CELIOS Urges Immediate Implementation of Tax on the Super Rich

The Executive Director of the Center of Economic and Law Studies (CELIOS), Bhima Yudhistira Adhinegara, has urged the government to immediately implement a policy of taxing super-rich individuals, or ‘tax the super rich’, amid rising global and domestic economic pressures. Bhima assessed that the Finance Ministry’s new plan to prepare a wealth tax by no later than 2028 is too slow given the increasingly vulnerable economic conditions. ‘The Finance Ministry has issued a plan, by no later than 2028 they will have a wealth tax. Not 2028 (but) April, there are still a few days left. Enact this wealth tax issue, discuss it in parliament,’ Bhima stated during the launch of the report and research titled ‘Economic Inequality Report in Indonesia 2026: Republic of Oligarchy’ at Taman Ismail Marzuki (TIM), Jakarta, on Tuesday (21/4/2026). Bhima warned that the world, including Indonesia, is heading towards a ‘perfect storm’ situation due to a combination of energy crises, global conflicts, and supply disruptions such as LPG. He assessed that this condition will further pressure society, especially amid the potential rise in energy prices, including fuel. According to Bhima, in such a crisis situation, there is a group that is instead reaping huge profits, particularly players in the extractive sector. He deemed this unfair because the economic burden is mostly borne by the wider public. ‘Some profit, some get huge profits. Who? Extractive businessmen. The 50 richest people, most of them are in the extractive sector which is now enjoying windfalls. We bear the suffering, they just enjoy it. They profit, we lose,’ Bhima criticised. Bhima also criticised the tax structure that still burdens the middle class, while the rich group has not been taxed proportionally. For Bhima, accelerating the implementation of wealth tax is a form of the government’s support for the wider public. ‘If they really don’t want to do that, it means they are clearly siding with the oligarchy,’ Bhima said. Bhima also invited the public, especially the younger generation, to push for more equitable fiscal policy changes. He assessed that the current momentum must be utilised to demand tax system reforms. ‘This is the momentum, young people. The momentum for all of us to say enough is enough and one of the solutions is tax the super rich,’ Bhima said.