Government Aims For Shadow Economy, Chairman Of Banggar DPR Says It Will Not Disturb MSMEs

Chairman of the DPR RI Budget Agency (Banggar) Said Abdullah responded to the government's plan to target taxes from shadow economic activity or shadow economy, especially in the retail trade sector.

According to Said, until now there has been no special or detailed discussion at the Budget Agency regarding more intense shadow economy supervision even though it has been contained in the Financial Note II Book document and the RAPBN for Fiscal Year 2026.

"Until now there has been no discussion in Banggar, just wait, the discussion in Banggar seems to be discussed at the Panja (Work Committee)," he told the media crew, Tuesday, August 19.

Although there has been no discussion, Said ensured that the government's policy to oversee the shadow economy would not interfere with business activities from MSMEs.

According to Said, so far the MSME sector has been subject to a final tax to MSMEs at a rate of 0.5 percent.

"If MSMEs seem to have never been touched so far, apart from the 0.5 percent tax, that alone has never changed, if that is even in the 2026 state revenue target, it remains 0.5 percent," he explained.

Previously, the Government was committed to strengthening supervision of sectors vulnerable to shadow economy practices that have the potential to erode tax revenue bases.

The commitment is stated based on Book II of the Financial Note and Draft of the 2026 State Revenue and Expenditure Budget (RAPBN), as quoted on Tuesday, August 19.

The supervision will focus on sectors such as retail trading, food and beverage businesses, gold trading, and fisheries, which are considered to have high potential for economic activity.

Then, the tax service system will continue to be improved through the implementation of CTAS, and data on business actors from the BKPM OSS system will be used to capture MSMEs.

In addition, the Government will provide matching data (data matching) on data on business actors on digital platforms that have not been identified fiscally in order to strengthen the database and increase overall tax compliance.

shadow economy activity is a major challenge in expanding the tax base, where many business actors, especially small and medium scale, operate without official permission, are not registered in the tax system, or carry out cash transactions that are difficult to track as a result, this sector's contribution to tax revenues is still not optimal.

To answer these challenges, the government has included the handling of shadow economy as part of a tax strategy in 2026 and the Government will continue to take various strategic steps that are integrated and systematic.

Throughout 2025, the government plans various steps such as mapping studies and measurements of shadow economic activity, preparation of the Compliance Improvement Program (CIP) specifically for this sector, as well as utilization of intelligence analysis to identify and take action against high-risk taxpayers.

As part of the surveillance strategy, the government will also develop intelligence studies to explore hidden potential in the shadow economy.

The concrete efforts that have been running include the integration of a Population Identification Number (NIK) with a Taxpayer Identification Number (NPWP), which began to be effective with the implementation of the Griffith System on January 1, 2025.

In addition, canssing process activities are actively carried out to record taxpayers who have not been registered and the Government has also appointed overseas entities as Value Added Tax collectors (VAT) for digital transactions of Trade Through Electronic Systems (PMSE), as part of a strategy to increase compliance and tax revenue.