For Example! Suryo Utomo, Director General Of Taxes With A Allowance Of Rp. 100 Million And So 'Demonsty' Sri Mulyani

Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani (central) and Director General of Taxes Suryo Utomo (left) when they were grateful for achieving the 2022 tax target. (Photo: Instagram @smindrawati)

The name of the Director General (Dirjen) of Tax Suryo Utomo suddenly became the spotlight because of his success in achieving the state revenue target even though it was not even the end of the year. This achievement was revealed when the Minister of Finance (Menkeu) Sri Mulyani gave a presentation on the realization of the state budget last week.

It was stated that until December 14, 2022, tax revenues had reached Rp1,634.3 trillion. This figure is equivalent to 110 percent of the target set in the 2022 State Budget which is Rp1,485 trillion in accordance with Presidential Decree 98/2022.

For this statement, the ranks of the Directorate of Taxes of the Ministry of Finance are entitled to a performance allowance, aka Tukin, as regulated in Presidential Regulation (Perpres) of 2015 concerning Employee Performance Allowances within the Directorate General of Taxes. The regulation was then updated through Presidential Decree No. 96 of 2017.

Based on the information gathered by the editors, the highest nominal tokin is IDR 117.3 million. This value is of course intended for top officials of the Director General of Taxes who are echelons I of the Ministry of Finance. This means that Suryo will receive an award of more than IDR 100 million next year.

Just so you know, Suryo Cs's achievements did not only occur this year. Previously, the state tax office also posted similar results for the 2021 period by reaping revenues of Rp. 1,277.5 trillion or through 103.9 percent of what was mandated in the APBN of Rp. 1,229.58 trillion.

This achievement ended the drought to achieve the tax revenue target for 13 years. Finally, DGT penetrated the tax revenue target in 2008.

"This positive performance cannot be separated from the windfall of rising commodity prices and also the ongoing national economic recovery and is supported by tax reform," said Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani on several occasions.

VOI noted that there were at least three interesting things that the Dhanapala Gang achieved for this positive result. First, tax revenues that exceeded the target occurred for two consecutive years in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Second, the target for 2022 tax revenue has actually been increased from the previous stipulation. For information, in the 2022 State Budget Law, it is stated that the tax revenue target is only only of IDR 1,265 trillion.

This figure was then raised to IDR 1,485 trillion in accordance with the implementation regulations for the 2022 State Budget contained in Presidential Decree 98/2022.

Third, taxes are revenue instruments that contribute the largest portion in state revenue. Two other instruments, namely customs and excise, as well as non-tax state revenues (PNBP) are only targeted at IDR 299 trillion and IDR 481.6 trillion, respectively.

So, it is not excessive if the Director General of Taxes Suryo Utomo is now Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani in collecting the coffers of the 2022 State Budget.