E-Commerce Merchant Tax Collection Awaits Purbaya's Command

Surabaya, CNBC Indonesia - The Directorate General of Taxes (DJP) of the Ministry of Finance is awaiting instructions from Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa to collect taxes from merchants on e-commerce or marketplace platforms.

DJP’s Director of Outreach, Services, and Public Relations, Inge Diana Rismawanti, stated that the Directorate General of Taxes already possesses the necessary instruments to execute the policy, as the relevant Ministerial Regulation (PMK) has been in place since last year.

“We are still awaiting guidance from the signatory of the PMK. We are always ready, ready at all times, as he said—once he gives the go-ahead, we start. But when it starts, we cannot answer yet. We don’t know; just wait,” Inge said in Nganjuk, East Java, quoted on Friday (17/4/2026).

Inge emphasised that the Directorate General of Taxes has already conducted outreach and public hearings regarding the policy’s implementation to business actors. Therefore, all policy instruments for its application are fully complete.

“We have communicated many times. Actually, when the PMK was made, it was a year ago. We had meaningful participation with various associations, with e-commerce players, with various platforms,” Inge explained.

As is known, the implementation of tax collection from e-commerce merchants is stipulated in Ministerial Regulation (PMK) No. 37 of 2025. The PMK regulates the obligation of marketplace providers to collect Article 22 Income Tax (PPh) at 0.5% of the gross turnover of domestic merchants transacting on their platforms.

However, the implementation of this PMK is still being postponed by Purbaya. He previously stated that appointing marketplaces as collectors of Article 22 PPh for merchants would be carried out if economic growth shows stability in the second quarter of 2026 and can reach 6%.

Inge stressed that the government is certainly considering the impact of this policy carefully, given its broad scope affecting business actors and the public who are increasingly engaging in online economic activities. Therefore, the final decision on the implementation timeline is still awaiting further evaluation.

“Indeed, because this affects the livelihood of many people, the government is considering it. But whatever the Minister’s decision is, we await it,” Inge asserted firmly.