JAKARTA - Special Advisor to the President for Employment and Labor Welfare Said Iqbal met with Minister of Finance Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa to convey aspirations regarding the elimination of taxes on old age security benefits (JHT).
Said said that workers, workers, and employees encouraged that the JHT tax could be abolished or set at 0 percent because it was considered a form of social savings for workers.
"Today we want to meet the Minister of Finance, Mr. Purbaya. I am the special advisor to the president for labor and labor welfare. The point is that we want to discuss the strong demand from workers, workers, and employees for the old age security tax or we know it as JHT to be 0 percent," he told the media, Wednesday, July 8.
He explained that the characteristics of JHT are different from commercial savings products so that the taxation scheme also needs to be differentiated.
According to him, on commercial savings products, taxes are generally imposed on interest or returns, not on the principal funds deposited.
Meanwhile, Said assessed that the JHT fund is a social savings that comes from workers' contributions so that the imposition of taxes should not be imposed on the JHT benefits received by workers.
"The easiest thing is that the tax on commercial savings is imposed on the interest of the savings, not on the savings. If JHT is a social savings, the tax should be imposed not on the JHT, but on the return from the JHT. That's what finally emerged progressive tax so it feels for workers, workers, employees, we are the ones who have saved and it is a social savings," he said.
According to Said, the proposal to abolish the JHT tax is an aspiration that has long been conveyed by the workers' group and hopes that the government can consider this policy as part of efforts to improve the welfare of workers and workers.
"Of course, we will discuss other things later and we hope that the Minister of Finance, Mr. Purbaya, will listen to the aspirations of the people, rather than workers, employees, and workers to make the JHT tax 0 percent," he said.
In addition to the JHT tax, Said also proposed that the government remove taxes on the Hari Raya Allowance (THR), severance pay, and pension benefits.
According to him, THR is generally used to meet people's needs during holidays so that it should not be taxed, while severance pay is the last source of income for workers who lose their jobs, while pension funds are a support for life in old age.
"In the last Mayday 2025 at Monas, we have conveyed to President Prabowo that the JHT tax, the THR tax, the THR is spent on expenses, the lease period, the severance tax, the severance is the last defense after we lose income and jobs and also the retirement tax. Retirement is our old age so that the state considers all of them to be removed by 0 percent," he said.
He added that even though he is currently part of the government as a Special Advisor to the President, he still has the obligation to convey the aspirations of workers to the government.
"These taxes are what we hope will be the new policy of the Government of the Republic of Indonesia. Although I am also part of the government, but I am also a special advisor to the President who has conveyed this and will convey it to the President," he said.
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