Application of the Account Impersonate Feature in Coretax to Improve the Effectiveness of Corporate Taxpayer Services

Abstract

Background: According to Law Number 6 of 1983 concerning General Provisions and Tax Procedures
as amended by Law Number 7 of 2021 concerning the Harmonisation of Tax Regulations, this is one of
the milestones of fundamental change in tax reform in Indonesia. This law was drafted with the aim of
providing greater fairness, improving services to taxpayers, increasing legal certainty and enforcement,
and enhancing the transparency of tax administration and voluntary compliance of taxpayers. Taxpayers
are individuals or entities, including tax payers, tax withholders, and tax collectors, who have tax rights
and obligations in accordance with the provisions of laws and regulations in the field of taxation. Digital
transformation is the Directorate General of Taxes (DGT) main strategy of in realising a modern and
efficient taxation system. One of the major steps is the implementation of the Coretax System, which is
a core taxation system that integrates all tax services into a single digital platform. The government
issued Minister of Finance Regulation (PMK) Number 81 of 2024 concerning taxation provisions in the
context of implementing the core taxation administration system (Coretax). PMK number 81 of 2024 was
stipulated on 14 October 2024 and will come into effect on 1 January 2025. The background of the
issuance of this PMK is the need for regulations in the context of implementing a more transparent,
effective, accountable and flexible tax administration system. As is well known, tax reform involves five
pillars, namely organisational pillars; human resources; information technology and databases; business
processes and regulations legislation. The pillars of information technology and databases as well as
business processes need to be regulated through comprehensive regulations. Coretax is a tax directorate
general service administration system that provides convenience for users. The main objective of
developing Coretax is to modernise the existing tax administration system. Coretax integrates all core
business processes of tax administration, from taxpayer registration, tax return reporting, tax payment,
to tax audit and collection. The coretax application presents a new innovation in the form of an
impersonating mechanism. With this mechanism, corporate taxpayer coretax account are managed by
an individuals acting as administrator/representatives or proxies. These individuals can also be granted
access rights according to specific types of taxes or services. In its implementation, the management
of tax rights and obligations for corporate taxpayers will involve the account of individual taxpayers who
are appointed as person in charge (PIC) or other parties who are given access. When a corporate
taxpayers is first registered in the coretax system, one of the administrators is automatically designated
as the person in charge (PIC). The system will default to assigning the PIC role to the person in
charge registered on the DJP Online account. The PIC will have full access rights to the corporate
taxpayer account and can use their personal account to access or act on behalf of the corporate taxpayer.
In addition, the PIC can add other parties, such as administrators, employees, proxies, or consultants,
and grant access rights according to their designated role. In general, impersonate is a technique that
allows someone to act as if they were the person they are representing. This concept allows parties who
have received access from corporate taxpayers to carry out tax responsibilities on behalf of the taxpayers
they represent. With the impersonate mechanism and the addition of role access, it is now clear to
corporate taxpayers who are the individuals or parties who are given the role to fulfill the tax obligations
of the corporate/company. The Directorate General of Taxes also stated that this is implemented to
prevent fraud. In accordance with Article 52 letter b of the Government Regulation. Corporate taxpayers
who actively implement the coretax system in the taxation process are an interesting case study because
these corporate taxpayers have directly experienced the impersonate account implementation service.
Based on this phenomenon, this study focuses on exploring in depth how the implementation of
impersonate account affects the effectiveness of tax services for corporate taxpayers.

Purpose: 1. Analyze the mechanism of impersonating accounts contained in the coretax system. 2.
Analyze the potential risks posed to the security and integrity of tax data.
Methodology: This study utilised a descriptive qualitative approach, focusing on an in-depth
understanding of the phenomenon and describing it as it is based on field data with a single case study
in which the research centred on one case object that was considered representative of taxpayers. The
research was conducted on corporate taxpayers using coretax with the main informants being tax and
financial technicians of the taxpayer company and tax officers (Account Representatives) who handle the
company. Data was collected through in- depth interviews, followed by direct observation of the coretax
usage process and documentation in the form of layer captures and technical guidelines. Data analysis
was carried out using the of Miles and Huberman (1994) model: data reduction was carried out by
selecting raw data from interviews, observations, and documentation, data presentation, and drawing
conclusions. Data validity was maintained through triangulation of sources and methods by comparing
information from taxpayers, tax officials, and official tax regulation documents.
Finding: Coretax is a service administration system of the Directorate General of Taxes that provides
convenience for users. The construction of coretax is part of the project to reform the core tax
administration system (PSIAP) regulated in Presidential Regulation Number 40 of 2018. The renewal of
the core tax administration system (PSIAP) is a project to redesign the tax administration business
process through the development of an information system based on COTS (Commercial Off-the-Shelf)
accompanied by the improvement of the tax database. The main purpose of development coretax is to
modernise the current tax administration system. Coretax integrates all core tax administration business
processes, from taxpayer registration, tax return reporting, tax payment, to tax audit and collection.
Impersonate is a technique to imitate a person's character. A person acts as if they were the person being
impersonated. With the concept of impersonating, the management of the DGT coretax account for
corporate taxpayers can be carried out by an individual acting as an administrators/representatives or
appointed proxy. This concept can be seen in the DGT coretax account for corporate taxpayers. This
account is only used to open a tax profile and grant access roles to designated individuals to fulfil
corporate tax obligations. To carry out corporate tax obligations such as issuing tax invoices, making
withholding receipts, and reporting a notification letter (SPT), individual taxpayers who are the person in
charge or appointed officers impersonate from the DGT coretax account of the individual concerned.
The concept of impersonate in the DGT coretax can reduce the risk of abuse of authority and
increase the security of tax data on taxpayer accounts. Only individual taxpayers acting as the
responsible parties and authorised officers are entitled to access the relevant corporate taxpayer
accounts.
Limitation: To maintain the focus and depth of the analysis, the study was limited to the following: 1.
This research only discusses the security aspects of the account impersonation feature on coretax. 2.
The discussion does not cover all modules or core tax functions as a whole, but focuses on user access
mechanisms. 3. The research data is focused on the context of the DGT as a system management
institution, not on taxpayers who use services. 4. The analysis was conducted based on literature studies,
documentation, and interviews/observation results. 5. This study does not aim to assess the performance
of the DGT, but to provide academic and technical recommendations in the application of the account
impersonate feature on coretax.
Originality: The novelty of this research lies in the application of the account impersonate feature in the
coretax system. The account impersonate feature highlights the security side of the digital transformation
of taxation in Indonesia which has just been implemented in coretax.
Keywords: Coretax, Account Impersonation, Service Effectiveness, Corporate Taxpayer