Tax return deadline extended

JAKARTA. The Directorate General of Taxation has extended the deadline for submitting tax returns for individual taxpayers to April 21 from March 31.

The deadline was extended as it coincided with the deadline for the tax amnesty.

"The extension is to accommodate taxpayers availing of the tax amnesty,” tax office spokesperson Hestu Yoga Saksama told a press conference on Wednesday.

He added that a technical glitch in the e-filing system on Tuesday had also prompted the decision to extend the deadline.

Last year, the tax office’s online system for e-filing also suffered technical glitches because it was overloaded. This forced the tax office to delay the deadline for tax return submission until April 30, exempting taxpayers from penalties.

The extension only applies for current tax returns, while submission and payment for tax arrears should be completed by March 31.

Meanwhile, the deadline for institutional taxpayer returns remains unchanged at April 30.

As of Tuesday evening, 7.23 million individual and institutional taxpayers had filed returns, up from 6.2 million recorded on Sunday.

Despite the extension, the tax office still expects to receive between 2.5 million and 3 million tax return submissions within two days until March 31 based on past experience. (Grace D. Amianti)