Deputy Finance Minister Nurkholisoh Ibnu Aman said the Coretax tax administration system has helped expand the taxpayer base by around two million since its launch in January 2025.
Coretax integrates various services provided by the Directorate General of Taxes (DGT), including taxpayer registration, tax invoice issuance, payments, and annual tax return filing. The integration is designed to simplify tax administration and improve the quality of data available to the DGT.
More than 13.5 million annual tax returns had been filed through Coretax in 2026. Some taxpayers used the system’s pre-filled feature, which draws on data from employers and banks.
“Coretax has helped us expand the tax base by around 2 million taxpayers. Filing has become easier, and our data has improved significantly. Better data will, of course, lead to better outcomes,” Nurkholisoh said at the seventh BRITACOF (Belt and Road Initiative Tax Administration Cooperation Forum) event in Jakarta on Tuesday (Oct. 13, 2026).
Despite these benefits, the initial implementation of Coretax presented several challenges. Tens of millions of taxpayers had to adjust to the new system, while DGT employees also needed to adapt to changes in their work processes.
The government allowed taxpayers time to adjust while gradually improving the system. Nurkholisoh stressed that the success of tax modernization depends on more than technology.
Human resource quality, regulatory certainty, and public trust are also essential to building an effective tax system. She said the government must strike a balance between its ability to collect state revenue, taxpayer compliance, and public confidence.
AI to Detect Tax Risks
The Ministry of Finance is also using artificial intelligence (AI) to improve the effectiveness of tax oversight. The DGT employs data analytics to identify potential risks, including in the palm oil industry and among high-net-worth individuals.
“Technology alone cannot collect taxes. What matters most is how we use it,” Nurkholisoh said.
In the palm oil industry, the DGT uses machine learning to analyze transactions recorded in electronic tax invoices. The analysis covers the types of goods traded, transaction volumes, and prices.
Transaction data are then compared with estimated production based on the volume of fresh fruit bunches purchased by processing mills. Discrepancies between estimated production and reported sales can serve as an initial indicator for further investigation into potential tax risks.
“We are now beginning to apply the same approach to other sectors,” she said.
Beyond monitoring business transactions, the DGT is developing a dashboard to track the wealth of high-net-worth individuals. The system is designed to integrate information on individuals, their families, companies, assets, and ownership links.
This integration enables tax officials to map assets held across multiple companies and investment instruments. The data can also be used to monitor changes in taxpayers’ wealth.
Nurkholisoh said the integration of AI into the monitoring system was nearing completion. The technology will be used to analyze news reports and corporate disclosures to detect corporate actions, including mergers, acquisitions, and share sales.
Information on detected corporate actions will be used to update shareholding valuations in the dashboard. This will allow tax officials to identify changes in taxpayers’ wealth more quickly.
“In the near future, our tax officials will be able to see changes in wealth as they occur, rather than one or two years later,” Nurkholisoh said.
She emphasized that technology must support a fairer tax system. Compliant taxpayers should find it easier to fulfill their obligations, while oversight should prioritize sectors and activities that pose higher tax risks.
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Editor: Thomas Rizal
