Tax Chief Responds to Fitch Doubts: February 2026 Tax Receipts Grow 30.2%

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - The Director General of Taxes (DJP) Bimo Wijayanto responded specifically to Fitch Ratings’ statements that Indonesia’s revenue for the year would be weak and that they might revise projections or RI’s debt outlook to negative from a previously stable outlook.

Bimo said, rather than weak, tax revenue in the early part of this year is growing strongly. After January 2026 tax receipts grew 30.6%, February 2026 continued to show strong growth reaching 30.2% year-on-year.

“So January’s net revenue performance from taxes was 30.6%, up from January of the same period last year on a year-on-year basis, while gross revenue rose about 7%,” Bimo said at the Tax Class session at the DJP Head Office in Jakarta, Thursday (5/3/2026).

“Now in February, net revenue year-on-year is 30.2% higher, while gross is 19%,” he emphasized.

Bimo stressed that with this performance, the government is confident that the tax revenue target for 2026 can be achieved. As known, the 2026 tax receipt target is Rp 2,357.7 trillion.

“With the January and February performance as the basis for Quarter I, we are indeed moving into intensification and extensification,” he said.

As known, Fitch stated that Indonesia’s state revenue, as part of the BBB rating class, in 2026 on average will be equivalent to only 13.3% of GDP during 2026 and 2027 (BBB median: 25.5%), amid a lack of significant revenue mobilization.

They noted that government revenue weakened in 2025 due to weak tax receipts, almost entirely offsetting plans to raise the VAT rate by 1 percentage point, the permanent transfer of dividends from state-owned enterprises (0.4% of GDP) to the new sovereign wealth fund Danantara, and refunds that may be temporary.

“Ongoing efforts to strengthen tax compliance should boost revenue, but are unlikely to yield material increases in the short term, thus limiting fiscal space,” Fitch said.

(arj/haa)