Minister of Finance Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa noted that the Directorate General of Taxes’ (DGT) authority to access taxpayers’ financial account information is neither new nor unusual. He sought to reassure taxpayers who fulfilled their obligations that they can be at ease.
“This is standard practice. As long as you’ve paid your taxes properly, there’s nothing to worry about,” Purbaya said during the July 2026 APBN KiTa press conference in Jakarta on Tuesday (July 21, 2026).
He added that the DGT is becoming less reliant on direct requests for banking information following the implementation of the Coretax administration system. Coretax enables the tax authority to monitor taxpayer activities more comprehensively, from tax payments to tax return filings, making it increasingly difficult to conceal tax-related information.
“With Coretax in place, transactions can be tracked and identified automatically anyway. That’s why I think direct access to account data is becoming less significant,” Purbaya said.
Financial Information Access
Earlier, the DGT issued Circular Letter Number SE-9/PJ/2026 on procedures for requesting information, evidence, or explanations under the financial information access framework for tax purposes. The circular serves as internal guidance for DGT offices when requesting financial information from financial institutions and crypto-asset service providers that report under the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF).
Under the regulation, financial information may be requested for both individual and corporate taxpayers included in analysis target lists, priority supervision lists, or tax extensification priority lists. Director General of Taxes Bimo Wijayanto emphasized that the circular was issued to improve internal governance in accessing financial information rather than expand the DGT’s authority.
“It’s a routine procedure to improve our governance. This Circular Letter is strictly intended to reinforce internal governance,” Bimo said.
He stressed that the circular introduces no new substantive powers. The DGT merely streamlines existing administrative procedures to improve efficiency.
“There is nothing fundamentally new. We are simply making existing procedures more efficient by simplifying the process,” he said.
Bimo added that the banking industry is already familiar with the DGT’s data interoperability mechanism. Several banks under the Association of State-Owned Banks (Himpunan Bank Milik Negara/Himbara) are already connected directly to the DGT’s systems through host-to-host integration.
Babinsa dan Bhabinkamtibmas Are Not Tax Auditors
Bimo also clarified that neither village supervisory non-commissioned personnel (Bintara Pembina Desa/Babinsa) nor community police officers (Bhayangkara Pembina Keamanan dan Ketertiban Masyarakat/Bhabinkamtibmas) have any role in auditing or collecting taxes. Instead, their involvement is limited to supporting coordination during information-gathering when necessary.
“Village officials and local territorial officers simply coordinate with us. They are not responsible for conducting tax audits or collecting taxes in any way,” Bimo said.
He elaborated that local territorial personnel are not the primary tool for monitoring taxpayer compliance. Instead, the DGT increasingly relies on technology-driven supervision, including Coretax, its compliance risk management (CRM) system, and geotagging-based monitoring.
“Their presence on the ground is merely to support mutual coordination, and it is by no means our primary tool. Our primary tools are much more advanced. We use our CRM system, geotagging surveillance, and Coretax. Local territorial officers are involved only when clarification in the field is necessary,” he said.
According to Bimo, the coordination mechanism is not a new practice as it has been in place since 2020. The latest circular refines the existing procedures.
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