Govt to maintain investment climate, tax reform in setting 2019 tax target

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati has said the government will consider several scenarios in determining its 2019 tax revenue target while adhering to its commitment to maintaining a conducive investment climate and pushing for tax reform.

“The tax revenue target will be set in consideration of current global and national economic conditions, past tax realizations and the current potential for tax revenue,” she said on Thursday at the House of Representatives (DPR) general assembly.

Following the conclusion of the tax amnesty, which ran from June 2016 to March 2017, Sri Mulyani said the government would continue to improve its administrative system to expand the taxpayer database in an effort to boost tax collection.

She added that the government would optimize tax collection by utilizing the trove of data it would receive under international agreements such as the Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) and Country-by-Country Reporting (CBCR) to widen the tax database and better identify recalcitrant taxpayers.

As the government projected the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to expand between 5.4 and 5.8 percent next year – above the 5.4 percent target in the 2018 State Budget – Sri Mulyani said it would also issue several fiscal incentives to boost the economy.

The planned incentives include the revamped tax holiday, tax allowance and import duty facility. Fiscal incentives would also be given to labor-intensive, export-oriented industries in a bid to attract investment with a view to reducing the current account deficit. (dwa)