Finance Ministry Considers Toll Road Tax Levy, Here's the Criticism from MUI Deputy Chairman

JAKARTA — Deputy Chairman of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), Buya Anwar Abbas, has responded to the proposal by the Directorate General of Taxes (DJP) under the Ministry of Finance (Kemenkeu) to collect Value Added Tax (PPN) on toll road services.

Buya Anwar stated that if the government wishes to increase its revenue, one approach could be to raise taxes, including on toll roads. However, he noted that such efforts to increase taxes would inevitably lead to higher inflation.

“And if inflation rises, the prices of goods will certainly increase, and if the prices of goods increase, the purchasing power of the public will decline,” said Buya Anwar to Republika on Wednesday (22/4/2026).

This social, economic, and religious observer pointed out that all citizens are aware that the prices of goods and services are beginning to creep up due to the Gulf War between the United States (US) and Israel fighting Iran, putting pressure on public purchasing power.

Buya Anwar added that in the midst of such a situation, if the government proceeds with raising toll road taxes, the policy would drive up logistics distribution costs. According to him, this would impact the prices of staple goods and other items, given that many goods are transported via land routes, some of which pass through toll roads at certain points.

“It is possible that to avoid the increased toll costs, trucks carrying goods might reroute via national roads, but this would clearly not be without problems, as it would ultimately lead to congestion on national roads, extending travel times for vehicles and clearly increasing fuel needs—especially since we know fuel prices have risen since 18 April,” he said.

Therefore, Buya Anwar cautioned that while an increase in toll road taxes might boost state revenues in the short term, in the medium and long term, it would slow economic growth. In general, he said, the amount of tax revenue that the state can collect would decrease.

“This would occur because business activity would weaken, which is clearly not good for all of us, neither for the government nor for the people,” he stated.