Pursuing Public Trust: Tax Reform Communication during the Indonesian Government Transition
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21111/ejoc.v10i2.15174Keywords:
Contingency Theory of Accommodation, Government Public Relations, Tax Reform CommunicationAbstract
The credibility of tax policy is relies not only on excellent policy design but also effective communicated to the public. Tax policy significantly affect the public interest, so the Directorate General of Taxation's (DGT) communication strategy is critical for sustaining public trust. During Indonesia’s 2024 political transition, the DGT faced challenges in communicating sensitive tax reform issues, including the adjustment of Value-Added Tax rate and the implementation of the Coretax system. This qualitative case study applies the Contingency Theory of Accommodation to examine how predisposing and situational factors shaped the communication stance along the advocacy–accommodation continuum. The research triangulated in-depth interviews with public relations managers and social media specialists, document analysis, and qualitative content analysis of 74 social media posts and 284 news articles from October 2024 to January 2025. The findings reveal that although the Directorate General of Taxation implements the “communication as part of policy” paradigm reflecting its predisposed strategy, situational complications such as fragmented information bubbles, political residue, and the “lost period” of public preparation, dominated the communication dynamics during the transition A key theoretical contribution of the study is the identification of algorithm-driven fragmentation as situational pressures that constrained the effectiveness of predispositional orientations. The study also highlights the need to elevate the communication strategy to a higher regulatory level to ensure a robust communication process even during a transitional period.References
Ao, S. H., Angela K.Y., M., & Lennon L L, T. (2022). Revisiting contingency theory in regenerative social-mediated crisis: An investigation of Maxim’s and Yoshinoya in Hong Kong’s polarized context. Public Relations Review, 48(4), 102227. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2022.102227
Bari, E., Khan, T. I., & Ullah, M. S. (2022). The Value-Added Tax (VAT) Improvement Program: Raising the operational efficacy of the VAT administration in Bangladesh. https://doi.org/10.21201/2022.9110
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2022). Thematic Analysis: A Practical Guide .
Cancel, A. E., Cameron, G. T., Sallot, L. M., & Mitrook, M. A. (1997). It Depends: A Contingency Theory of Accommodation in Public Relations. Journal of Public Relations Research, 9(1), 31–63. https://doi.org/10.1207/s1532754xjprr0901_02
Cancel, A. E., Mitrook, M. A., & Cameron, G. T. (1999). Testing the Contingency Theory of Accomodation in Public Relations. Public Relations Review, 25(2), 171–197. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0363-8111(99)80161-1
Carattini, S. (2022). Political challenges of introducing environmental tax reforms in developing countries. https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/099045007292226423/pdf/P176296068392e0cd09b5d05444ca7255d8.pdf
Dhanya, D., Maharso, Y., Akbar, C., & Sari, A. R. (2023, December 28). Janji Capres-Cawapres Menggenjot Rasio Pajak RI. https://www.tempo.co/arsip/janji-capres-cawapres-menggenjot-rasio-pajak-ri-103777
Direktorat Jenderal Pajak. (2022). Reformasi Perpajakan. www.pajak.go.id.
Douenne, T., & Fabre, A. (2022). Yellow Vests, Pessimistic Beliefs, and Carbon Tax Aversion. American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 14(1), 81–110. https://doi.org/10.1257/pol.20200092
INDEF. (2024). Proyeksi Ekonomi Indonesia 2025.
Jin, Y., Pang, A., & Cameron, G. T. (2007). Different means to the same end. The Journal of International Communication, 13(1), 39–70. https://doi.org/10.1080/13216597.2007.9674707
Krippendorff. (2019). Content Analysis: An Introduction to Its Methodology (4th ed.). SAGE Publications, Inc.
Lee, H., Hong, S., Kim, B., & MacPherson, J. (2022). How does it depend?: A systematic review of the contingency theory of accommodation in communication scholarship. Public Relations Review, 48(1), 102148. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2022.102148
Liu, B. F., & Horsley, J. S. (2007). The government communication decision wheel: Toward a public relations model for the public sector. Journal of Public Relations Research, 19(4), 377–393. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1080/10627260701402473
Martinelli, D. (2022). Strategic Communication Planning in the Digital Age. In M. Lee, G. Neeley, & K. Stewart (Eds.), The Practice of Government Public Relations (2nd ed., pp. 99–116). Routledge.
Montes, G. C., & Luna, P. H. L. (2021). Effects of discretionary fiscal policy and fiscal communication on fiscal credibility: Empirical evidence from Brazil. Economics Bulletin, 41(3), 1486–1500.
Neuman, W. L. (2014). Social Research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative Approache (7th ed.). Pearson Education Limited.
Pang, A., Jin, Y., & Cameron, G. T. (2021). Contingency theory of strategic conflict managemeny: Explicating a “grand” theory of public relations. In C. Valentini (Ed.), Public Relations (pp. 381–398). Walter de Gruyter GmbH.
Pang, A., Jin, Y., Kim, S., & Cameron, G. T. (2020). Contingency Theory: Evolution from a public relations theory to a theory of strategic conflict management. In F. Frandsen & W. Johansen (Eds.), Handbook of Communication Science (pp. 141–163). Walter de Gruyter.
Russell, K. M., & Bishop, C. O. (2009). Russell, K. M., & Bishop, C. O. (2009). Understanding Ivy Lee’s declaration of principles: US newspaper and magazine coverage of publicity and press agentry, 1865–1904. Public Relations Review, 35(2), 91-101. Public Relations Review, 35(2), 91–101.
Saulitis, A., & Chapkovski, P. (2025). Appealing, threatening or nudging? Assessing various communication strategies to promote tax compliance. Public Choice, 203(1–2), 237–275. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11127-024-01194-w
Sutherland, K. E. (2021). Managing Reputation, Ethics, Risk, Issues, dan Crises. In Strategic Social Media Management Theory and Practice (1st ed., pp. 41–73). Springer Nature Singapore.
Theodora, A. (2023, November 10). Visi-Misi Capres: Ambisi Besar, Uangnya dari Mana? https://www.kompas.id/artikel/visi-misi-capres-ambisi-besar-uangnya-dari-mana.
Undang-Undang Nomor 17 Tahun 2003, Pub. L. No. 17 Tahun 2003, Lembaran Negara Republik Indonesia Nomor 4286 (2003).
Wilbur, D., & Cameron, G. T. (2020). Theory Meets Practice: Updating the Contingency Theory of Conflict Management with Insights from an Adroit Practitioner. Romanian Journal of Communication and Public Relations, 22(2), 107–121. https://doi.org/10.21018/rjcpr.2020.2.303
Zoch, L. M., Supa, D. W., & VanTuyll, D. R. (2014). The portrayal of public relations in the era of Ivy Lee through the lens of the New York Times. Public Relations Review, 40(4), 723–732. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2014.02.002
Zou, S. S., Pitas, N., Kerins, A., Wuellner, M. E., & Jaquet, I. (2023). Voting Yes for Funding Public Parks: The Effectiveness of Social Media Communication in a Tax Referendum Campaign. Journal of Park & Recreation Administration, 41(1).
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Ettisal
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Copyright Notice
Authors retain full copyright and grant Ettisal: Journal of Communication the right of first publication. The published work is simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial–ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).
This license allows others to share and adapt the work for non-commercial purposes, provided proper credit is given to the author(s) and the journal, a link to the license is included, and any derivative works are distributed under the same license.
Additional Distribution Rights
Authors may enter into separate, non-exclusive agreements for the distribution of the journal’s published version of their work—such as depositing it in institutional repositories or including it in edited books—provided that the initial publication in Ettisal: Journal of Communication is acknowledged.
Pre- and Post-Publication Sharing
Authors are permitted and encouraged to share their work online (e.g., through institutional repositories, academic networking platforms, or personal websites) before, during, and after the submission process. Such practices promote scholarly exchange and can enhance the visibility and citation impact of the published work.
License Statement:
All articles published in Ettisal: Journal of Communication are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial–ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).
