Undertable Money Practices In Tax Scandals Are Not New

Illustration - Practice of undertable money or gratification in tax scandals. (Photo: Special)

JAKARTA The Executive Director of the Primary-Kreston Tax Research Institute, Prianto Budi Saptono, revealed that the dragging of PT Djarum in the alleged tax scandal was nothing new.

The reason is, although the legal construction is not clear, this case is not far from tax collusion.

"If you look at the five people who were banned from going abroad by the Directorate General of Immigration at the request of the Attorney General's Office, it is complete enough to be referred to as tax collusion. These parties are tax officers 3 people, tax consultants 1 person, and Deputy Taxpayers (Taxpayers)," he said, Sunday, November 23.

He explained that what usually happens in tax scandals usually leads to the practice of undertable money or gratification.

The scheme, the reward is given through a tax consultant intermediary who becomes a bridge between taxpayers and examiners.

The reduction of tax debt at the time of examination is normal. For this reason, when taxpayers can provide additional supporting evidence when discussing the results of the examiner's findings, tax officers can reduce taxpayers' tax debt," continued Prianto.

Such a procedure, he said, was quite commonplace during the examination and became part of the standards that must be passed by every taxpayer.

"There is a time when tax officers will ask for compensation if the taxpayer asks for a decrease in the value of the tax debt. If they agree, the taxpayer can directly transact with the examining person without an intermediary for tax consultants," he added.

In addition, there are also conditions when the WP feels that the value of the debt that appears is too large.

In such situations, tax consultants are often asked to intervene to open up space for negotiations with unscrupulous examiners. As long as there is a reward, the examining person is usually willing to lower the debt.

There is no pameo for free lunch. This phenomenon occurred before there was a legal product in the form of a Tax Decree. So, there was a 'win-win solution'. For example, the tax debt should be Rp1,000. Then, there were negotiations so that the WP only paid Rp500 all in, including the allocation of tax officers," explained Prianto.

"In the end, tax employees regulate the amount of tax debt, for example Rp100, while the remaining Rp400 is divided among the tax officers involved in the examination process, including structural officials," he added.

Prianto admitted that these phenomena were difficult to prove.

However, stories that are spread from various sources include describing such conditions. Therefore, the results of the investigation by the Attorney General's Office will answer the truth of the tax-related phenomenon or scandal.

Previously, the Attorney General's Office proposed prevention to the Directorate General of Immigration of five people so as not to travel abroad.

One of them is the former Director General of Taxes, Ken Dwijugiasteadi. Meanwhile, the other four names are Prihat Ning Dijah Prananingrum, Victor Rachmat Hartono, Heru Budijanto Prabowo, and Karl Layman.

Prevention of these five people is considered important to support the investigation of cases of alleged corruption related to reducing the obligation to pay company taxes or taxpayers in 2016-2020 by unscrupulous DGT employees.

The prevention proposal is valid from November 14, 2025 to May 14, 2026, and can be extended according to the needs of the investigation.