Weighing Justice and Certainty

the Philosophical and Juridical Foundations of Tax Law in Indonesia

Abstract

This article examines the philosophical and juridical foundations that legitimize the state's authority to collect taxes in Indonesia. The problem addressed is the extent to which the obligation to pay tax an instrument that is coercive in nature can be philosophically justified and how that justification is translated into positive law. The research question is formulated as follows: what philosophical theories underlie the legitimacy of taxation, and how is that legitimacy constructed juridically within the Indonesian legal system? This study employs a normative-juridical method through statutory and conceptual approaches, relying on primary legal materials (the 1945 Constitution and tax statutes) and secondary legal materials (scholarly literature on tax law), analyzed descriptively-qualitatively. The findings show that the legitimacy of taxation rests on a convergence of classical theories the insurance theory, the interest theory, the ability-to-pay theory, the absolute-obligation (devotion) theory, and the purchasing-power theory together with the social-contract idea and the value of gotong royong (mutual cooperation) within Pancasila, as well as, from an Islamic legal perspective, the principle of ta'awun (mutual assistance) that distinguishes tax (dharibah) from zakat. Juridically, this philosophical legitimacy is anchored in Article 23A of the 1945 Constitution, which requires that taxes and other compulsory levies for state purposes be regulated by statute, and is elaborated through the General Provisions and Tax Procedures Law and its amendments under the Tax Regulation Harmonization Law. The article concludes that the strength of tax law lies precisely in the meeting point between philosophical legitimacy and juridical certainty, and that strengthening the principle of fairness within that framework remains essential to improving voluntary taxpayer compliance