Indonesia Watchdog Urges Finance Ministry to Re-Evaluate Crypto Tax Regime

Indonesian crypto regulator has requested the country’s Finance Ministry to reconsider the current ‘dual taxation’ on crypto transactions.

Cryptocurrencies are commodities in Indonesia and currently imposes 0.11% value-added tax and 0.1% income tax.

Indonesia’s Commodity Futures Trading Supervisory Agency (Bappebti) officials argued last week that the double-taxation on crypto transactions require reassessment.

According to Tirta Karma Senjaya, head of Bappebti, the classification of cryptos as commodities may change in 2025. This is because the crypto oversight would switch from Bappebti to the financial services authority OJK.

“As crypto is expected to join the financial sector by January 2025, we urge the Tax Director General to review these taxes. It’s been over a year since these rules were put in place, and taxes usually get checked every year.”

Speaking at an event in Jakarta, Tirta stressed that crypto industry and its regulations are still in its infancy. As a result, he believes that it is appropriate to give the industry space to grow until it can significantly contribute to national revenue.

The current tax structure on cryptos has been in place since April 2022 and has generated revenue approximately $2.49 million in January 2024 alone.

Meanwhile, last year Indonesia recorded revenue from crypto taxes at $41.2 million, the report read.

Following the request from Bappebti to evaluate the implementation of crypto taxes, Dwi Astuti, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Finance, ensured that the Ministry would accommodate input from both industry players and the public.

“We accept input from Bappebti, the community. It will definitely be discussed internally,” said Astuti in a media chat.

Indonesia’s Crypto Tax Revenue Plummeted

In 2023, the country’s crypto tax revenue plummeted by 63% when compared to the previous year. The decline came despite Bitcoin’s impressive surge of around 160% over the course of the year.

Additionally, local crypto exchanges blamed hefty taxes for the drastic decline in trading volume throughout 2023. They argued that it would drive away users to other foreign exchanges.

In December, Hasan Fawzi from the Ministry of Finance highlighted the trend of decreasing crypto asset transactions value during 2023. However, the number of crypto asset customers continues to increase, reaching 18.06 million users throughout 2023, he added.