The Directorate General of Taxes (DGT) of the Ministry of Finance found indications that approximately 1.9 million individual taxpayers deleted 3.72 million income tax (PPh) withholding receipts in their 2025 annual tax return (SPT Tahunan) filings. This action potentially reduces tax revenue by up to IDR 2.01 trillion.
Director General of Taxes, Bimo Wijayanto, stated that the deletion of these withholding receipts is suspected to have been done to change the annual tax return status from underpayment to nil, or to reduce the amount of tax payable.
Based on the DGT's research results, around 1.9 million taxpayers were indicated to have deleted their withholding tax receipts. From this number, the DGT designated 475,698 taxpayers as follow-up targets, with a total of 3,722,959 withholding receipts indicated to have been deleted from the Coretax system.
"A total of 475,698 taxpayers are targeted for follow-up by the DGT. Within this group, there are approximately 3,722,959 withholding receipts indicated to have been deleted in the 2025 annual income tax returns, with a potential tax value reaching IDR 2.01 trillion," said Bimo during the DGT media gathering in Bogor on Thursday (November 12, 2026).
The DGT then sent out mass reminder e-mails to taxpayers included in this target group. Through these messages, taxpayers were asked to double-check and amend their 2025 annual tax returns independently.
Bimo explained that the determination of taxpayers receiving the e-mail was based on several criteria. First, the withholding receipts were in valid status and had been reported by the issuers in the Article 21 Monthly Income Tax Return (SPT Masa PPh Pasal 21).
Second, the withholding tax receipts originated from income subject to non-final income tax. Third, the accumulated income tax value of all deleted withholding receipts was at least IDR 100,000. Fourth, the Taxpayer Identification Number (NPWP) listed on the withholding tax receipts must match the NPWP on the taxpayer's annual tax return.
Of the 475,698 targeted taxpayers, 312,546 had an income tax value on their deleted withholding receipts in the range of IDR 100,000 to IDR 1 million. Meanwhile, 71 taxpayers had a withholding tax value over IDR 1 billion.
The group with an income tax value between IDR 10 million and IDR 100 million covers 26,760 taxpayers. The total tax withholding value indicated for deletion by this group reached approximately IDR 720 billion.
In following up on these findings, the DGT uses a behavioral insight approach, which is a communication strategy that considers taxpayer behavior to encourage voluntary compliance.
According to Bimo, this approach is carried out by delivering simpler and more targeted messages. The DGT does not immediately prioritize the threat of administrative sanctions, but rather seeks to build taxpayer awareness of the importance of fulfilling their tax obligations.
"Through the behavioral insight approach, the DGT designs more targeted and simple communication to encourage taxpayers to take action and improve voluntary compliance," he explained.
Bimo added that Coretax is able to identify the deletion of withholding tax receipts because the tax withholding data has been automatically recorded (pre-populated) in the system.
He emphasized that the DGT will continue to monitor taxpayer compliance in detail, including following up on indications of discrepancies in tax return reporting until the end of 2026 and continuing into subsequent years.
Also Read:
DGT Urges Taxpayers to Recheck Tax Returns Following Deletion of Withholding Tax Receipts
Deleting Withholding Tax Receipts in Coretax: Risks for Taxpayers
Guide to Applying for Tax Penalty Reduction or Cancellation Through Coretax DGT
Writer: Fiorentina Renata Trixie | Editor: Thomas Rizal
