REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The Finance Ministry will create tax-related policies for the financial technology (fintech) industry, taking into account the sector’s development growth.

"The Indonesian government, especially the Finance Ministry, is constantly in dialog with the industry over the tax regime that can be seen as fair taxation," Finance Minister Sri Mulyani stated at the 2019 Indonesia Fintech Summit & Expo in Jakarta on Monday.

Mulyani highlighted the criticality of applying this measure to ensure fair treatment for conventional and digital companies in Indonesia. Thus, the government has steadily worked on digital taxation policies, particularly for startups and e-commerce businesses.

The minister expounded that fair taxation is not only applied to digital business players in Indonesia but also in other countries, as there are no restrictions on digital economic activities. "This is since many transactions are borderless, so we will prepare policies that are more global and borderless but still fair," she emphasized.

At the same time, Mulyani remarked that the formulation of policies necessitated better data management in the form of collection, use, and security of customer data. "In my opinion, Indonesia needs rules or laws. We currently have the Electronic Information and Transactions Law, but can the law provide security and data safety properly? I think we must set it again. This is what the government keeps developing," she explained.

Furthermore, the government is currently focusing on infrastructure development to improve access to digital technology in Indonesia, as people outside Jakarta and Java yet face difficulties in getting access to technology. "This is an effort to prepare the community and economy to benefit from the development of technology, including fintech," he noted.

Infrastructure development is apparent in the form of the construction of three Palapa Ring broadband projects, as well as airports, ports, and roads, in addition to improving the quality of human resources (HR) through the education and vocational budget. "We want to ensure that Indonesia is a country that does not discriminate against the use of fintech or digital technology," Mulyani added.

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