IKPI states that tax consultants need legal protection to practise their profession

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Indonesian Tax Consultants Association (IKPI) states that the tax consulting profession currently requires legal protection in the form of a law to practise safely and avoid criminalisation. “We continue to voice protection for tax consultants, and we have already approached Commission XI of the House of Representatives as an association aspiration,” said IKPI General Chairman Vaudy Starworld during an open doctoral promotion exam for an IKPI member in Jakarta on Thursday. According to him, IKPI is actively pushing for the issuance of a tax consultants’ law because, to date, whenever legal issues arise, consultants follow the general Criminal Code (KUHP). To that end, IKPI encourages its members to pursue formal education to strengthen the association and contribute to regulation drafting. Meanwhile, IKPI member Faryanti Tjandra, who has officially earned a doctorate in law from the Indonesian Christian University (UKI), assesses that tax consultants currently lack a “lex specialis” legal framework. As such, she said, tax consultants in practising their profession have only been regulated by the Minister of Finance Regulation (PMK), which governs administration and procedures for becoming a tax consultant but provides no professional protection. “To date, if there is a case involving a tax consultant, it uses the general KUHP, lex generalis, but in terms of lex specialis, we do not have it yet,” stated Faryanti. Faryanti, who also serves as Secretary of the IKPI South Jakarta branch, recounted her reasons for choosing that dissertation theme due to her concerns as a tax consultant practitioner seeing the profession lacking strong legal protection. “I chose this theme because it is my own profession. I love the tax consulting profession very much and feel there is still a deficiency, namely the absence of clear legal protection,” she said. She also views the current position of tax consultants as quite vulnerable because they are often dragged into criminal matters when providing professional services to taxpayers. However, she added, tax consultants play an important role in helping tax compliance and supporting state revenues. “Many cases involve tax consultants being drawn into criminal proceedings while providing professional services. That is what caught my attention when focusing on criminal law,” revealed Faryanti.