Purbaya Suddenly Wants to Exempt Land Grant Taxes, What's Behind It?
Finance Minister Purbante Yudhi Sadewa has stated that his office supports the 3-million-house programme implemented by the Ministry of Housing and Residential Areas (PKP). He provided strong signals regarding potential fiscal policy breakthroughs, such as providing tax incentives including Income Tax (PPh) and Land and Building Title Transfer Duty (BPHTB) for businesses contributing to national priority agendas.
Purbaya emphasised that the government should not levy taxes on land that is voluntarily surrendered to the state.
“I was asked earlier, can we provide incentives to Lippo? I asked, what kind of incentive? Land tax for land that is surrendered… Oh, land that is surrendered should not be taxed. That is easy. Why should we tax someone for giving to us?” he said at Wisma Danantara, Jakarta, on Monday (29/6/2026).
To ensure this plan proceeds without bureaucratic hurdles, Purbaya expressed his readiness to bypass rigid regulations currently existing within the Ministry of Finance.
“Therefore, I will bypass all existing regulations within the Ministry of Finance so that this can proceed,” he stated.
Purbaya emphasised that the public interest in obtaining decent housing must take priority over obstructing regulations. He even asserted that he would not hesitate to dismiss officials who attempt to obstruct the process of providing these tax incentives.
“If officials resist, I will simply dismiss them,” he asserted.
The surrendered land assets are planned to be managed by the Danantara Investment Management Agency (BPI Danantara) as state capital participation. With a professional and profitable management scheme, Purbaya is optimistic that this project can commence in the near future.
“Under the planned scheme, it will ultimately be handed over to Danantara. For Danantara, we debate internally about who profits and who loses. For Danantara, the important thing is that it is profitable, right? And for me, with lower costs, I can obtain more houses. So, this is an excellent collaboration,” he explained.
He aims to complete coordination with the Ministry of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning (ATR/BPN) and the Ministry of Housing within a maximum of two months to finalise all tax administration and legality.
“I will ensure that I work with Mr Nusron to ensure everything is clear within 2 months, so construction can begin after that,” he said.
“Various fundamental regulations in the management of state finances and wealth emphasise that all grant processes will be carried out in accordance with statutory provisions, applying principles of good governance, transparency, and high-level prudence. That is the bureaucratic way of writing it. In other words, it won’t be implemented as written,” he concluded.