Finally! By the End of July, Coretax Will Be Bug-Free

During a meeting with Commission XI of the House of Representative (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat/DPR in Indonesian), Director General of Taxes Suryo Utomo elaborated the improvements to the coretax system would focus on addressing bugs in the application, data migration and infrastructure development.

“The Coretax covers 21 core business processes, out of which three have been completed in terms of existing bugs and errors. We are working on itemising 18 other business processes, aimed at fixing the bugs,” claimed Suryo.

Three business processes that the DGT has successfully fixed include business intelligence, knowledge management, and third-party data. Meanwhile, 18 business processes that are being fixed include registration, tax return management, payments and taxpayer account management (TAM).

Additional functions still in progress comprise taxpayer services, exchange of information (EoI), data quality management (DQM), and document management system (DMS).

Other areas being addressed include compliance risk management (CRM), valuation, supervision, extensification, audits, billing, intelligence, investigations, objections and appeals as well as non-objections.

Bug fixes for these 18 business processes are scheduled to be completed by 31 July 2025.

“The goal is to have the improvements completed by the end of July at the latest. Some might be completed as early as June or even May, but overall, we’re trying to itemise around 18 business processes and we expect to finalise them before July,” claimed Suryo.

According to Suryo, data migration from the former system to the coretax system is expected to be completed by 31 December 2025.

In addition to updates on improvements to the coretax system, several other noteworthy developments are worth highlighting, including the commencement of the annual tax return examination by the DGT, the proposed Asset Forfeiture Draft Law that also targets tax evaders and the decline in tax revenue performance during the first quarter of 2025.

The following is a full summary of the featured tax articles.

DJP Examines Annual Income Tax Returns

The Tax Office (Kantor Pelayanan Pajak/KPP in Indonesian) is now examining annual income tax returns filed by taxpayers. In general, the tax return examination aims to ensure that five aspects are fulfilled.

First, the tax return is signed by the taxpayer pursuant to the General Provisions and Tax Procedures (GPTP) Law. Second, the tax return is filed in Indonesian. Third, the tax return is filled in completely and attached with the required information and/or documents.

Fourth, in the case of a tax return that indicates an overpayment, it is filed within three years after the end of the relevant taxable period, tax year or fraction of the tax year and must have been preceded by a written reprimand. Fifth, the tax return is filed before the DGT initiates an audit, public preliminary audit or issues a notice of tax assessment (surat ketetapan pajak/SKP in Indonesian).

Asset Forfeiture Draft Law Targets Tax Evaders

The Attorney General’s Office has announced that tax evaders will also be subject to non-conviction-based asset forfeiture.

Deputy Attorney General for Civil and State Administrative Affairs (Jaksa Agung Muda Bidang Perdata dan Tata Usaha Negara/Jamdatun in Indonesian), Narendra Jatna, explained that asset forfeiture pursuant to the Asset Forfeiture Draft Law is intended to target persons involved in corruption and other economic crimes.

"The Asset Forfeiture Draft Law is being proposed not only to combat corruption but also addresses all forms of economic crimes, ranging from tax avoidance, tax fraud, embezzlement, environmental damage to trade-related crimes,” remarked Narendra.

Annual Tax Return Filing by Individual Taxpayers Down 1.2%

Suryo Utomo reported a 1.21%decline in the filing of annual individual income tax returns for the 2024 tax year.

Suryo stated that a total of 12.99 million annual individual income tax returns had been filed to the DGT as of 30 April 2025—down from 13.15 million in the previous year.

“This year has seen a slight contraction of 1.21%,” Suryo stated during a Hearing Meeting with Commission XI of the House of Representatives.

January-April Tax Revenue Performance Still Contracting

Commission XI of the House of Representatives noted that tax revenue realisation for the period between January and April 2025 only stood at IDR451.1 trillion, representing a contraction of 27.73% compared to the same period last year.

Chairperson of Commission XI of the House of Representatives, Mukhamad Misbakhun, attributed the revenue decline to pressure on gross revenues and a surge in tax refunds as indicated by the issuance of the disbursement of refund claim (surat perintah membayar kelebihan pajak/SPMKP in Indonesian).

“So please, Sir [Director General of Taxes Suryo Utomo], verify whether this matches your office’s data or not. Don't ask me where I obtained such data,” added Misbakhun.

Tax Amnesty Does Not Necessarily Affect the Economy

The implementation of tax amnesty does not automatically influence national economic performance in 2025.

Director of Fiscal Research and Advisory at DDTC, Bawono Kristiaji, expressed doubts about the potential for tax amnesty to consistently benefit the national economy.

“Seemingly inconsistent impact does not imply that tax amnesty itself lacks impact. There could be other factors,” remarked Bawono in a webinar entitled the Urgency of Tax Amnesty in Theoretical Perspective and International Best Practice hosted by the University of Indonesia (UI). (sap)