TNI on involvement in tax affairs: No discussions yet

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Head of the TNI Information Centre (Kapuspen), Major General Muhammad Nas, affirmed that the military has not been involved in mapping tax potential in the field.

“There has been no proposal or discussion in that direction,” said Nas when confirmed by journalists in Jakarta on Monday.

Nas himself declined to elaborate further on the possible involvement of the TNI in monitoring tax potential at the community level.

For context, the Directorate General of Taxes (DJP) at the Ministry of Finance has clarified that the involvement of Babinsa (village-level military officers) and Bhabinkamtibmas (neighbourhood police officers) is not for conducting audits, collections or tax data gathering, but merely to provide assistance when required.

Authority for monitoring taxpayer compliance remains entirely in the hands of DJP officials.

“They (Babinsa and Bhabinkamtibmas) are not the executors of the supervision or audits carried out by the Directorate General of Taxes all this time, but rather provide accompaniment when we require it,” said Inge Diana Rismawanti, Director of Outreach, Services and Public Relations at DJP, when met in Jakarta on Monday.

Inge explained that such assistance would only be provided under certain conditions, for instance when officials need to visit a taxpayer at a location requiring special handling in terms of security or transport access.

“For example, if there is a taxpayer we know has potential and whose address we know at a certain place, and it turns out that place may have something that needs to be safeguarded or requires special transport handling, we may ask for their assistance,” she explained.