TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The government pegs a tax revenue target at Rp1,618.1 trillion in the 2018 State Budget. In 2017, tax revenues only reached Rp1,339.8 trillion or around 91 percent of the targeted Rp1,472.7 trillion.

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani said that in order to boost tax revenues they will utilize data from tax authorities. "We will inventorize of our tax data," she said in Jakarta, Tuesday, January 2.

The data she meant is derived from the tax amnesty program as well as the Automatic Information Exchange (AeOI) policy will take effect in mid-2018. In addition, tax authorities will match their taxpayer's financial statements data with customs authorities.

Read: Sri Mulyani Tax Shortfall Amounts to Rp130tn

Studies will also be conducted to reduce the burden of each tax service office, thus allowing them to focus on securing tax revenues. Tax offices are currently overloaded and understaffed compared to the increasing number of taxpayers.

Sri Mulyani also hopes that the incentive system provided to tax officers will motivate them to work harder in securing tax revenues. The government will also utilize IT systems to boost tax revenue in 2018.

The minister is confident that these efforts—coupled with a more realistic tax target—will support the achievement of tax revenue target.

"We don’t want to create more contractions when the economy is under pressure. So we need to be prudent in creating a room for the economy to grow," Sri Mulyani said.

ANTARA