Income tax could provide insights into the effectiveness of tax policy and the role
of accounting. This paper examines the Indonesia income tax gap by focusing on
accounts of taxpayers income statements frequently adjusted by tax auditors. The
study also examines the reosnns for these tax audit adjustments. This paper firuls
that the tax non-compliance can be traced into some accounts which are: 1) general
and administrative costs; 2) COGS; and 3) sales. This study reveals that the main
reason of the tax adjustments is due to the lack of evidence or supporting documents.
The other reasons are inadequate tax knowledge of the taxpayers, the specific
method of tax audit which leads to different tax payable amounts according to the
auditors, the absence of arms length transactions, and no proper book keeping
by the tax payer. In addition, this paper finds the relationship between the taxable
income difference and two factors, i.e. companys turnover and type of industry
(manufacture/non-manufacture). The results of this study bring implications for the
tax policy improvement in Indonesia and the harmonisation between tax regulations
and accounting standards; and these would be the main contribution of this study.
