Legislator Deddy Sitorus Denies PDIP Initiation Of 12 Percent VAT Increase

Member of the PDIP faction of the DPR RI, Deddy Sitorus (DOK Diah Ayu/VOI)

JAKARTA - Member of the PDIP faction of the DPR RI, Deddy Sitorus, denied allegations that his party initiated an increase in the value added tax (VAT) of 12 percent which will be applied in the government of President Prabowo Subianto.

Deddy emphasized that the 2021 Law (UU) decision on Harmonization of Tax Regulations (HPP) was proposed during the administration of the 7th President Joko Widodo. Although the head of the working committee (panja) is a member of the PDIP faction, this was agreed upon by all factions in the DPR RI.

"That is the decision of the DPR RI, not an initiative from the PDI-P. One address if you say the initiator is PDI-P," Deddy told reporters, Sunday, December 22.

Deddy explained that when the VAT increase was proposed by the Ministry of Finance, the DPR agreed with the assumption that economic conditions in the country and global conditions were in good condition.

However, there was indeed a request from some factions in the DPR that this be considered based on a number of factors, namely the decline in people's purchasing power, the middle class that was eroded, to the threat of a storm of layoffs.

"So this is not the fault of Prabowo's government, of course. What friends asked was also not to cancel the law or the agreement that had been made in the DPR, but asked the government to review the poor of the increase in VAT for the people," explained Deddy.

Previously, Deputy Chairman of the DPR's Budget Agency (Banggar), Wihadi Wiyanto, revealed that Law Number 7 of 2021 concerning Harmonization of Tax Regulations (UU HPP) was initiated by the PDI-P faction of the DPR. This is the basis for the increase in Value Added Tax (VAT) to 12 percent on January 1, 2025.

"The 12 percent increase in VAT is the decision of the 2021 Law, HPP. (VAT) is 12 percent in 2025, and it is initiated by the PDI-P," Wihadi told reporters, Saturday, December 21.

"We can see that from the one who led the Panja (Work Committee) even from the PDI-P," he added.

Meanwhile, Dolfie Onniel Fredric Palit, who is a member of the PDIP faction, became the Chair of the Working Committee (Panja) for the HPP Bill (RUU) during the discussion.

This condition made Wihadi question the PDIP's attitude in criticizing the increase in VAT to 12 percent. For him, the party bearing the bull symbol seemed to corner President Prabowo Subianto.

"Now that the PDI-P has asked for it to be postponed, this is something that actually cornered Prabowo's government. Actually, what wants the increase is the PDI-P," he said.