2025 Tax Filing Expected to Decline to 14.5 Million, Here's Why!
JAKARTA. The Directorate General of Taxes (DGT) estimates that the number of Annual Tax Return (SPT) filings for the 2025 tax year will decrease to around 14.5 million, lower than the 16.52 million returns filed in the 2024 tax year. This projection was made to anticipate system and service loads in line with the implementation of the integrated tax administration system, Coretax, which will be used for the first time for next year's filing.
Director of Tax Dissemination, Services, and Public Relations (P2Humas) at the DGT Rosmauli, explained that of the total estimated filing, approximately 13 million will be individual taxpayers and 1 million corporate taxpayers. Most of the filers are expected to come from the employee segment, while filings from non-employee individuals and MSMEs are predicted to decline.
“MSMEs with annual turnover below IDR 4.8 billion are likely to decline, while the number of non-effective taxpayers may increase,” she explained, as quoted from Kontan.co.id.
In addition, the decline is also driven by an increase in the number of taxpayers whose income falls below the Non-Taxable Income Threshold (PTKP) of IDR 54 million per year. As a result, they are no longer obligated to file an SPT.
Looking at another aspect, economic pressures are expected to worsen this downward trend in tax filing. Citing Kontan.co.id, Bhima Yudhistira, Executive Director of the Center of Economic and Law Studies (CELIOS), stated that waves of layoffs and declining incomes have caused many people to fall out of taxpayer status. “Some who previously earned above the PTKP have now fallen below it and are therefore exempt from Income Tax Article (ITA) 21 Income Tax,” Bhima said.
Bhima also highlighted the declining public trust in the tax system and government policy. He noted that a portion of the middle class feels that the taxes they pay are not proportionate to the benefits they receive. This sentiment could reduce the willingness of taxpayers to voluntarily submit their tax returns.
“Trust is critical here. Many people feel that the taxes they pay are not reflected in tangible benefits received by the middle-income group,” Bhima said.
According to Bhima, if this situation continues, the government will need to rebuild trust by communicating more transparently about how tax revenue is allocated to restore public confidence. (KEN)
