Indonesia’s New Crypto Tax Law Will Take Effect on May 1

Indonesia has joined a growing list of countries to impose taxes on cryptocurrency transactions and revenues.

Indonesia Unveils Income Tax and VAT for Crypto

An Indonesian tax official has revealed that the country plans to impose income tax on cryptocurrency profits as well as value-added tax (VAT) on crypto-related transactions. 

As per the report, cryptocurrency traders in Indonesia are subjected to pay 0.1% for each of the taxes starting from May 1. 

“Crypto assets will be subject to VAT because they are a commodity as defined by the trade ministry. They are not a currency, so we will impose income tax and VAT,” the tax official, Hestu Yoga Saksama, said.

The report also stated that the VAT charge on crypto assets are below the regular 11% tax charges on goods and services. However, income tax on crypto gains are in line with that of commodities such as shares. 

Saksama also stated that the government is still working on implementing proper regulations for the taxes. 

Meanwhile, the crypto tax law is the  result of a series of tax laws passed last year which were targeted to improve revenue collections affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The country’s trade ministry announced in 2021 that Indonesians can buy and sell crypto assets as commodities but not use them as a means of payment. 

India Implements 30% Crypto Tax

Indonesia is not the first country to propose taxes on crypto assets. As cryptocurrency continues to reach mainstream users, regulators are constantly showing concerns about how to engage with the asset class. 

India recently issued taxes on digital assets in the country, which became effective  on April 1.  Traders are mandated to pay 30% of all cryptocurrency earnings or face the law. 

Just this week, Indian tax authorities recovered  $2.3 million from 11 crypto exchanges including WazirX as reported by the Minister of State for Finance, Pankaj Chaudhary. 

In France, traders would only be obligated to pay taxes from crypto gains after they are converted to fiat. According to the country’s finance ministry, Bruno Le Maire, trades between other digital currencies are tax free.