From the Dalem Hall 93 Years Ago

On December 22, 1928, hundreds of people gathered at the Pendopo Dalem Raden Tumenggung Joyodipoero. On the date which in 1959 was designated as Mother’s Day by President Sukarno, the first Indonesian Women’s Congress was held. The event started with a song of respect by the children for the guests and continued with a silent drama about the story of Dewi Sinta setting herself on fire, Srikandi, and the Indonesian Wives Association. After getting acquainted, guests are invited to share their association problems (Susan Blackburn, 2007).

On the second day of the congress, Djami from Darmo Laksmi delivered a speech entitled “Iboe”. He told of his childhood that was looked down upon for being a woman. Not only that, even when a child wants to be born, it is said that his parents asked God to give him a son. In his speech, Djami emphasized the importance of education for a mother. “No one will be famous for their intelligence and knowledge whose mother or daughter is not a woman of high knowledge and character,” he said.

One of the struggles of women at that time was to make women have the same rights in education as men. This was done by Rohana Koedoes, Kartini, and Dewi Sartika by building schools to promote women.

The struggle in education did not stop with the “Iboe” speech, it has been continued until now, one of which is in the form of a 20% APBN allocation for education. In addition, the Ministry of Finance has a Ministry of Finance Teaching program to introduce state finances to the younger generation throughout Indonesia. The Directorate General of Taxes (DGT) also has the same agenda as the Speech Tax program.

The Speech Tax is one of the ways for DGT to introduce the importance of taxes as early as possible. The fact that Indonesia will soon receive a demographic bonus makes tax education for young people to be intensified, so that when the younger generation has received their income, they understand the importance of paying taxes.

Talking about Mother’s Day, usually this day is celebrated by sharing love with mothers. Some exchange gifts or sungkem and share jokes and stories, both live and virtual. Indonesia is often referred to as Mother Earth, so one of the celebrations of Mother’s Day is to serve our beloved country. One form of this service is to pay taxes regularly.

In the 2022 State Budget Posture, tax revenue is targeted at Rp1,256 trillion of the total state revenue of Rp1,846.1 trillion. Just like in previous years, taxes are the largest source of revenue for the state. People who pay taxes are contributing to the development of the country. When associated with mother’s day, this is one way to worship the motherland.

The struggle to continue the movement at the Dalem Pendopo 93 years ago could not be done without the help of all the Indonesian people. One thing that can be done is to contribute in the field of taxation. Various actions taken by the government of course require funds from the state budget. Taxes are the largest source of these funds.

The government also takes part in giving love to the motherland. When Indonesia was hit by the Covid-19 pandemic that hit various sectors, especially the economy and health, the government was here to provide various incentives through the National Economic Recovery (PEN) program. Most recently, the government issued the Law on Harmonization of Tax Regulations (UU HPP) which was promulgated in Law Number 7 of 2021 on October 29, 2021.

One of the objectives of the HPP Law is to increase sustainable economic growth and support the acceleration of economic recovery (Article 1 paragraph (2) letter a of the HPP Law). This goal is stated in the form of several policies such as the presence of a gross circulation limit that is not subject to income tax and carbon tax.

Article 7 paragraph (2a) states that an individual Taxpayer who has a certain gross turnover as referred to in Article 4 paragraph (2) letter e is not subject to Income Tax on the share of gross turnover up to Rp500 million in one Fiscal Year. The existence of this limit is expected to increase the community’s economic growth in the midst of a pandemic that has not ended.

Apart from the economic aspect, the HPP Law also takes part in addressing climate change through a carbon tax. The carbon tax is generally a tax levied on emissions from fossil fuels which will be implemented gradually from April 2022.

The initial stage of this tax will be applied to the Coal Steam Power Plant (PLTU) sector at a rate of IDR 30.00/kg equivalent according to the number of emissions that exceed the stipulated limit. The selection of coal-fired power plants as the first target of the carbon tax is based on data that at least 61% of Indonesia’s electricity sources come from coal-fired power plants. In addition, the power generation sector is one of the largest sectors in Indonesia that contributes greenhouse gas emissions.

Mother’s Day is celebrated on a date that is an important milestone in the struggle of women in Indonesia. We should also interpret Mother’s Day as a moment to reaffirm our enthusiasm for the struggle for women, both for mothers, mothers-to-be, and a better motherland.