Indonesia plans to delay the collection of income tax from sellers on e-commerce marketplaces, due to take effect this month, to boost purchasing power and economic growth, Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa said on Wednesday.
Indonesia’s tax office said last month it had asked e-commerce marketplaces Tokopedia, Shopee, Lazada and Blibli to collect income taxes from sellers based on sales made on their platforms.
Indonesia plans to delay the collection “until people’s purchasing power gets better,” Purbaya said in a press conference. He did not provide a timeline or any other details.
Indonesia’s annual economic growth from April to June came in at its slowest pace in three quarters as household and public spending eased, data showed on Wednesday.
The platforms were previously expected to begin collecting taxes this month, Indonesia’s tax office has said.
Purbaya said if any tax had been collected, a mechanism would be set for refunds.
Tokopedia, controlled by ByteDance’s TikTok and partly owned by Indonesia’s biggest tech company GoTo, together with Sea Limited’s Shopee, the Alibaba-backed Lazada, and Blibli, have been appointed as tax collectors, the tax office said.
Southeast Asia’s largest economy has a booming e-commerce industry, with an estimated gross merchandise value of $71 billion in 2025 that is expected to grow to $140 billion by 2030, according to a report by Google, Singapore state investor Temasek and consultancy Bain & Co.
Reuters
