Finance Minister Purbaya Ready to Crack Down on Tax Officials Playing with Refunds, Threatens to Remove Them from Office
Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa has issued a strong warning to tax officials who are manipulating the management of refunds. He emphasised that he is prepared to remove or deactivate officials from the Directorate General of Taxes (DJP) who are proven to be colluding with taxpayers.
This firm action comes amid scrutiny over the potential for significant leakages in the refunding of excess tax payments (restitusi), valued at Rp361 trillion in 2025.
The government is currently drafting new regulations through the Draft Ministerial Regulation on Finance (RPMK) to tighten the accelerated refund mechanism.
Purbaya revealed indications of practices that harm the state, particularly in the natural resource export sector such as coal.
“For example, if the coal industry pays VAT and gets refunded, it shouldn’t be that what they pay back is higher than what they receive. That would be a loss. There are even cases where the exports haven’t left yet, but the refund has already been issued. It’s like I’m being robbed. That’s what I want to control,” he explained in Jakarta, quoted on Saturday, 25 April 2026.
According to him, the lax refund system could be exploited by certain parties, both taxpayers and internal tax authorities. Therefore, comprehensive oversight will be tightened to ensure the principle of fairness is maintained.
Not only targeting taxpayers, Purbaya also assured that internal cleansing will be carried out without compromise. He emphasised that he will act immediately against tax service offices suspected of processing unreasonable refund amounts.
“So if there’s a place where tax refunds are too tight and we investigate, and problems are found, I’ll automatically move the head. I can’t fire them, though,” he said.
However, the options for enforcement are now broader. With support from new policies, problematic officials can even be deactivated from their positions.
This statement was reinforced by the Secretary General of the Ministry of Finance, Robert Leonard Marbun, who stated that the non-job mechanism is now possible. Purbaya also assured that he will utilise that authority to minimise state losses.
“But the new Secretary General says we can non-job them. The President’s order is the same. If necessary, if this is the case, then non-job them. Give them their salary, tell them to stay at home. The loss is smaller for us. Now I can do that, and I will do it,” he concluded.
This step marks a new chapter in tax oversight reform, where the government is not only pursuing external leakages but also cleansing potential deviant practices from within its own system.