Finance Minister Suahasil Nazara has emphasized that the government is not implementing a new policy that automatically imposes a value-added tax (VAT) on interbank or digital wallet transfer transactions.
Therefore, the public need not worry that the nominal amount of money sent from one account to another will be subject to tax deductions after the digital tax collection system takes effect in November 2026.
"There is no new tax policy that automatically imposes VAT on every interbank or digital wallet transfer transaction," Suahasil stated during a press conference of the Financial System Stability Committee in Jakarta on Tuesday (Nov 3, 2026).
The clarification was made to correct a statement by the Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin), Hashim Djojohadikusumo, regarding the implementation of digital tax collection, which was said to begin on November 9, 2026.
Furthermore, Suahasil explained that the widely discussed tax policy is actually the implementation of the Tax Collection System on Foreign Digital Transactions (Sistem Pemungutan Pajak atas Transaksi Digital Luar Negeri/SPP-TDLN). This policy is outlined in the Minister of Finance Regulation (PMK) Number 49 of 2026 concerning Procedures for Collecting Value-Added Tax on Foreign Digital Transactions Conducted Through the Tax Collection System on Foreign Digital Transactions.
The system is designed to improve the effectiveness of VAT collection on foreign digital transactions that meet the criteria as tax objects. Therefore, its implementation does not automatically make all fund transfers made through banks or digital wallets subject to VAT.
To provide a more comprehensive understanding, Finance Minister Suahasil also reminded the public that the regulation on taxing fund transfer services and digital wallets has been ongoing and is governed by PMK Number 69 of 2022 concerning Income Tax and Value-Added Tax on the provision of Financial Technology.
Under this regulation, VAT is indeed imposed on the service or administration fee charged by the service provider, rather than the principal amount transferred.
Meanwhile, to implement the SPP-TDLN, the government has appointed six institutions as VAT collectors, comprising five issuing banks and one financial technology (fintech) company.
The government began implementing the system on September 25, 2026, to strengthen tax collection on taxable foreign digital transactions.
