September 18, 2026 | 07:49 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Finance Minister Suahasil Nazara pledged to refund tax to eligible business owners, but cautioned that the government will be more careful in doing so.
While acknowledging that tax refunds were taxpayers' rights, Suahasil urges compliance from business owners to "use the refunds in accordance with existing regulations." He spoke during the monthly State Budget press conference in Jakarta on Friday, September 18, 2026.
Suahasil instructed the Taxes DG to handle the tax refund process, including disseminating the ongoing process to relevant parties. "We will definitely fulfill the rights of business actors," he added.
Tax refunds are given for overpaid taxes. The Minister of Finance's statement came amid questions from business actors regarding the slow disbursement of the refunds.
Meanwhile, Director General of Taxes Bimo Wijayanto said the tax refunds process is now more prudent by assessing all high-risk sectors based on the taxpayer compliance matrix. "And we will do so in accordance with the audit standard operating procedures," Bimo said after the press conference.
However, Bimo added that many taxpayers, particularly corporate entities, are also requesting preliminary refunds. He confirmed that these requests are also granted by the Directorate General of Taxes.
He further assured that the refunds will be granted as long as the overpayment is proven. He also confirmed that there is no set quota for tax refund disbursement.
As of the end of August 2026, the realization of tax refund disbursements reached Rp191.82 trillion, which Bimo admitted dropped around 30 percent compared to the same period last year.
According to the agency data, current disbursements consist of income tax (PPh) refunds of Rp55.79 trillion; value-added tax (PPN) and luxury goods sales tax (PPnBM) of Rp134.32 trillion; and land and building tax (PBB) and other taxes amounting to Rp1.71 trillion.
Meanwhile, in the same period last year, as of August 31, 2026, the disbursement reached Rp304.29 trillion, meaning the total tax refunded was down by approximately 36.9 percent.
Read: Indonesia's Budget Deficit Hits Rp240.1 Trillion by August 2026
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