Revealed! Government Drafting Plans for Tax Amnesty Vol. III

JAKARTA. The government has once again floated the idea of a third phase of the tax amnesty program to enhance tax compliance and boost state revenue. This was revealed by the Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs, Budi Gunawan, after attending a ministerial-level meeting discussing strategies for corruption prevention, governance reform, and optimization of foreign exchange earnings.

Quoted from Kontan.co.id, Budi stated that the Ministry of Finance is formulating the tax amnesty program plan in collaboration with the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs. He explained that the program is designed to provide an opportunity for individuals or entities to report and repatriate their assets through the tax amnesty mechanism.

"Regarding the tax amnesty, it is currently being formulated. We know there was a first and second tax amnesty," said Budi during a press conference on Thursday (January 2).

However, Budi emphasized that efforts to prevent and combat corruption will continue rigorously, without discrimination, and free from political interference. "We will combat corruption firmly, without hesitation, without favoritism, and without politicizing the law," he stressed.

The plan to implement the third phase of the tax amnesty aligns with the government’s agenda to revise Law No. 11 of 2016 on Tax Amnesty, which is included in the 2025 Priority National Legislation Program (Prolegnas).

For reference, the tax amnesty program has been implemented twice. The first phase ran from July 18, 2016, to March 31, 2017, with tax rates ranging from 2% to 10%. This program was initially declared a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for tax evaders to declare their assets before being detected by the Directorate General of Taxes (DGT) and potentially facing fines of up to 100%.

However, tax amnesty vol. 2 was launched under the name Voluntary Disclosure Program (VDP), which took place from January 1 to June 30, 2022. This program was divided into two groups: taxpayers who participated in the first phase but still had undeclared assets, and taxpayers who had not participated in the 2016–2020 tax amnesty period. The tax rates for the second phase were higher, ranging from 6–11% for the first group and 12–18% for the second. (KEN)