Indonesia’s Crypto Tax Shock: Miners Suffer, Buyers Celebrate!

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In the vast and enigmatic realm of Indonesia, where the sun rises with the weight of bureaucracy, the government has embarked upon a grand endeavor to reconfigure the taxation of crypto assets, a domain as perplexing as the human soul itself. Oh, the joys of taxation! What a delightful twist of fate for those who dare to traverse the digital frontier, where every transaction is a test of patience, and every law a riddle wrapped in a paradox.

On a fateful Monday, the Ministry of Finance, with the solemnity of a priest anointing a new era, unveiled a series of regulatory decrees—No. 50/2025 and No. 53/2025—marking a new chapter in the saga of crypto taxation, effective from the 1st of August. One might say the heavens themselves weep with the weight of these amendments, as if the cosmos itself were sighing, “Not again.”

According to the venerable Reuters, the income tax on crypto sales transacted on domestic exchanges has ascended from a meager 0.1% to a more imposing 0.21%. A triumph for the state, a trial for the trader. 🧠📉

But lo! The taxes for foreign exchanges are even more onerous, leaping from 0.2% to a staggering 1%. One might wonder if the government has finally discovered the secret to eternal fiscal growth, or if they merely wish to ensure that every digital coin is weighed down by the burden of its own existence.

Indonesian Miners Hit with Higher Taxes

And thus, the miners, those tireless laborers of the blockchain, now face a new yoke. The value-added tax on their endeavors has doubled, from 1.1% to 2.2%. What a cruel irony! Toil for hours, only to have the state siphon more of your digital harvest. 🪨💸

Moreover, the ministry has abolished the 0.1% special tax on mining, leaving these industrious souls to ponder whether their income shall be taxed under personal or corporate rates, a decision as clear as mud. “Crypto asset miners who have been confirmed as taxable entrepreneurs… are retail trader taxable entrepreneurs,” reads the decree, as if the words themselves were a riddle to be solved by the weary.

“Crypto asset miners who do not fulfill the provisions… will be subject to sanctions as regulated in the general provisions and tax procedures law,” warns the text, a reminder that in Indonesia, even the digital realm is bound by the iron grip of bureaucracy.

While the state increases its demands upon miners and sellers, it offers a reprieve to some, exempting certain crypto transactions from VAT. A curious mercy, like a drop of water in a desert of taxation.

Crypto Transactions Exempted from VAT

According to regulation 50/2025, transfers of crypto assets “equated to securities” are now free from VAT, a gesture as baffling as it is generous. The buyers, once burdened by a VAT of 0.11%-0.22%, now revel in their newfound freedom, as if they had been unshackled from the chains of fiscal oppression. 🎉

A local report from CNBC Indonesia reveals that the VAT rate for crypto transactions has been excised from regulation 53/2025, a removal as dramatic as a painter erasing a masterpiece. “To provide legal certainty for crypto asset trading transactions and adapt to developments in crypto asset trading, it is necessary to adjust tax provisions for crypto asset trading transactions,” declares the Finance Minister, her words as clear as a foggy morning. 🌫️

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2025-07-30 13:31