JAKARTA — South Korean technology company LG CNS is drawing renewed attention in Indonesia for its role in the country’s sweeping effort to modernize tax administration and move toward a more digital tax system.
LG CNS has been involved in Indonesia’s Core Tax Administration System (CTAS), a major government project designed to replace and modernize the Directorate General of Taxes’ aging information systems.
The Indonesian tax authority officially selected the LG CNS–Qualysoft Consortium as the winner of the procurement for the core tax administration system in 2020. The government said the consortium would supply and implement a commercial off-the-shelf system as part of the tax-administration overhaul.
A major digital-tax project
The project was part of Indonesia’s broader tax-reform program under Presidential Regulation No. 40 of 2018.
According to Indonesia’s Directorate General of Taxes, the consortium’s contract was valued at about 1.228 trillion rupiah, including tax. The system was intended to replace technology that had been used by the tax authority since 2002.
The partnership formally moved forward in December 2020, when the Directorate General of Taxes signed contracts with LG CNS–Qualysoft and Deloitte Consulting for the modernization program. The tax authority said the project was intended to redesign tax-business processes and improve the agency’s ability to provide more reliable and efficient services.
Why LG CNS matters to Indonesia’s tax reform
The Indonesian project has also become an important overseas digital-government project for LG CNS.
LG said in 2020 that the Indonesian tax-administration contract followed its earlier work on Indonesia’s national financial-management information system. The company highlighted the project as an example of South Korean digital-government expertise being exported overseas.
The system is particularly significant because Indonesia has one of Southeast Asia’s largest economies and a huge taxpayer base. Modernizing tax administration can potentially improve data integration, taxpayer services and government oversight while helping authorities manage an increasingly digital economy.
Coretax faces scrutiny as Indonesia pushes reform
The modernization effort has not been without challenges.
Indonesian media reported significant public complaints and technical difficulties surrounding the rollout of the Coretax platform. Later government discussions also focused on improving the system and resolving issues affecting its operation.
In 2025, Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa said some Coretax improvements were complicated by contractual arrangements involving LG CNS–Qualysoft. He also said Indonesian teams were working on portions of the system that could be handled domestically.
That history makes any recognition involving LG CNS particularly noteworthy, but it also underscores why the project’s performance remains closely watched.
LG CNS expands its Indonesian technology footprint
The company’s Indonesian presence extends beyond tax technology.
In 2025, LG announced that LG CNS had won a project to build a large-scale AI data center in Jakarta, with completion targeted for the end of 2026. The project was described as an approximately 100 billion-won infrastructure undertaking backed by Indonesia’s Sinar Mas Group.
The development highlights the broader shift in Indonesia toward cloud computing, artificial intelligence and digital infrastructure — areas where Korean technology companies are seeking a larger regional role.
Recognition comes amid a bigger digital transformation
Whether viewed through tax administration, financial management or AI infrastructure, LG CNS’s Indonesian activities reflect a much larger trend: governments and businesses across Southeast Asia are investing heavily in digital systems to improve public services and economic efficiency.
For Indonesia, the challenge is ensuring that major technology projects deliver reliable services while maintaining transparency, security and accountability.
For LG CNS, success in Indonesia could strengthen its position as a major Korean technology provider in Southeast Asia.
The real test is no longer simply building Indonesia’s digital tax infrastructure — it is proving that the technology can deliver the faster, more reliable and more transparent tax administration Indonesians expect.
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