Socio Today
Jakarta — A wave of public discussion has emerged surrounding the taxation of religious and educational institutions in Indonesia following a passionate intervention by Rieke Diah Pitaloka, a member of Commission VI of the House of Representatives (DPR RI) representing the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P). Pitaloka expressed intense frustration and indignation upon discovering that Pesantren Al-Fath Jalen, an Islamic boarding school founded by the late Kiai Yasin located in Tambun Utara, Bekasi Regency, West Java, had been slapped with substantial Land and Building Tax (PBB) bills.
The incident came to light through a widely circulated video posted on Pitaloka’s personal Instagram account, @riekediahp, under the digital campaign banner of Viral for Justice and the hashtag #SavePesantrenIndonesia. In the recording, Pitaloka can be seen voicing her disbelief and directly calling upon Minister of Finance Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa to address what she termed an unjust administrative overreach by regional tax authorities.
The controversy has since sparked a broader debate concerning the enforcement of tax regulations on non-profit educational and religious institutions, highlighting systemic communication gaps between local government revenue agencies, religious institutions, and national tax exemption policies.
Chronology of the Controversy at Pesantren Al-Fath Jalen
The issue at Pesantren Al-Fath Jalen did not materialize overnight; rather, it represents the culmination of years of bureaucratic misunderstandings and changing local enforcement priorities. According to Naili, an administrator at the boarding school, the foundational misunderstanding regarding tax obligations dates back to 2010. During that period, school representatives visited the local Office of Religious Affairs (KUA) to process the official waqf (endowment) land certification.
At the time, administrators were informed by KUA officials that the process of securing a waqf certificate was both prolonged and expensive. However, they were simultaneously assured that because the land was designated for a religious and educational institution, the pesantren would be permanently exempt from paying the Land and Building Tax (PBB). Operating with limited legal literacy and trusting the verbal assurances of local religious administration officials, the boarding school management assumed their institution was fully protected under the law from any future property tax obligations.
For more than a decade, this understanding went unchallenged. However, the operational landscape shifted dramatically in 2024 when the pesantren began receiving unexpected PBB payment notices from the regional revenue office (Bapenda). The pressure escalated sharply in early 2025, when administrators were reportedly threatened with punitive legal measures, including the potential installation of police lines on the premises due to accumulated tax arrears.
The psychological toll on the institution’s leadership was severe. Naili recounted the distress experienced by the late Kiai Yasin and the administrative staff upon receiving the threats of asset seizure. The stress of the ordeal coincided with a deterioration in the health of Kiai Yasin, who passed away shortly after the administration received the alarming notification regarding the potential police action against the school grounds.
Legal Framework and Legislative Objections
During her on-site visit to Pesantren Al-Fath Jalen, Rieke Diah Pitaloka strongly criticized the local revenue officers’ actions, arguing that targeting a non-profit educational sanctuary directly violates established Indonesian legal frameworks. Brandishing statutory references, Pitaloka pointed specifically to Article 38 of the prevailing regulations governing the Land and Building Tax.
The statute explicitly dictates that PBB obligations do not apply to the ownership or utilization of land and buildings dedicated exclusively to the public interest in the fields of religion, social welfare, health, national education, and culture, provided that the entities in question are strictly non-commercial and operate without the intent to generate profit.
"The foundation run by our late elder is entirely non-commercial; it does not seek profit. How dare they issue tax bills like this? We will resolve this formally through administrative and legal means," Pitaloka declared firmly during her inspection.
Furthermore, Pitaloka emphasized that institutions like Pesantren Al-Fath shoulder responsibilities that fundamentally belong to the state. By providing education, shelter, and moral guidance to the community, Islamic boarding schools alleviate a significant portion of the government’s burden in human capital development. Consequently, she argued, subjecting such institutions to municipal property taxes undermines their vital social contributions and contradicts the spirit of national education laws.
Local Government and Legislative Response
The visit by the national legislator also drew the attention of regional lawmakers. Nyumarno, a member of the Bekasi Regency Regional House of Representatives (D DPRD) who accompanied Pitaloka during the visit, corroborated the assessment that the pesantren should be exempt from the tax burden.
Nyumarno clarified that the regional regulations (Peraturan Daerah) governing local taxes in Bekasi Regency explicitly provide for exemptions and relief mechanisms for places of worship and non-commercial educational institutions. Under local policy, qualifying institutions can formally apply for a 100 percent reduction or total exemption from PBB liabilities.
However, Nyumarno acknowledged that procedural bottlenecks and a lack of proactive socialization by the local revenue agency often lead to administrative chaos. "In Bekasi Regency, regulations already exist stating that places of worship and non-commercial boarding schools can apply for tax waivers," Nyumarno explained. "However, in practice, tax bills often arrive abruptly without adequate prior notice or outreach to the institution’s management."
To rectify the situation at Pesantren Al-Fath Jalen, Nyumarno committed to providing direct legal and administrative assistance to ensure that the outstanding tax demands are officially nullified and that the property’s tax-exempt status is formally secured in the regional database.
Broader Implications for Religious and Educational Institutions in Indonesia
The incident involving Pesantren Al-Fath Jalen touches upon a sensitive and recurring issue within Indonesia’s decentralized fiscal administration: the friction between local revenue-generation targets and national protections for religious and social institutions.
Since the implementation of regional autonomy under Law No. 22/1999 and its subsequent revisions, local governments have been granted greater authority to manage their own regional revenues (Pendapatan Asli Daerah – PAD), which includes the collection of PBB-P2 (Rural and Urban Land and Building Tax). In their efforts to maximize local tax collection to meet budgetary targets, regional revenue agencies (Bapenda) frequently deploy automated billing systems or general property audits that may fail to accurately distinguish between commercial real estate and non-profit religious or educational properties.
Legal experts and civil society organizations have frequently pointed out that many traditional Islamic boarding schools (pesantren) operate on communally held waqf land with informal or legacy documentation. These administrative vulnerabilities often leave them exposed to bureaucratic oversights, where changes in local tax assessment databases or automated property revaluations result in unexpected tax liabilities for institutions historically understood to be exempt.
The public outcry led by high-profile figures such as Rieke Diah Pitaloka underscores the urgent need for a systematic audit and harmonization of local tax databases across Indonesian regencies and cities. Observers argue that regional governments must implement proactive coordination with the Ministry of Religious Affairs and local KUA offices to cross-reference tax rolls with registered waqf and educational properties, thereby preventing vulnerable institutions from enduring unnecessary bureaucratic distress.
As the case of Pesantren Al-Fath Jalen moves toward a resolution with the promised intervention of local legislators, the episode serves as a cautionary tale for municipal tax authorities nationwide. It highlights the critical necessity of combining aggressive revenue collection strategies with careful legal discernment and community outreach, ensuring that historical institutions dedicated to public education and religious instruction are protected from administrative oversights that threaten their existence.
