Directorate General of Taxes (DGT) has denied reports claiming that village supervisory non-commissioned personnel (Bintara Pembina Desa/Babinsa) are being deployed to collect taxpayer information in villages. In a statement posted on its official Instagram account (@ditjenpajakri) on Monday (July 20, 2026), the DGT clarified that Babinsa, community police officers (Bhayangkara Pembina Keamanan dan Ketertiban Masyarakat/Bhabinkamtibmas), and village officials are not involved in conducting tax audits or collecting taxes.
According to the DGT, local security and government personnel may only assist with coordination when necessary to ensure that tax officials can perform field visits in accordance with established procedures. They may also act as companions or witnesses to confirm that a visit has taken place.
“The involvement of local territorial personnel is not intended as an instrument of tax law enforcement,” the DGT stated.
The DGT revealed that supervising cooperation with local territorial officials is not a new policy. Activities such as site visits, field observations, canvassing, and information gathering have formed part of the tax authority’s supervisory functions for many years.
These arrangements were previously governed by Director General of Taxes Circular Letter Number SE-11/2020. The newly issued Circular Letter Number SE-8/2026 updates the procedures to make inter-agency cooperation more standardized, effective, and properly documented.
The DGT also stressed that SE-8/2026 is an internal administrative guideline. It does not grant additional authority to tax officials or impose new obligations on taxpayers. Instead, the DGT said its supervisory activities increasingly rely on technology and digital data analytics.
"Information systems, digital data, satellite imagery, publicly available information, and other data sources are used to improve the accuracy of risk-based supervision," the DGT said.
The DGT added that field visits are conducted selectively and only when necessary. The objective is to improve data quality and enhance the accuracy of tax supervision, rather than to expand tax audits on a large scale.
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