizens assessed that only the official's budget should be cut, not even burdening the people again with tax levies.

"My mother, as a people, wants to express her aspirations, why don't the budget for officials and job cuts for officials to become contracts can be efficient and efficient at 80 percent," wrote the account.

The scathing comment also came from the @ebet*** account.

"Everything is taxed. The people are already living while it is even more difficult, plus the burden of the ordinary people. Please, if you still have a conscience, change it and pay attention to the people of the ordinary, who do not live luxuriously like mothers and friends of mothers," he said.

Similar criticism was also conveyed by one of the marketplace entrepreneurs @rabbitem ***. He said the Government's policy should be in favor of MSME players in e-commerce.

"Ask the minister very much, please, don't force yourself and impose it on us marketplace entrepreneurs. The job opportunities have run out, small businesses want women to steal," he explained.

"We are looking for money to eat, for children's schools, for wife to cook. If the state has not been able to provide health, school, and low food prices, we don't have to pay for our mothers anymore," he continued.

Previously, the Directorate General of Taxes (DGT) of the Ministry of Finance planned to collect taxes on transactions carried out by merchants in marketplaces or e-commerce.

The government plans to appoint a marketplace as an Income Tax collector (PPh) Article 22 for goods sales transactions by merchants selling through Electronic Systems (PMSE).

The Director of Counseling, Services and Public Relations of the Ministry of Finance, Rosmauli, assessed that this provision plan is not a new tax imposition because it basically regulates the shift (shifting) of the Income Tax payment (PPh) mechanism independently by online traders into a PPh Article 22 collection system carried out by the marketplace as the appointed party.

"It should be understood that in principle income tax is imposed on any additional economic capacity received or obtained by taxpayers, including from the sale of goods and services online," he said in his statement, Thursday, June 26, 2025.

Rosmauli said that this policy did not change the basic principles, but instead provided convenience for traders in fulfilling tax obligations because the tax payment process was carried out through a simpler and more integrated collection system with the platform where they sell.

He added that domestic private traders with an Turnover of up to Rp. 500 million per year are still not subject to PPh in this scheme, in accordance with applicable regulations.

According to him, the main objective of this provision is to create justice and convenience because the mechanism is designed to provide administrative convenience, increase compliance, and ensure equal tax treatment between business actors without adding a burden or creating new types of taxes.

In addition, this provision also aims to strengthen surveillance and close the shadow economy gap.