Indonesia Introduces New Tax Representative Rules Under PMK 44/2026

Indonesia has replaced its rules on who can act for a taxpayer before the tax authority, attaching competency requirements to the role, barring representatives from passing their mandate to anyone else, and keeping former Ministry of Finance staff out of private practice for five years after they leave.

Peraturan Menteri Keuangan No. 44 of 2026 took effect on 6 July, revoking a framework that had stood since 2014. It follows the Job Creation Law (UU 6/2023) and is built around Coretax, the core administration system the Directorate General of Taxation (DJP) now runs tax filing through.

The DJP, which began publicizing the change on 9 July, presents it as widening the field. That is accurate for individual taxpayers, who gain the option of appointing a relative. For companies whose own finance staff handle their filings, the effect runs the other way, and the existing arrangement expires on 31 December.

Who can act as a tax representative under PMK 44/2026

A taxpayer appoints a representative (kuasa) through a special power of attorney (Surat Kuasa Khusus). The new rules recognize three categories.

• Licensed tax consultants: They qualify on a valid practice license.

• Family members: Meaning a spouse or a relative by blood or marriage to the second degree, qualify on the relationship alone.
• Other parties: Everyone else falls into a category the regulation names other parties (pihak lain), and qualifies only by holding a certificate of registration (Surat Keterangan Terdaftar, SKT) issued by the Ministry of Finance or an appointed official.

Article 3(1) sets the underlying principle: everyone except family members must demonstrate a working command of tax law.

Furthermore, under Article 6, consultants and other parties must also register in the DJP administration system by submitting their license or SKT through the taxpayer portal or a tax office, and anyone under suspension or revocation cannot be appointed.

Government Regulation 50/2022 already listed these three categories four years ago but left the qualifying conditions unwritten. PMK 44/2026 provides those conditions.

Companies using licensed tax consultants

Nothing material changes for a company represented by a licensed tax consultant. The consultant continues to sign on a valid practice license, and existing engagement terms hold. A consultant can now act only within the classification their license covers, and the DJP supervises representatives directly for the first time.

Companies using in-house finance staff

Under the 2014 rules, a company could appoint one of its own employees, who qualified by holding a tax brevet certificate, a tax diploma, or a consultant certificate. A large share of PT PMAs run their monthly and annual filings this way.

Employees are no longer a category of their own. A staff member signing for their employer now falls under other parties, which requires an SKT regardless of their position in the company.

The old qualifications keep working until the end of the year. Under Article 16(1), a non-consultant can still be appointed on a tax brevet certificate, or on a formal tax qualification at Diploma III level or above from an A-accredited institution. That route closes on 31 December 2026.

Powers of attorney using it cannot be filed through Coretax. Article 16(2) requires paper, with a photocopy of the certificate or diploma attached, delivered by hand to the local tax office. Powers of attorney signed before 6 July stay valid until the work they cover is finished.

SKT registration requirements

The regulation that creates the SKT requirement does not explain how to obtain one. Article 3(5) hands the procedure to a separate ministerial regulation on the core tax administration system, and the Ministry has not published it. Asked directly about the timing in July, the DJP's public information service confirmed the rule is not yet available and advised taxpayers to check back periodically.

So the deadline is fixed while the procedure that satisfies it has not been issued. A company planning to keep an employee as its representative has nothing to apply for yet. Practitioners expect applications to run through Coretax once the rule lands, with prior registration in the Ministry's tax consultant information system (SIKOP) as a likely prerequisite, though neither is set out in PMK 44/2026 itself.

The SKT in these rules is not the registration certificate issued with an NPWP, despite the shared acronym. Staff who believe they already hold an SKT should check which document is needed.

Limits on a single power of attorney

Article 8 narrows what one appointment can do. A special power of attorney is valid for one representative only, and only for the specific rights and obligations written into it. A representative cannot act outside that scope.

Article 8(3) then bars sub-delegation outright. A named representative cannot pass the mandate to a colleague, a junior, or anyone else, including within the same advisory firm. Whoever is named has to do the work.

One narrow exception survives. Under Article 13(1), a representative can send an employee or another person to deliver or collect specific tax documents at a tax office, provided they carry a letter of appointment on each visit, using the template in the regulation's Annex E. That covers courier work, not representation.

For companies engaging an advisory firm, this is worth checking against how the engagement actually runs. If filings are signed by a named partner but handled day to day by staff, the power of attorney needs to name whoever performs the substantive work.

Electronic filing and portal access

Outside the transitional route, a power of attorney can be filed electronically through the taxpayer portal in Coretax, or on paper through a tax office (KPP or KP2KP). Under the 2014 rules, paper delivered in person was the only option.

Filing the document is not the end of it. Where the mandate covers obligations performed electronically, the taxpayer must separately grant the representative access to its taxpayer portal. Appointment and system access are two steps, and a valid power of attorney without portal access leaves the representative unable to file. When the mandate ends, portal access ends with it.

Article 7(3) and Annex A set out what the document must contain, including the representative's name and NPWP, their license or SKT number, their category, and the specific obligations covered.

Appointing a family member as tax representative

A spouse, or a relative by blood or marriage to the second degree, can now be appointed with no qualification or registration requirement, provided the relationship is documented.

This matters more for individual taxpayers and family-run businesses than for foreign-owned entities, where signatories are rarely relatives of the taxpayer. Where a foreign-owned company is held through an individual shareholder, check whether the option applies.

Conduct rules and termination of authority

Representatives now carry written duties: follow tax law, work professionally, keep taxpayer information confidential, and stay inside the scope of the license or SKT they hold. Giving a taxpayer misleading information is prohibited, as is obstructing an audit or an enforcement action.

A mandate ends if the license or SKT is suspended or revoked, if the power of attorney expires, if the representative is convicted of a tax or other criminal offense, or if the taxpayer withdraws it. The DJP also gains supervision and guidance powers it did not have before.

Former Ministry of Finance staff wait five years from the end of their employment before acting as a representative. That covers retired civil servants, those who left before retirement age, and former contract employees (PPPK), and it is open only to those with no serious disciplinary record.

Liability is unchanged. A taxpayer who appoints a representative still answers for the filings.

What companies should do before 31 December

Check who signs your filings. If that is a licensed tax consultant, the change is largely administrative, though it is worth confirming that the person named in your power of attorney is the person doing the work, given the sub-delegation ban.

If your own staff sign, you have until 31 December, on paper, filed in person. After that the mandate needs an SKT that cannot currently be applied for. The realistic choice is to move the mandate to a consultant now, or hold the transitional route and accept that the replacement regulation may arrive late in the year. Leaving it to December is the one option with no fallback, because a company that cannot validly appoint a representative cannot file.

PMK 44/2026 is part of a wider tightening of Indonesian tax administration through 2026, alongside the restriction of the 0.5% final tax regime and the extension of the corporate filing deadline, as the DJP builds administration around Coretax.