Online Tax Service Quality in Indonesia After Sixteen Years: Taxpayers’ and Tax Authority’s Point of Views

Abstract

Purpose: This research aims to enhance the quality of online tax services in Indonesia by identifying and addressing service-related issues, offering practical solutions, and paving the way for future research endeavors that can further refine and optimize digital governance in the tax domain. Theoretical Reference: This study draws upon theoretical frameworks related to service quality assessment and evaluation in the context of online government services. By integrating these theoretical perspectives, this research seeks to analyze online tax service quality in Indonesia comprehensively and offer practical solutions to address the identified issues. Method: Various researchers studied service quality, from manual to electronic service, and different countries. However, almost all of them used a quantitative approach, which sometimes cannot explain the reason behind events. For these reasons, this research chose a qualitative approach to evaluate online tax service quality owned by the Directorate General of Taxes by observing, documenting, and interviewing. The interviewees were taxpayers and the Directorate General of Taxes’ employees, connecting both views. Results and Discussion: It turns out that the current service, in general, can fulfill taxpayers’ needs to a certain degree, and the taxpayers are satisfied. This research also addressed several problems related to the online tax service, such as server capability, internal communication, understaffing, and ICT infrastructure problems. Implications of Research: The findings of this research hold significant implications for policymakers and practitioners in the field of online tax services in Indonesia. Originality/value: This research contributes to the tax field by presenting solutions related to the problems of tax service quality. This study contributes to the existing body of knowledge in online tax services and e-government in several distinctive ways, adding originality and value to the academic and practical discourse. Conclusion: The current online tax service quality is generally sufficient to satisfy taxpayers. The problems that cause some taxpayers to feel dissatisfied or complain are prominently directed to the server capacity, human resources, the DGT’s internal communication, and the digital divide.