The Finance Ministry of Indonesia will study whether the price of a package of cigarettes can be raised to IDR 50,000 (approx. USD $3.8), almost twice as high as the current average price of a package of cigarettes in Indonesia. The price hike would help the government to reduce a looming tax shortfall and discourage people from consuming their death sticks. The Tobacco Atlas estimates that there are 53.7 million active adult smokers and 2.6 million active youth smokers in Indonesia. Hence, Indonesia is the third-largest cigarette consumer (after China and Russia).

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Indonesia has finally become more realistic in terms of setting its tax revenue target. In the 2017 State Budget draft proposal that was sent for approval by the central government to Indonesia's House of Representatives (DPR) earlier this week, it set the 2017 tax revenue target at IDR 1,271.7 trillion (approx. USD $97.1 billion), down 3.6 percent from the target of IDR 1,318.9 trillion worth of tax revenue in the 2016 budget. A more realistic tax revenue target will enhance Indonesia's fiscal credibility.

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The government of Indonesia selected two islands - Resort islands Bintan and Rempang, situated near Singapore - as the possible location for its tax haven (a low-tax jurisdiction that should prevent Indonesian taxpayers from moving their assets to other countries in search of more attractive tax rates, while non-residents will also be able to establish so-called shell companies). Currently, a significant portion of Indonesian funds flow to offshore financial centers in Singapore, Mauritius, British Virgin Islands and Panama.

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Indonesia is still planning to revise the nation's tax tariff system, specifically corporate income tax and value-added tax (VAT). Indonesia's corporate income tax rate could be cut to 17 percent, from 25 percent currently. The plans were confirmed this week by Indonesian President Joko Widodo as well as Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati. Lowering Indonesia's corporate income tax to 17 percent - matching Singapore's tariff - would make it more attractive for investors to move, or keep, their business in Indonesia.

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Although the peak of repatriated fund flows and tax declarations - in the context of Indonesia's tax amnesty program - are expected to occur in the months September and October 2016, there is room for concern whether the ambitious targets of the government can be achieved. Between the launch of the program on 18 July and 1 August 2016 the government only saw IDR 98.43 billion (approx. USD $7.6 million) of additional income from 464 tax payers, while it targets to collect a total of IDR 165 trillion (approx. USD $12.7 billion) within a nine-month period.

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Before the end of 2016 the Indonesian government plans to have imposed a controversial excise on plastic packaging. Earlier this year the government had already suggested a IDR 200 (approx. USD $0.02) excise duty for food and beverage products wrapped in plastic packages. However, with all spotlights focused on Indonesia's tax amnesty program this plastic wrapping excise tax has been off analysts' radar. Lets take a closer look at this excise: what is it and why does the government of Southeast Asia's largest economy want to implement it?

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Singaporean authorities deny that the nation's banks offer incentives to Indonesian clients to keep their assets stashed in Singapore. Last week, reports started to circulate in local Indonesian media claiming that Singaporean banks offer to finance the difference between interest paid on the declaration of assets kept in Singapore and the interest paid on the assets repatriated to Indonesia. Indonesia is eager to see the repatriation of offshore funds (stashed in so-called tax havens) through the tax amnesty program. It is estimated that some USD $200 billion worth of Indonesian funds are kept in Singapore.

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According to an Indonesian tax official, 149 taxpayers have already filed for Indonesia's tax amnesty program (which was launched on Monday 18 July 2016) at North Jakarta's Tax Office. Eleven have already settled their tax debt. However, spokesperson for the Directorate General of Taxation, Hestu Yoga Saksama, provided no information about the amount of tax revenue or repatriated funds that are involved. Saksama is optimistic that the government's target of seeing the repatriation of IDR 1,000 trillion (approx. USD $76 billion) worth of previously undeclared offshore assets into Indonesia will be achieved.

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Indonesia plans to introduce a special tax regulation for those small and medium-sized enterprises that generate revenue and profit through online retail sales (e-commerce business). Daniel Tumiwa, Chairman of the Indonesian E-commerce Association (idEA), informed reporters about the government's plan. He added that only a small tax tariff will be charged on small and medium-sized e-commerce companies. The new regulation is expected to be implemented later this year.

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The Indonesian rupiah has been rallying impressively over the past couple of days in the "post-Brexit" era. Amid severe uncertainty ahead of the Brexit referendum result, Indonesia's currency depreciated markedly on Thursday 23 June 2016. However, in the following days the rupiah started to strengthen, touching a two-month high against the US dollar (even though the US dollar has been strong as well due to the Brexit issue). Based on the Bloomberg Dollar Index the rupiah is now trading at IDR 13,175 per US dollar. What explains this recent rupiah strength?

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Indonesia's Finance Ministry said it will not revise the tax revenue target set in the 2016 State Budget. The Indonesian government targets to collect IDR 1,360.2 trillion (approx. USD $100 billion) worth of tax revenue in 2016, a 28.9 percent rise from tax revenue realization in 2015. However, although it is good to aim high - hence setting an ambitious target - it is also important to be realistic (to avoid budgetary turmoil and gain fiscal credibility, important for Indonesia to be eligible for a credit rating upgrade). How realistic is Indonesia's 2016 tax revenue target?

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After having grown rapidly in the years 2010-2013, infrastructure development in Indonesia lost its momentum in 2014. This was due to limited available government funds, uncertainty caused by the legislative and presidential elections, and the nation's slowing economic growth. After Joko Widodo became Indonesia's seventh president in October 2014, it was expected that infrastructure development would revive. However, it didn't. But Widodo made one important move by seriously reducing energy subsidies, hence making more funds available for infrastructure development.

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Ada berita baik untuk para pembayar pajak di Indonesia. Pemerintah Indonesia merencanakan untuk menurunkan pajak penghasilan pribadi, yang saat ini berkisar antara 5% sampai 30%, di awal 2016. Menteri Keuangan Indonesia Bambang Brodjonegoro mengatakan pajak penghasilan yang lebih rendah akan mempermudah para pembayar pajak untuk mematuhi hukum pajak, sambil mendongkrak daya beli masyarakat. Kendati begitu, dia menolak untuk menginformasikan jumlah pengurangan pajak penghasilan pribadi karena hal ini masih dalam tahap penelitian.

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A tax amnesty bill, which protects corruptors from prosecution and penalties when bringing overseas funds back to Indonesia and fulfill tax obligations, will soon be discussed among Indonesia's government and the House of Representatives (DPR). A tax pardon is expected to result in enhanced tax collection next year. According to the latest data from Indonesia's Finance Ministry's Tax Directorate General, the country only managed to collect IDR 686 trillion (approx. USD $51 billion), or 53 percent of its 2015 tax revenue target, in the period 1 January - 5 October 2015.

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In an attempt to boost the sluggish domestic economy by persuading Indonesian consumers to spend more, the central government of Indonesia will exempt several products from the luxury goods sales tax. By law, Indonesia has a tax (ranging between 10 and 50 percent) on goods that are categorized as luxury goods. These products include household items such as televisions, electronics, furniture, refrigerators, washing machines, water heaters as well as cars, motorcycles and property.

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Seorang pejabat pemerintah berposisi tinggi mengatakan bahwa pemerintah Indonesia berencana memotong pajak perusahaan secara bertahap dari 25% pada saat ini menjadi di bawah 18% dalam usaha untuk membuat Indonesia menjadi tempat yang lebih menarik untuk melakukan bisnis. Luhut Panjaitan, Kepala Staf Presiden Joko Widodo, mengkonfirmasi bahwa Widodo telah memerintahkan tindakan pajak yang terbaru ini. Selama beberapa minggu terakhir kita telah melihat pengumuman sejumlah kebijakan pajak baru karena pemerintah bertekad untuk mendongkrak pengumpulan pajak sebesar 30% di 2015.

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Reserves of crude palm oil (CPO) in Indonesia may have declined for a second straight month in October on the back of drought and an increase in exports from Southeast Asia’s largest economy. The delayed impact of drought (which even managed to dry up several rivers in West Kalimantan in October) limited production of CPO in recent weeks. Meanwhile, exports have increased after Indonesia and Malaysia - the world’s two top palm oil producers - scrapped export taxes to boost demand for this commodity.

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One strategy of Indonesian President Joko Widodo to generate more state revenues in order to enhance investments in social and economic development of Indonesia is by improving the country’s tax collection system. As the middle class as well as number of companies that are active in Indonesia has risen rapidly in recent years, it is disappointing that tax collection targets are rarely met in Southeast Asia’s largest economy: tax compliance is low, while corruption among civil servants (tax collectors) remains a structural problem.

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In a plenary session of Indonesia’s House of Representatives (DPR) on Wednesday evening (18/06), the parliament approved the government’s proposed revised state budget of 2014 (RAPBN-P 2014). Prior to this approval, the revision had already been discussed for a month between the House of Representatives’ Budget Committee (Banggar) and the government. Almost all components of the 2014 State Budget have been revised from the government’s earlier assumptions.

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The tax crime case which involves Bank Central Asia (BCA), Indonesia's largest lender by market value and the second-largest bank by assets, is not expected to have a significant impact on the performance of the shares of BCA. Earlier this week, Hadi Poernomo (Director General of taxation from 2002 to 2004) was questioned by Indonesia's Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) on allegations of accepting bribes in exchange for tax exemptions - worth of IDR 375 billion (USD $32.8 million) - granted to BCA.

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