Persepsi pelaku usaha mikro, kecil dan menengah (UMKM) terhadap insentif perpajakan selama pandemi Covid 19

Abstract

The background of this research is related to tax incentives offered by Indonesian tax authority especially during Covid-19 pandemic. Among those incentives were the reduction of monthly tax installment, the decrease in corporate tax rate, and the second tax amnesty which targeted taxpayers who had not participated previously or those who underdeclared their reporting while participating in the first program. This research aims at exploring the perceptions of small and middle-sized enterprises (SMEs) towards tax incentives and investigating whether such incentives were utilized by SMEs and helped alleviate their tax burden. According to The Central Bank of Indonesia, the SMEs were among the hardest hit during Covid-19 pandemic. This study used Responsive Regulation Theory to discern whether tax incentive policy benefitted SMEs and was introduced in accordance with the need of SME taxpayers. This research used qualitative approach by using semi-structured interviews to collect data from SMEs. There were thirteen SMEs participating in this research with the majority were registered in the tax system, several of them were startups. Based on their responses, around sixty percent of participants did not have information in relation to the introduction of tax incentives during Covid-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, all participants stated that tax incentives, including tax cut and tax amnesty, are highly important for them. Apparently, a lack of information prevented these taxpayers from using such incentives. Therefore, future tax information may need to be disseminated more comprehensively to reach a wide array of taxpayers, especially SMEs. This measure may lead to improve SMEs’ compliance in the future as they perceive being treated properly and better comprehend about their rights and obligations.