May 8, 2025 – The Department of Fiscal Administration, Faculty of Administrative Sciences, Universitas Indonesia (FIA UI), held a webinar entitled “The Urgency of Tax Amnesty from Theoretical Perspectives and International Best Practices” conducted virtually. This webinar served as a scholarly platform for academics and practitioners to explore the relevance and effectiveness of tax amnesty policies within the context of Indonesia’s tax system.

The event featured several prominent speakers, including Professor of Fiscal Administration Prof. Dr. Dra. Haula Rosdiana, M.Si., CiRR.; Senior Tax Advisor and FIA UI Lecturer Dr. Machfud Sidik, M.Sc.; Director of DDTC Fiscal Research and Advisory B. Bawono Kristiaji, S.E., M.S.E., M.Sc., IBT., ADIT.; and FIA UI Lecturer Dr. Prianto Budi, S.Ak., CA., MBA. The session was moderated by Dr. Ning Rahayu, M.Si.

The event opened with remarks by Prof. Dr. Teguh Kurniawan, who emphasized the strategic role of tax amnesty in mobilizing hidden assets and expanding the national tax base. He also highlighted the success of the 2016–2017 tax amnesty program, which repatriated up to IDR 4,800 trillion in assets, while underlining the importance of transparency, incentives, and law enforcement.

Prof. Teguh, in his capacity as Vice Dean for Education, Research, and Student Affairs, also expressed appreciation to all parties involved in the organization of the webinar.

“Therefore, we warmly welcome this forum as a tangible contribution from Universitas Indonesia—especially the Faculty of Administrative Sciences—in responding to the nation’s strategic policy challenges. This aligns with Universitas Indonesia’s vision to be an excellent and impactful institution for Indonesia, and with the faculty’s mission to be a leading, reputable institution with real-world impact,” said Prof. Teguh.

Dr. Inayati, Head of the Department of Fiscal Administration, noted that tax amnesty has once again become a point of focus in the 2025 National Legislation Program (Prolegnas). She emphasized the importance of learning from past experiences to ensure more measurable and long-term outcomes from similar future policies.

The speakers provided multidimensional perspectives on the theories, implementation, and challenges of tax amnesty policy.

Dr. Machfud Sidik opened with a discussion on rational expectation theory and analyzed the pros and cons of tax amnesty policies. He also reflected on Indonesia’s 2016 experience, which generated IDR 114 trillion in redemption revenue and IDR 147 trillion in fund repatriation. However, questions remain about the long-term benefits of such policies.

Furthermore, Dr. Sidik highlighted key challenges of tax amnesty, including potential moral hazard and the necessity of comprehensive tax reform, alongside improvements in public spending and service delivery. He stressed that institutional reform and a robust taxation system are prerequisites before considering another tax amnesty.

Prof. Haula Rosdiana provided a historical and empirical evaluation of tax amnesty effectiveness. She cited Italy’s experience, where tax amnesty had minimal impact on state revenue. Empirical studies also show a potential decline in tax compliance post-amnesty, due to taxpayer distrust in the government’s promise of a one-time-only policy. She also criticized the government’s failure to enact fundamental changes in tax administration following previous amnesty programs.

Bawono Kristiaji added his insights on the justification for tax amnesty, including its potential to boost revenue, expand the tax base, improve compliance, repatriate capital, promote fairness, and serve as a reset for the taxation system. However, he cautioned that repeated amnesties could reduce long-term revenue and that tax base expansion could be better achieved through initiatives such as taxpayer registration (NPWP) and information exchange.

In conclusion, the webinar underscored that while tax amnesty may offer short-term revenue gains, comprehensive and sustained tax reform remains the key to building a fair and trusted taxation system.