The price in a Bali brochure is rarely the full cost. On top of it come a regional duty, sometimes VAT, notary fees and, later, an annual land tax. What you pay depends mostly on one thing: whether you acquire a registered land right (Hak Pakai, HGB, a strata title) or sign a lease.
The figures below are as of October 2026. Several of them are set by the regency, so in Badung (Canggu, Seminyak, Uluwatu) they can differ from Gianyar or Tabanan.
What does the buyer pay when a title changes hands?
The main buyer’s tax is BPHTB, the duty on acquiring land and building rights. Under the 2022 law on regional finance (UU HKPD) the rate is at most 5%, and Badung charges the full 5% under its regional regulation No. 7 of 2023. The buyer pays it, and it must be paid before or on the day the deed of sale (AJB) is signed.
The base is the transaction price. If the price in the deed is lower than the government’s assessed value of the plot (NJOP), the NJOP is used instead. A non-taxable allowance (NPOPTKP) is then deducted. The law sets its minimum at Rp 80 million, and each regency fixes its own figure.
BPHTB is charged on the acquisition of six kinds of rights: Hak Milik, HGU, HGB, Hak Pakai, ownership of a strata unit and the right of management. A foreigner buying a house on Hak Pakai or a company buying land on HGB pays it.
Is there VAT on a new villa?
There is if the seller is a VAT-registered business (PKP), which is the case with most developers. A private person who is not registered for VAT charges no VAT on a sale, whatever the price, according to an explainer on the website of the Directorate General of Taxes.
The statutory rate has been 12% since 1 January 2025, but for everything except luxury goods the tax base is 11/12 of the price, so the effective rate stays at 11%. The full 12% applies only to goods subject to the luxury sales tax, which for housing means homes priced at Rp 30 billion or more. Those also carry a 20% luxury tax (PPnBM).
For 2026 the government covers part of the VAT on new homes under Finance Minister Regulation 90/2025. It pays 100% of the VAT on the part of the price up to Rp 2 billion, for homes priced at no more than Rp 5 billion. The home must be new, ready to live in, sold for the first time by a VAT-registered seller and have an ID code in the ministry system. The deed, or a fully paid PPJB, and the handover must both fall between 1 January and 31 December 2026. Ask the developer in writing whether your unit qualifies.
What does the seller pay?
The seller pays a final income tax of 2.5% of the gross transfer value, under Government Regulation 34/2016. Like BPHTB, it is calculated on the price in the deed or the NJOP, whichever is higher. You will pay it yourself if you sell the property later.
How much do the notary and the PPAT charge?
The law caps their fees, and in practice many charge less.
- A PPAT, the official who draws up the deed of sale, may charge at most 1% of the transaction value stated in the deed, witnesses included (Government Regulation 24/2016).
- A notary’s honorarium for other deeds, such as a lease or a PPJB, is capped by the Notary Law: up to 2.5% for a value up to Rp 100 million, up to 1.5% between Rp 100 million and Rp 1 billion, and above Rp 1 billion an agreed fee of no more than 1%.
A representative of the Indonesian Notaries Association said in 2023 that in practice notaries often charge below these caps.
What changes if I buy a leasehold?
Hak Sewa, the lease, is not a land title and is not one of the six rights that trigger BPHTB, so a buyer of a pure lease pays no BPHTB. Practitioners on Bali read the rules the same way. Have the lease signed as a notarial deed. The notary’s honorarium then follows the caps above.
The tax on a lease falls on the other side. The landlord owes a final income tax of 10% of the gross rent (Government Regulation 34/2017), and the gross rent includes any maintenance or service charges you pay. If the tenant is an Indonesian company, it withholds this tax from the payment. A private tenant normally withholds nothing, and the landlord pays the tax himself.
Before you sign, ask whether the price includes VAT if the landlord is a VAT-registered company, and who pays the annual land tax. In practice the landlord usually carries the land tax, according to a guide by Nusantara Legal Partnership, but your contract decides.
What will I pay every year?
The annual land and building tax, PBB-P2, may not exceed 0.5% under the 2022 law. It is charged on a taxable value of 20% to 100% of the NJOP, and each regency sets the rate and the percentage.
Badung shows how fast this can move. The regency updated the NJOP in Kuta, North Kuta and South Kuta in 2024, for the first time since 2020. In August 2025 a Badung councillor cited a plot in North Kuta whose bill rose from Rp 28,774 in 2024 to Rp 1,027,225 in 2025. The head of Badung’s revenue agency explained that since 2017 the regency has waived PBB for homes and non-commercial land of Badung residents. Most of the higher bills, she said, were for commercial plots, often former homes turned into rented accommodation.
If you let the villa to guests, Badung also charges a 10% tax on hotel services, which covers villas, under the same 2023 regulation.
What does it add up to in practice?
Take a house on Hak Pakai bought from a developer for Rp 5 billion, the minimum price for a foreigner on Bali. Assume Badung and a non-taxable allowance of Rp 80 million.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| BPHTB: 5% of (Rp 5 billion minus Rp 80 million) | Rp 246 million |
| VAT at the effective 11%, without the 2026 incentive | Rp 550 million |
| VAT if the 2026 incentive applies (VAT on the first Rp 2 billion covered) | Rp 330 million |
| PPAT fee, legal maximum of 1% | up to Rp 50 million |
For a lease bought for Rp 3 billion, there is no BPHTB, and the notary’s fee is capped at 1%, so no more than Rp 30 million.
FAQ
Who pays BPHTB, the buyer or the seller?
The buyer. The seller pays the 2.5% income tax.
Is there VAT on a resale villa?
Not if the seller is a private person who is not registered for VAT.
Can we write a lower price in the deed to pay less tax?
Both BPHTB and the seller’s tax are calculated on the higher of the deed price and the NJOP. Any money paid outside the deed is not recorded anywhere, which is a risk for you as the buyer.
Does a leasehold mean no taxes at all?
No. You avoid BPHTB, but the notary fee remains, the landlord’s 10% income tax is usually built into the price, and the contract may pass the annual land tax to you.
Tax rules on Bali change with national laws and with each regency’s regulations, so ask your notary for an exact calculation for your property before you pay a deposit.
Sunny Development Group, on the market since 2011 by its own count, has completed 10 projects on Bali.
Sources
- Nusantara Legal Partnership: Indonesia real estate guide 2025 (Legal 500)
- PwC Indonesia TaxFlash: the new regional tax law (UU HKPD)
- Right Now Consulting: Badung regional tax rates from 2024 (Perda 7/2023)
- Ortax: BPHTB objects and calculation
- Stan Brinkman: Bali property tax for foreigners (BPHTB and leasehold)
- Directorate General of Taxes: taxes when buying land
- Directorate General of Taxes: PMK 131/2024, the 11/12 VAT base
- Ministry of Finance: PMK 15/PMK.03/2023 on luxury sales tax
- Ortax: VAT incentive on homes for 2026 (PMK 90/2025)
- Cabinet Secretariat: PP 34/2016, 2.5% tax on property transfers
- PP 34/2017 on income tax from land and building rental, full text
- Bisnis.com: PPAT fees under PP 24/2016
- Hukumonline: notary honorarium under the Notary Law
- detikBali: Badung NJOP update and PBB waivers
- Atnews: Badung PBB increases in 2025
- Decree ATR/BPN No. 1241/2022 on minimum prices for foreigners