Takeaways
- Indonesia doubled domestic crypto trading taxes to 0.21% and slapped a 1% tax on overseas platform sales while eliminating buyer VAT.
- Crypto miners face a doubled VAT rate and will lose special tax treatment by 2026, potentially forcing smaller operations out of business.
- The changes push traders toward regulated local exchanges while making crypto investment cheaper for buy-and-hold investors, showing how governments can use tax policy to shape crypto behaviour.
So Indonesia just completely flipped the script on crypto taxes, and honestly, it’s got everyone talking. Starting August 1st, they rewrote the playbook on how digital assets get taxed—and the changes are pretty dramatic depending on where you trade and what you do with crypto.
Let me break this down like we’re just chatting over coffee, because the official government language makes it sound way more complicated than it is.
The Big Picture Changes
Indonesia’s finance ministry dropped new tax rules that hit different parts of the crypto world in totally different ways. If you’re selling crypto on local Indonesian exchanges, your tax just doubled from 0.1% to 0.21% per transaction. Not exactly pocket change, but manageable.
But here’s where it gets interesting—if you’re using overseas platforms like Binance or Bybit, you’re now looking at a hefty 1% tax on every sale, up from just 0.2%. That’s five times higher than before. The government’s saying, “Hey, we’d prefer if you used our local exchanges, thanks.”
On the flip side, buyers actually got some good news. They scrapped the VAT (value-added tax) that used to hit crypto purchases, which was running between 0.11% and 0.22%. So if you’re just buying crypto to hold, you’re coming out ahead.
Miners Are Getting Hit Hard
Crypto miners in Indonesia are probably not thrilled right now. Their VAT rate just doubled from 1.1% to 2.2%, which is going to eat into profits pretty significantly. And starting in 2026, they’re losing their special 0.1% income tax rate—mining income will be taxed just like regular personal or corporate income.
Think about it this way: if you’re running a small mining operation from your garage, these changes might make it tough to stay profitable. The bigger operations with better efficiency and lower costs? They’ll probably be fine, but the little guys might get squeezed out.
Real-World Impact on Regular People
Let’s say you’re just a regular person in Jakarta who likes to trade a bit of Bitcoin on the weekends. If you’ve been using Binance because the fees were lower, you might want to rethink that now. That 1% tax is going to add up fast if you’re actively trading.
But if you’re more of a “buy and hold” type, the removal of buyer VAT saves you money. It’s like the government is saying, “We’re fine with you investing in crypto, but we want you to do it through our regulated local platforms.”
One crypto exchange executive I read about and compared it to how different countries handle alcohol taxes—some places tax production heavily, others focus on retail sales. Indonesia’s going after overseas trading while making it cheaper to just buy and hold locally.
Why This Matters Beyond Indonesia
This whole tax overhaul is part of Indonesia’s move to crypto regulation from their commodity regulator (Bappebti) to their financial services authority (OJK). They’re basically treating crypto more like stocks and bonds now, less like trading commodities.
What’s striking is how targeted these changes are. The government did its homework—crypto transactions in Indonesia tripled in 2024 to about $40 billion, with over 20 million users. They’re not trying to kill the crypto market; they want to control it and profit from it.
I think this shows how governments are getting smarter about crypto regulation. Instead of blanket bans or super-loose rules, they’re using tax policy as a steering wheel. Want people to use local exchanges? Make foreign ones more expensive. Want to encourage long-term investing over day trading? Remove buyer taxes but increase seller taxes.
