Pakinta As A Socio-Cultural Practice: Interpreting Bugis Makassar Values In The Digitalization Of Local Tax Administration

Abstract

The digitalization of local taxation is often understood primarily in terms of transaction convenience, information integration, and administrative efficiency. However, such a perspective does not fully explain how a digital system acquires meaning within a society shaped by particular cultural values. This study aims to understand the implementation of the PAKINTA application (Integrated and Digitalized Taxation) as a socio-cultural practice from a Bugis-Makassar perspective. The study employs an interpretive paradigm, a qualitative approach, and Harold Garfinkel’s ethnomethodology. Data were collected through in-depth interviews, observation, documentation, and examination of service practices involving officials of the Makassar Regional Revenue Agency (Bapenda) and taxpayers. Informants were purposively selected based on their direct involvement and experience with PAKINTA. The analysis focuses on four ethnomethodological concepts: indexicality, reflexivity, accountability, and members’ methods. The findings reveal three main meanings. First, PAKINTA is understood not merely as a payment channel but as a medium that makes tax obligations more visible, accessible, and actionable in everyday practice. Second, the values of siri’ na pacce, sipakatau, and assitinajang are manifested in tax service and payment practices. Siri’ na pacce provides a moral orientation and sense of social concern; sipakatau humanizes digital services; while assitinajang emphasizes propriety and balance between citizens’ obligations and the government’s responsibilities. Third, the meaning of PAKINTA is constructed through the practical knowledge of members who use, explain, and adapt the system to the situations they encounter. The novelty of this study lies in understanding PAKINTA as a socio-cultural practice within public sector accounting rather than merely as a technological innovation. The findings suggest that the social legitimacy of tax digitalization is constructed through the encounter between technology, people, institutions, and local wisdom.