Maybank Investment Bank said Wednesday that it sees minimal impact from Indonesia’s new tax on e-commerce platforms as it believes consumers can absorb the 0.5 percent tax.

The research house said in a note that it believes consumers will ultimately bear the cost.

It is noted that Indonesia’s finance ministry will require e-commerce platforms to collect a 0.5 percent income tax (PPh Pasal 22) on sales by merchants operating on their sites.

The regulation allows the government to require an e-commerce platform to collect a 0.5 percent income tax from merchants with gross transactions of more than IDR 500 million ($30,691).

The merchant can request an exemption once it has made an official declaration that the gross transaction is less than IDR 500 million.

However, the government will charge a 0.5 percent tax on gross transactions exceeding IDR 500 million (telco top-up transactions are excluded from this regulation).

Maybank opined that the new tax will add complexity and additional costs for e-commerce platforms, as the regulation kicks in from 14 July 2025 (Ministry of Finance regulation or PMK37/2025).

The research house also expects the consumer to consumer (C2C) online accommodation/affordable inn booking segments will feel bigger impacts.

This is because the inn owner (usually individuals) must pay a final 10 percent tax for rental space (the e-commerce platform will withhold 0.5 percent, and the inn owner must pay an additional 9.5 percent within 15 months after the tax period ends).

“On a positive note, neither GOTO nor BUKA offer accommodation rentals,” it said.

Meanwhile, according to Bank Indonesia, e-commerce reached IDR 487 trillion in FY24; hence, the estimated tax revenue is about IDR 2.4 trillion.

“We think this number is insignificant to the government’s tax revenue of IDR 2,490.9 trillion in FY25, but is a signal that the government wants merchants to be more disciplined with taxation (we believe in the long run, the government might also target the value added tax [VAT] to reduce illegal imports),

“We believe VAT withholding could affect both merchants and consumers, although a VAT tax is unlikely to be implemented in FY25,” said Maybank. 

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