May 26, 2026 | 04:56 pm

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The government plans to roll out incentives in the form of Final Income Tax (PPh Final) cuts for writers in the second semester of 2026. The plan was discussed during a cross-ministerial meeting led by Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto at his office on Tuesday, May 26, 2026.Airlangga stated that the tax facilities for authors were finalized in a meeting attended by Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa, Home Affairs Minister Tito Karnavian, State Apparatus Empowerment and Bureaucratic Reform Minister Rini Widyantini, and Manpower Minister Yassierli. "It has been decided to provide tax incentives for writers in the form of a 1.5 percent final income tax," he said.He explained that the tax cut will automatically apply to published authors, provided their books carry a valid International Standard Book Number (ISBN).This fiscal relief arrives alongside a package of economic stimuli designed to shore up economic growth in the second quarter of 2026. In addition to the author tax incentives, the government is also introducing transportation discounts for the upcoming school holidays, as well as the Christmas and New Year season.Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa, speaking at the same venue, shed light on the reason behind the policy. "Because, as they say, the number of writers here is small, especially scientific writers," he noted. Moving forward, this incentive is expected to encourage more people to write books by easing their tax burden.Purbaya conceded that the dividends for economic growth would manifest in the long run rather than the short term. By backing writers, the administration hopes to foster a stronger reading culture among Indonesians and broaden public knowledge.The government also hopes to see a more diverse catalog of published works, expanding beyond fiction to include scientific literature and high-quality economics books penned by local authors. "So that your perspective is not dominated by TikTok economics," Purbaya quipped.Read: Indonesia Scraps OpenAI from Digital VAT Collector ListClick here to get the latest news updates from Tempo on Google News