Depok- Vocational Education Program Universitas Indonesia (Vocational UI) through the Tax Administration Study Program, launched the E-Taxaction New Generation (NG) application, a digital application that provides free tax consultation features, and a free tax study room intended for the public, especially the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (UMKM). Soft launching and simulation of NG E-Taxaction was held online, on Tuesday (24/11). On this occasion, Vocational UI also announced that there would be free online consultations for MSMEs who wanted to take advantage of the COVID-19 tax incentives. Free consultation will be held on 2 December 2020 – 20 January 2021 by registering first on the following link: https://bit.ly/umkmcovid19.
The event was attended by Agus Susilohadi (Coordinator of Functional Positions for Vocational Higher Education Partnership and Alignment, Directorate General of Vocational Education, Ministry of Education and Culture); Ir. Antony Sihombing, MPD, Ph.D. (Deputy Director of Vocational Education Program UI for Resources, Venture, and General Administration); Mamik Soessanto (Head of KPP Pratama Depok Sawangan). The discussion and application simulation were filled with speakers, Arie Widodo, M.S.M (Head of the Tax Administration Study Program, Vocational UI); and Thesa Adi Purwanto, S.Sos.MTI (Lecturer at the UI Vocational Tax Study Program, Founder of E-Taxaction NG), who were guided by Dra. Amelita Lusia, M.Si, CPR as moderator. The launching of the E-Taxaction NG application was attended by MSME players, Vocational tax volunteers, cooperatives, and media colleagues.
According to Thesa Adi, founder of the E-Taxaction NG application, the development of this application is in collaboration with Jakarta Cyber Soft, a technology startup company. At the initial stage, according to Thesa, this application provides two main features, namely a study room and free tax consultation. On the study room menu, users can choose topics of interest, for example material on MSME Tax Reporting. Furthermore, according to Thesa, in the tax consultation feature, taxpayers will get free consultation and assistance in filling out Personal Income Tax Returns (SPT).
Before transforming into providing digital services, Taxaction is a face-to-face free tax consultation service that is routinely carried out by the UI Vocational academics. Head of the Tax Administration Study Program, who is also the founder of Taxaction, Arie Widodo, M.S.M. or often called Dodo, said this application was a development of the Taxaction program, a free tax consulting service that has been carried out by the UI Vocational academics, since 2013.
“With the E-Taxaction NG application, we can provide services at any time according to the needs of taxpayers. Previously, since 2013, we have provided free door-to-door consultation to taxpayers in MSMEs, companies and fellow lecturers at UI. However, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, in the end we are trying to open unlimited access via mobile through this application, ”explained Dodo.
Dodo added that the Taxaction tax volunteer scheme has received appreciation from the Minister of Finance, Sri Mulyani, as a role model for the 2018 tax volunteer. He said the UI Vocational Taxaction program has succeeded in serving 20,384 individual taxpayers and 12 corporate taxpayers. The UI Vocational Taxaction Program has also collaborated with 844 tax volunteers since 2013.
In his remarks, Antony Sihombing, Deputy Director of Vocational Education Program UI, said that this application is a form of UI Vocational innovation whose benefits can be felt directly by the community. “Innovation like this is an effort in mass marriage, as an effort to link and match between the output of Vocational Higher Education with the needs of MSMEs, the business world and the industrial world. It is hoped that the benefits can be felt immediately, “explained Antony.
On the same occasion, Agus Susilohadi from the Directorate General of Vocational Education of the Ministry of Education and Culture, appreciated the UI Vocational breakthroughs through the E-Taxaction NG application. “This is proof that vocational education is able to see opportunities for innovation during the pandemic and build collaboration with the Jakarta Cyber Soft startup so that there is a synergy between the world of industry and the world of work (IDUKA) and educational institutions in providing benefits to the community,” said Agus.
Furthermore, Mamik Soessanto, Head of KPP Pratama Depok Sawangan, explained that the millennial generation is a priority so that digitalization efforts will be of great help. Without the participation of entrepreneurs and taxpayers, the target for state revenue from taxes will not be achieved. Taxes are currently the backbone of state revenue. “I also appreciate the active role of MSMEs in paying taxes. Currently, the UMKM tax is only 0.5%. For that, don’t waste this opportunity, ”he said.
