Taxes and costs when you buy property in Bali

The short answer

• Leasehold purchase, buyer side: roughly 1 to 2 percent on top of the price as 2026 market practice stands, essentially notary and legal work. No acquisition tax, no land-office fee.
• Freehold, Hak Pakai or HGB purchase, buyer side: about 6 to 7 percent, made of the 5 percent BPHTB acquisition tax, the notary around 1 percent, and a small registration fee.
• Seller side: a 2.5 percent final income tax on a title transfer, or 10 percent on the lease money when you buy a leasehold from a resident owner.
• VAT at an effective 11 percent applies only when you buy a new build from a developer company.

BPHTB: the buyer’s tax, and why leasehold skips it

BPHTB is the one-time acquisition tax on receiving a land right: 5 percent everywhere in Bali (it is a regional tax under Law 1 of 2022, and the regencies apply the legal maximum). The base is the transaction value, or the official NJOP assessment if higher, minus a regency threshold called NPOPTKP, which by law is at least Rp 80 million on a taxpayer’s first acquisition of a right in that regency; the exact figure is each regency’s own, so the notary confirms the deduction. A leasehold triggers none of this: a lease is a contract, not a transfer of title, so there is no BPHTB and no re-registration. That is the main structural cost difference between the two deals.

The seller’s tax, and why it shows up in your price

On a title transfer the seller owes a final income tax of 2.5 percent of the gross price (Government Regulation 34 of 2016). Gross means gross: it is charged on the full amount whether the seller gained or lost, and the officials will not sign the transfer deed until it is paid, which makes it a built-in checkpoint. On a leasehold the seller-side tax is different: the owner’s income from the lease is taxed at 10 percent of the gross lease value for Indonesian residents, or 20 percent when the lessor is a non-resident. By law these are the seller’s taxes. By Bali custom, prices are often quoted "net to the owner", which quietly moves the tax into your total. That is negotiation, not law: pin down in writing who pays what.

VAT: 11 or 12 percent?

Both numbers circulate because both are half-true. The statutory VAT rate became 12 percent in January 2025, but a ministerial regulation (PMK 131 of 2024) keeps the effective rate at 11 percent for ordinary property by adjusting the base; the full 12 percent touches only luxury residences from Rp 30 billion. VAT applies only when you buy from a developer registered as a taxable entrepreneur; a private resale between individuals carries none. The separate 20 percent luxury sales tax starts at the same Rp 30 billion threshold and almost never touches a normal villa deal.

Notary, registration and stamps

The land-deed official’s honorarium is legally capped at 1 percent of the deed value; real Bali quotes run around 0.5 to 1 percent, more when due diligence is bundled in, and by custom the buyer pays, because the buyer picks the notary. Re-registering a title at the land office costs about 0.1 percent under a fee formula, and applies to title deals only. Stamp duty is Rp 10,000 per signed document.

The annual tax: PBB

The annual land-and-building tax (PBB-P2) is regional: Law 1 of 2022 caps the rate at 0.5 percent (article 41(1)) and leaves the rate itself to a regency regulation (article 41(3)). It is not charged on the full assessment either. Under article 40 the non-taxable portion comes off the NJOP first, and only 20 to 100 percent of what remains enters the calculation, with the regency deciding which share. That is why nobody can quote your figure in advance: the bill shows it. The bill is issued to the registered rights holder, which on a leasehold is legally the landowner; Bali lease deeds routinely shift the cost to the tenant, so your deed, not the law, answers who actually pays it.

No special taxes for foreigners

A foreign buyer pays exactly what an Indonesian buyer pays: there is no foreigner surcharge on a purchase. What actually differs is the set of available ownership routes, the minimum property prices for owning in your own name (for Bali, Rp 5 billion for a landed house and Rp 2 billion for an apartment), and the 20 percent non-resident rate if you later receive income from the property. Anyone selling you a special "foreigner tax on purchase" is either confused or padding the bill.

Numbers you may meet elsewhere: a "transaction tax of 11 percent split 50/50", a "20 percent tax for foreign buyers", a "2.5 percent tax on profit". Each is a misreading of a real rule. The real rules are above, with their regulation numbers attached.