On Friday (August 11), the West Java I Directorate General of Taxes held a tax awareness event through the “Pajak Bertutur” program at the Widyatama Auditorium (GSG). Present at the event were the Head of the West Java I Regional Tax Office, Mr. Yoyok Satiotomo, to explain the Pajak Bertutur program, the Dean of the Faculty of Economics at Widyatama University, Dr. Wedi Rusmawan K. S.E., M.Si., Ak., CA, and the Head of Quantum at Widyatama University, Mr. Khairul Saleh, S.E., M.Sc., AAp-A.
In his presentation, Yoyok said that the State Budget (APBN) is highly dependent on the taxation sector. Approximately 75% of the APBN’s revenue comes from the tax sector, but public awareness of taxes is still low. Therefore, a number of steps must be taken to increase tax awareness, namely through the Pajak Bertutur program. The Directorate General of Taxes (DJP) recognizes the importance of instilling tax awareness from an early age. Therefore, the DJP has a program called Pajak Bertutur, which is a form of tax awareness education campaign.
The Tax Education Program is one of the efforts of the Directorate General of Taxes to increase taxpayer awareness through education. This program is implemented simultaneously nationwide in several regional offices and universities, including the Kalimantara Regional Tax Office, West Jakarta Regional Tax Office, National University, South Sulawesi Regional Tax Office, Merdeka University in Madiun, Lambung Mangkurat University in Banjarmasin, Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, Udayana University in Bali, University of North Sumatra, and Guna Darma University. Meanwhile, the West Java I Regional Tax Office implemented the program at Widyatama University in Bandung.
Yoyok Satiotomo said that in the West Java I Regional Tax Office area, there are 19 work units (Regional Tax Office, 16 Tax Offices, and 2 Tax Office Sub-Offices) that organize this program in 83 locations (elementary schools, junior high schools, high schools, and universities). Approximately 5,260 people participated. “We centered it at Widyatama University. More than 600 participants from 8 different campuses attended,” he said.
The eight campuses are Widyatama University, Telkom University, STIE Ekuitas, Parahyangan University, Sangga Buana-YPKP University, Indonesia University of Education, Bandung State Polytechnic, and STMIK-LPKIA Bandung.
On that occasion, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani also gave a public lecture to raise awareness among the younger generation about taxes through a video conference at 11 locations in Indonesia and engaged in dialogue with students and university students.
On that occasion, Mrs. Sri revealed that in order to build a country that has been independent for 72 years to be even better, at least four aspects of investment are needed, including the first being Investment in Human Resources through the development of education, “20% of the state budget is absorbed to develop the aspect of education,” she added. The second is Investment in Infrastructure and Urbanization, the third is Investment in Technology, Innovation and Research and Development, and the fourth is Investment in Institutions and Reform.
The Tax Awareness Program at Widyatama University was recognized as the campus with the highest number of participants and received an award from the Indonesia Record Museum.
