Academia
True independence requires more than a flag and a border; it demands the fiscal sovereignty to finance the nation's future through public trust and institutional capacity.
An officer assists a taxpayer filing their annual tax return via the Directorate General of Taxes' (DGT) new Coretax system at the Meulaboh Tax Office in West Aceh, Aceh, on March 27, 2026. (Antara/Syifa Yulinnas)
Every nation has defining moments that shape its future. For Indonesia, Aug. 17, 1945, marks the birth of political independence. Less widely known, however, is another milestone that arrived only weeks earlier. On July 14, 1945, during the final stages of drafting Indonesia's Constitution, the Constitution Drafting Committee, BPUPKI, presented a second draft that formally stated: “All taxes for the needs of the state shall be based on law.”This constitutional principle built upon an earlier proposal by BPUPKI chairman KRT Radjiman Wedyodiningrat, whose name today graces the headquarters of the Directorate General of Taxes (DGT), arguing that tax collection must be governed by law. The provision became the first constitutional recognition of taxation as a bedrock of the future Republic, even before independence was officially proclaimed.
