Government postpones marketplace tax implementation

Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa has stated that the government is postponing the implementation of tax collection through marketplaces, which was previously planned to take effect in August 2026. “Furthermore, the online (marketplace) tax, we might postpone it, it won’t start running this August (2026),” Purbaya said during a press conference at the Ministry of Finance office in Jakarta on Wednesday. Purbaya explained the reason for delaying the implementation of tax collection through marketplaces is to wait for economic conditions and public purchasing power to improve first. “We will postpone it for now. I said until the situation, I always say when the purchasing power, the economy, has improved,” Purbaya stated. Previously, the Directorate General of Taxes at the Ministry of Finance announced that tax collection through marketplaces would take effect from 1 August 2026. Director General of Taxes Bimo Wijayanto said his party provided a one-month transition period for four marketplace companies appointed as tax collectors to adjust their systems before starting to collect from sellers. The four designated marketplaces are Tokopedia, Shopee, Lazada, and Blibli. The provision is regulated in Minister of Finance Regulation Number 37 of 2025 concerning the appointment of electronic trading system operators as collectors of Income Tax Article 22. Under the scheme, marketplaces would collect Income Tax Article 22 at a rate of 0.5 percent of the seller’s gross turnover, which is the transaction value excluding Value Added Tax and Sales Tax on Luxury Goods. The mechanism involves consumers making payments through the marketplace. The marketplace then collects Income Tax Article 22 on the seller’s income, issues an invoice, deposits the collection to the state treasury, and reports it through the Periodic Unified Income Tax Return. However, Bimo explained that the collection only applies to sellers with an annual turnover or gross circulation above Rp500 million. “For example, if a trader sells goods worth Rp2,000,000 through the marketplace, the Income Tax Article 22 collected is 0.5% x Rp2,000,000 = Rp10,000. This Rp10,000 tax is not a separate additional tax,” Bimo clarified.