Housewife Wants to Become an Affiliate Marketer: Here Are the Tax Rules

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - An individual taxpayer who is a housewife visited the Tax Service, Outreach and Consultation Office (KP2KP) in Mempawah, located at the Mempawah Regency Public Service Mall, on Thursday (27/8/2026).

The taxpayer wished to consult on tax matters before starting work as an affiliate. She did not yet have a taxpayer identification number (NPWP) and wanted to know what tax obligations needed to be fulfilled.

Arnold, an officer at KP2KP Mempawah who served the taxpayer, explained that prospective affiliates who do not yet have an NPWP must first register as taxpayers through the Directorate General of Taxes’ Coretax system and ensure their national identity number (NIK) is correct and validated.

“Being an affiliate means earning income in the form of commissions from promoting other parties’ products or services. Because income is received, the tax aspects need to be understood from the outset, including recording income and reporting it in the annual tax return,” Arnold explained, quoted from the official website of the Directorate General of Taxes on Tuesday (8/9/2026).

Arnold also reminded the taxpayer to record all commissions received and to keep commission reports, payment receipts and documents from the platform used. If income tax is withheld or collected by another party, the taxpayer needs to verify the type of tax withheld and keep the withholding evidence as part of tax administration.

Arnold said that under certain conditions a taxpayer may apply for an income tax exemption letter (SKB) if they meet the applicable requirements. However, applying for an SKB is not automatically necessary simply because someone has just become an affiliate. The type of income, the party paying the commission and the prevailing tax provisions must first be considered.

“Affiliates who earn commissions need to be distinguished from those selling their own goods through a marketplace, because the tax treatment can differ. It is therefore important to understand the nature of the activity and the source of income before determining one’s tax obligations,” Arnold added.

Through its consultation services, KP2KP Mempawah continues to provide guidance to people starting businesses or earning income through digital platforms so they can understand and fulfil their tax obligations in accordance with applicable regulations.

So, how is an affiliator’s tax calculated?

Quoting a tax article on the DGT website written by tax officer Ayodhya Agti, Government Regulation No. 20 of 2026 amending Government Regulation No. 55 of 2022 on Adjustments to Income Tax Provisions (PP-20/2026) explicitly states that income from freelance services, including “intermediaries or persons who find customers” and “creators of content shared online (influencers, celebrities on Instagram, bloggers, vloggers and other similar)”, is excluded from the 0.5% final income tax.

In other words, affiliate commissions derived from content-based marketing activities or customer intermediation fall under the category of freelance work, not ordinary business income. The following are two key scenarios that must be understood:

Scenario 1: Full-Time Affiliator (Pure Content Creator)

Dinda spends her days creating skincare review content on TikTok and Instagram, earning commissions from affiliate programmes. She has no other job, so this is her main source of income. In this case, all affiliate commissions received constitute income from freelance work as a content creator and customer intermediary.

Both before and after PP-20/2026, this income cannot be subject to the 0.5% final income tax. Dinda must calculate her tax using the progressive income tax rates under Article 17 (ranging from 5% to 35%, depending on net taxable income after deducting the non-taxable income threshold/PTKP and employment expenses). Dinda must still maintain bookkeeping or opt for the net income calculation norm (NPPN) to determine her tax payable, then report it through the annual tax return.

Scenario 2: Part-Time Affiliator (Salaried Employee Who Is Also an Affiliator)

Rafi is an employee with a fixed salary who also promotes gadget products in his spare time via the Lazada Affiliate programme. He has two sources of income: a salary from his job and affiliate commissions.

The salary is already subject to Article 21 income tax withheld by the employer. Meanwhile, the affiliate commissions, as in the first scenario, remain categorised as income from freelance work and therefore cannot use the 0.5% final income tax scheme. Rafi must consolidate all his income in the annual tax return and calculate the total tax payable using progressive rates. Any over-withholding or underpayment will be settled when filing the tax return.

So, what has changed with PP-20/2026? The significant change is the black-and-white confirmation that affiliators and content creators are on the list of freelance professions.

Previously, some affiliators questioned whether they could use the 0.5% rate because they felt their activity resembled a “business” more than a “professional service”. The new regulation closes this interpretive loophole by explicitly naming influencers, Instagram celebrities, bloggers, vloggers and customer intermediaries as freelance work excluded from the final micro, small and medium enterprise income tax.