Tax Office Shifts Oversight Approach to Prevent Disputes with Businesses

The Directorate General of Taxes (DJP) at the Ministry of Finance will change its tax oversight approach, aiming to prevent disputes with corporate or individual taxpayers from reaching the courts. Director General of Taxes Bimo Wijayanto stated that the DJP will use a cooperative compliance approach to ensure tax issues do not lead to disputes. “Through this cooperative compliance, we are shifting the discussion between tax authorities and taxpayers regarding the tax impact of a transaction to an earlier stage. This means early warnings of differing interpretations can be identified and resolved before developing into disputes that drain a lot of energy,” Bimo said in a speech at the Kick Off of the Co-Operative Compliance Programme Trial and Implementation of the Tax Control Framework on Monday (13/7/2026). Bimo added that for taxpayers, cooperative compliance can provide upfront tax certainty and minimise compliance costs. “For taxpayers, cooperative compliance provides legal certainty from the outset or upfront tax certainty. With this certainty, taxpayers can run their business activities more predictably and develop their investments without the potential for sanctions to become disputes, as well as reduce compliance costs,” he continued. From the tax authority’s perspective, cooperative compliance increases supervisory effectiveness and minimises operational resource costs. “Cooperative compliance will certainly increase supervisory effectiveness while minimising operational resource costs, allowing us to allocate resources more appropriately based on a risk-based approach,” Bimo explained. The DJP officially commenced the trial of the collaborative compliance approach with PT Pertamina (Persero). Through the implementation of a Tax Control Framework and tax data integration, the DJP encourages the early resolution of potential tax issues to provide legal certainty for taxpayers. The programme launch took place at the DJP Head Office in Jakarta on Monday (13/7). The event was attended by representatives from the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, the State-Owned Enterprises Agency, PT Pertamina (Persero), and leaders of other strategic state-owned enterprises. Bimo stated that the Co-operative Compliance approach transforms the relationship between the tax authority and taxpayers, with tax risk discussions now taking place from the outset through more open communication and data integration, rather than after transactions have occurred. “We express our appreciation to PT Pertamina (Persero) for its commitment and openness in becoming the first partner in this trial. With the support of the Tax Control Framework and data integration, tax risks can be identified earlier, thereby providing legal certainty, reducing compliance costs, and minimising the potential for disputes,” he said.