UNAIR NEWS – Spotify, Tiktok, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube are digital apps that are widely used by many people, from the old, young, to children. The digital world has now penetrated other sectors such as travel industry, finance, and other services such as Gojek and Grab.
The high public interest in the digital world encourages the Indonesian government to collect taxes through digital platforms. Of course there is the pros and cons found in society. Ferry Gunawan, SST.Pa., M.Ak., BKP, who is a tax consultant and CEO of FG PRO, expressed his opinion on tax collection on digital platforms through Taxation three year vocational (D3) program’s guest lecture.
“The potential for digital taxes is very high. For state revenue, of course, “Ferry said on Saturday, November 14, 2020.
“Indonesia is the largest digital economy country in Southeast Asia. Even in 2025, it is estimated that the value of Indonesia’s digital economy will reach hundreds of billions, “he added.
According to Ferry, the digital tax collected by the government can be a way out to increase state revenues, even more so to cover the costs incurred to deal with the pandemic. However, before deciding to collect taxes from digital platforms, the government must also coordinate with the platform’s country of origin.
“The Indonesian government must communicate and coordinate with all countries of origin of digital companies. So don’t be taxed immediately, ”explained Ferry.
“For a cooperative tax collection process, so there won’t be no impression of one-sided tax collection policy, “he added.
Ferry also thinks that collecting taxes on digital service businesses is a good decision made by the government. “This tax collection is a wise step taken by the government. This digital platform provides intangible goods or services such as for watching movies or listening to a song, “said Ferry.
The principle of digital platform tax collection is to create equity from one platform to another. “We have to promote fairness there so that it’s equally good, don’t just focus on revenue and optimization of the revenue,” he concluded. (*)
Author: Icha Nur Imami Puspita
Editor: Feri Fenoria
