ATI Secretary General: Toll Road Tax, Double Burden for Customers

The discourse on imposing Value Added Tax (VAT) on toll road services has resurfaced in the 2025-2029 Strategic Plan document of the Directorate General of Taxes (DJP). This initiative, which has been circulating since 2015, has sparked debates regarding fiscal justice and its impact on national logistics costs. On one hand, the government seeks to broaden the state revenue base, but on the other, this policy could act as a disincentive for road users and infrastructure investors. Secretary General of the Indonesian Toll Roads Association (ATI), Krist Ade Sudiyono, believes there is a misconception in public assumptions about calculating the fiscal potential from this discourse. According to him, the fiscal potential calculation for this tax is levied on the public when they enjoy the added value from the presence of toll roads. “In fiscal terms, it is the difference between the output tax obtained when the public uses the toll road minus the input tax when the operator builds, operates, and maintains the toll road,” Krist explained to Kompas.com on Tuesday (21/4/2026). Toll road investment construction in Indonesia is essentially public participation in covering the state’s obligations. The procurement of public infrastructure should be the full responsibility of the state. However, through an investment scheme, road construction is financed by investors, and the return on capital is borne by the public through toll fees. If VAT is applied, toll road users will bear a double burden. In addition to paying fees to repay the construction investment, they must also pay tax on the facility they themselves fund. This increase in logistics costs becomes counterproductive to the government’s efforts to reduce the national logistics cost index. Every increase in toll costs for heavy vehicles will directly translate into higher prices for goods at the end consumer level. For Toll Road Business Entities (BUJT) or operators, their role in this policy is merely as collectors and remitters of tax to the state. Financially, VAT has no direct impact on the company’s balance sheet, but the risk of reduced traffic volume poses a real threat.