Chairman Of The MPR RI Supports The Separation Of The Directorate General Of Taxes From The Ministry Of Finance

Chairman of the MPR RI Bambang Soesatyo. (Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - The chairman of the MPR RI, Bambang Soesatyo, has provided support for the plan to separate the Directorate General of Taxes from the Ministry of Finance and form an autonomous body for tax managers who are directly responsible to the president.

"The idea of separating the Directorate General of Taxes with the Ministry of Finance is actually not new. This is one of President Joko Widodo's campaign missions in 2014. When I served as Chairman of the Indonesian House of Representatives for the 2014-2019 period, this issue has also been discussed. However, until now it has not been realized," said Bamsoet, the nickname of the Chairman of the MPR RI, in his statement in Jakarta, quoted from ANTARA, Saturday, March 18.

Bamsoet also gave an example of a number of countries that have separated tax bodies from the Ministry of Finance, including the United States which has separate autonomous tax institutions from the Ministry of Finance, named Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Singapore owns the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS), a semi-autonomous tax authority that is not under the Ministry of Finance.

Bamsoet added, later, the Directorate General of Taxes will be formed in a body called the State Revenue Agency (BPN) which is autonomous. One example is the Financial Services Authority (OJK) and Bank Indonesia.

Well, he said, separation will strengthen and increase the effectiveness of these institutions, so that they are more flexible in determining policies, employee recruitment, and structuring tax regulations, including increasing state revenues. Moreover, currently Indonesia's tax revenue reaches more than 75 percent of state revenues.

In the 2023 State Budget, state revenues from the tax sector are targeted to reach IDR 2,021.2 trillion or around 82 percent of the state revenue target.