Minister of Finance Purbaya Suspects 'Strange' Restitution, Targeting Underinvoicing of CPO Exports
JAKARTA - Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa claims that tax revenue in January 2026 grew 30.8 percent compared to January last year. However, he reminded, the figure cannot be read as a definite trend. Last year, he said, tax growth was negative, while the 2025 restitution surge was driven by the transfer of 2023 and 2024 restitution which were executed in a row.
In a meeting with Commission XI of the Indonesian House of Representatives on Wednesday, February 4, Purbaya explained the scenario, if the rate of receipt is maintained, the tax has the potential to reach around IDR 2,492 trillion - above the 2026 State Budget target of IDR 2,357 trillion. But he said it was "an over-exaggerated example" because last year's base and the restitution factor also influenced it.
The most severe highlight is in the restitution. Purbaya considers the restitution "kegedean" and "many strange things". He alluded to the practice of companies raising the cost of goods sold (COGS) so that the margin looks small, even though the profits in other parts are large. He admitted that he wanted to stop the pace of restitution when he entered the Ministry of Finance, but it was almost finished. "I'm a little surprised why it's so fast in a few months. So there must be something strange there," he said. He stated that he would investigate because so far the restitution is said to run automatically and "too easy".
On the other hand, he admitted that he was tidying up the tax system which was "chaotic" (coretax) last year, including expanding the bandwidth until May so that the disruption decreased significantly.
Purbaya also revealed the initial findings of suspected underinvoicing of exports (export value/price is reported lower than the actual price), which according to the Minister of Finance makes state revenues at risk of decreasing, especially CPO. He said the general pattern is that exports are reported via Singapore at a lower price, while the price in destination markets such as America is much higher, and the profits are placed in intermediary companies.
With data from Indonesia's National Single Window and the help of AI, he claimed to have examined around 10 large companies and found that the reported prices could be "half" of the price in America. He said he had preliminary evidence of "ship to ship" and was calculating whether foreign data could be used in court.
Minister of Finance Purbaya also conveyed the political target of the budget, namely pursuing the 2026 state budget tax target without raising tariffs or creating new taxes. He has only opened the opportunity for additional taxes - for example, sweetened drinks - if the economic growth in the second quarter exceeds 6%. If not, he admits that he will be very careful so that the economy does not slow down again.