Tax Consultant Offices, Be Ready, Office Permit Will Soon Be Mandatory

The Finance Professions Supervisory Center (Pusat Pembinaan Profesi Keuangan/PPPK in Indonesian) communicated the planned revision of the provisions on tax consultants was conveyed. Tri Wuri, a representative of the PPPK in the socialisation held by the Indonesian Tax Consultants Association (Ikatan Konsultan Pajak Indonesia/IKPI in Indonesian), noted that the requirement for an office permit is already in place for other financial professions.

Therefore, the same obligation will now be extended to tax consultants.

“This is, in essence, an existing business process for financial professions other than tax consultants. However, because since tax consultants are under the guidance and supervision of the PPPK, the mirroring of such regulations is likely,” she remarked.

The requirement for an office permit will be stipulated under a new Minister of Finance Regulation (MoF Reg.) which revises MoF Reg. 111/2014 as amended by MoF Reg. 175/2022 concerning Tax Consultants.

It is important to note that the office permit obligation to applies when a tax consultant provides tax consulting services through an office. If a tax consultant provides services directly to individual taxpayers without operating through an office, the consultant only needs a professional licence.

“The professional license is linked to an individual. There are consultants who do not operate through an office, and that is permitted. For those who offer services through an office, two permits are mandatory, namely the licence attached to the individual and another permit for the office,” explained Tri Wuri.

On another note, the current requirement for tax consultants to hold a practice licence before providing tax consulting services is outlined in MoF Reg. 111/2014 as amended by MoF Reg. 175/2022.

A practice licence is categorised into three levels, i.e., A, B and C. A level A practice licence is granted to a consultant who has passed the tax consultant certification test (ujian sertifikasi konsultan pajak/USKP in Indonesian) A and obtained a level A tax consultant certificate.

The level A certificate signified that the tax consultant is qualified to provide services to individual taxpayers, except for those domiciled in countries that enter into tax treaties (persetujuan penghindaran pajak berganda/P3B in Indonesian) with Indonesia.

Further, a level B practice licence is issued to consultants who have passed the USKP B and have a level B tax consultant certificate. With this certificate, tax consultants are authorised to render services to individual and corporate taxpayers other than foreign investment (penanaman modal asing/PMA in Indonesian) taxpayers, permanent establishments (PEs or bentuk usaha tetap/BUT in Indonesian) and taxpayers residing in countries that have established tax treaties with Indonesia.

A level C practice licence is granted to tax consultants who have passed the USKP C and obtained a level C tax consultant certificate. With a level C certificate, tax consultants are deemed qualified to provide services to all taxpayers without exception.

In addition to the information regarding the tax consultant office permit, other noteworthy updates are worth revisiting. These include a lawsuit filed against the Constitutional Court (Mahkamah Konstitusi/MK in Indonesian) to cancel the imposition of the 12% value added tax (VAT), updates on the performance of the coretax system and supervision by the tax office of annual tax return filing.

The following is a complete review of the latest tax articles.

Constitutional Court Requested to Cancel 12% VAT

The Constitutional Court (Mahkamah Konstitusi/MK in Indonesian) has once again held a judicial review of the VAT provisions under Law 7/2021 concerning the Harmonisation of Tax Regulations (Harmonisasi Peraturan Perpajakan/HPP in Indonesian).

Seven applicants from various backgrounds, ranging from housewives, students, private workers, micro-entrepreneurs to ride-hailing app drivers, have petitioned the Constitutional Court to annul the 12% VAT rate under the VAT Law as last amended by the HPP Law.

The application of VAT at a rate of 12% engenders legal uncertainty for the applicants. The uncertainty stems, inter alia, from a conflict between the 12% VAT rate under Article 7 paragraph (1) subparagraph b of the VAT Law and MoF Reg. 131/2024.

Corporate Taxpayers Remain Required to Attach Bookkeeping

Corporate taxpayers that take advantage of the final MSME Income Tax facility remain required to attach their bookkeeping to the annual tax return.

Pursuant to Article 28 of the General Provisions and Tax Procedures (GPTP) Law, corporate taxpayers in Indonesia are required to maintain bookkeeping. The GPTP Law only permits individual taxpayers to maintain recording without conducting bookkeeping.

Despite using the final MSME Income Tax in implementing their tax calculation and payment obligations, corporate taxpayers remain obliged to attach financial statements pursuant to PER-19/PJ/2014 concerning the Format of the Annual Income Tax Return Form for Individual Taxpayers and Corporate Taxpayers and Instructions for the Completion.

Coretax System Encounters Challenges with High Transaction Volumes

The operation of the Coretax administration system has reportedly been stable over the past month. Its reliability has also seen significant improvements compared to its initial launch period. However, issues such as fluctuating waiting time or latency still persist, depending on the transaction volume.

The Directorate General of Taxes (DGT) has recently issued a written statement (KT-12/2025) outlining the latest developments in the performance of the coretax system.

As indicated in the report, the coretax system remained stable from 24 March 2025 to 20 April 2025. However, this performance remains under pressure during periods of high transaction volume.

Tax Office Intensifies Efforts to Monitor Tax Return Filing Compliance

The Directorate General of Taxes is ensuing its efforts to improve taxpayer compliance with the filing of the annual tax return. One key strategy is compiling a list of taxpayers required to file the annual tax return in the Apportal internal application.

Director of Tax Dissemination, Services, and Public Relations of the Directorate General of Taxes, Dwi Astuti, claimed that the list of taxpayers required to file the annual tax return in the Apportal application allows tax offices to focus more effectively on monitoring taxpayer compliance.

“Based on this list, the Tax Office can concentrate on ensuring that registered taxpayers comply with the requirement to file the annual tax return filing,” she added.

Indonesia Should Learn from the US Tax Court System

Supreme Court Judge for the State Administrative (Tata Usaha Negara/TUN in Indonesian) Court, Cerah Bangun, believes that Indonesia can benefit from studying the tax court system in force in the United States (US).

In the Discussion and Book Launch of Kajian Persiapan Penyatuan Atap Pengadilan Pajak dari Kementerian Keuangan kepada Mahkamah Agung, Cerah elaborated that taxpayers in the US have the option to file disputes in three courts, i.e., the Court of Federal Claims, the US District Court or the US Tax Court.

“There are pros and cons. The tax court is located only in Washington D.C. When there is a dispute in a certain state, a team of judges travels to that area and agrees on the schedule for hearings," said Cerah. (sap)