According to a recent report by Reuters, Indonesia is planning to implement higher taxes on cryptocurrency transactions, effective August 1, as the popularity of crypto investing continues to grow. This move is based on a new regulation issued by the Ministry of Finance. Sellers utilizing exchanges within the country will be required to pay a 0.21% tax on the transaction value, representing an increase from the previous 0.1%.
Meanwhile, sellers using overseas exchanges will see their tax rate rise to 1% from the current 0.2%. However, buyers of cryptocurrencies will no longer be subject to value-added tax (VAT) under the new regulations. These changes follow a significant surge in crypto transactions on the country's exchanges, which saw a more than threefold increase to 650 trillion rupiah ($39.5 billion) in 2024 compared to the previous year, according to data from regulators cited by Reuters. Additionally, the number of people using these exchanges reached 20 million last year.
Indonesia began licensing crypto exchanges after enacting relevant legislation in 2019. Furthermore, the country has also adjusted the VAT rate for cryptocurrency mining, increasing it from 2.2% to 1.1%, as reported by Reuters.