Not Only Steel Companies, the Director General of Taxes Reveals There are Hebel Companies Who Are Allegedly Tax Evaders

JAKARTA - The Directorate General of Taxes (DJP) of the Ministry of Finance has revealed indications of tax evasion practices that not only occur in the steel industry, but also penetrate into other building materials sectors, such as the hebel or lightweight brick industry.

This was conveyed by the Director General of Taxes at the Ministry of Finance Bimo Wijayanto during a sudden inspection (sidak) with Minister of Finance Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa at the PT Power Steel Factory in Tangerang, Banten, Thursday, February 5.

Bimo explained that the DJP suspected that there were 40 steel companies that evaded taxes.

However, he continued, it is likely that other companies such as lightweight brick companies also committed the same violation.

"We will build a case against 40 steel companies. There are other companies that do the same thing. We will build a case against them," he said.

This unhealthy practice generally occurs in the construction materials sectors that are based on cash transactions (cash basis), so they are prone to not collecting and depositing VAT to the state.

"I can't talk about most of it, but there are indeed some indications. When the construction boom, construction materials that are indeed cash-based, do not pay VAT to the state," he explained.

For 40 steel companies, DJP estimates that the losses caused by companies not paying taxes reach IDR 4 trillion per year.

Not only does this harm the country, but it is also creating unhealthy competition.

"That's why hopefully the perpetrators can also realize that we are walking in the direction of the law," he said.

The alleged violations that may have been committed include reporting a Notification Letter (SPT) that does not correspond to the actual condition, especially by reporting sales without collecting VAT.

In addition, DJP also found another modus operandi used by companies to hide turnover. The modus operandi, among others, is to use the accounts of managers, shareholders, and employees to accommodate the flow of sales funds so that they are not detected as company turnover.

"Because there are indeed suspicions that outside of that also carried out the same modus in almost the same periods between 2015 to 2019 before the Covid-19 pandemic when indeed the construction boom," he said.

However, the DJP emphasized that the entire process is still ongoing and the principle of presumption of innocence is still prioritized.

The government will convey further developments after the investigation process and the collection of evidence are considered strong enough.

"We'll see later, I can't speculate. But we will raise it to the investigation if there is indeed strong evidence for the investigation. Therefore, we also cooperate to trace the flow of money with other authorities, PPATK, we will also open accounts and all kinds of things for this investigation," he said.