Indonesian tax for Australians: 183 days and NPWP

Short answer: stay in Indonesia for more than 183 days in any 12 months, or set up a home there, and Indonesia can treat you as a tax resident. The treaty decides who gets first bite, and your Australian status doesn't switch off by itself.

The short version

A foreigner becomes an Indonesian resident taxpayer by living there, being present for more than 183 days in a 12-month period, or being there in a tax year with the intention to stay [1].
Resident taxpayers must register for an NPWP once they earn income, and file an annual return (SPT) by the end of March [1][6].
The Australia–Indonesia tax treaty uses a 120-day test for employment income and a "permanent home" tie-breaker for people who are resident in both countries [3].
The E33G remote worker visa page says nothing about tax. A visa is not a tax ruling, so count your days and get advice [8].
Australia applies its own tests. Moving to Bali doesn't make you a foreign resident for the ATO unless you actually stop residing in Australia [7].

When Indonesia treats you as a tax resident

Indonesia's Directorate General of Taxes (DJP) uses three tests for foreign citizens. Meet any one and you are a resident tax subject (SPDN) [1]:

You live there. You have a place you use, own, rent or have available to live in, your main centre of activity is in Indonesia, or your daily routine is there [1].
You're present for more than 183 days in any 12-month period. Note the wording: any 12 months, not the calendar year [1].
You intend to stay. You're in Indonesia during a tax year and intend to live there [1].

Test three is the one that catches people out. An Australian who signs a one-year villa lease in Canggu in October, moves the kids into school and ships the dog can be resident well before day 184.

What residents pay

Resident individuals pay progressive rates on taxable income after the non-taxable allowance (PTKP) [4][6]:

Taxable income per year	Rate
Up to IDR 60 million	5%
IDR 60 million to 250 million	15%
IDR 250 million to 500 million	25%
IDR 500 million to 5 billion	30%
Over IDR 5 billion	35%

The PTKP is IDR 54 million a year for the taxpayer, plus IDR 4.5 million if married and IDR 4.5 million per dependant, up to three [6].

The four-year exception, and who it doesn't cover

Since the Job Creation Law (Cipta Kerja), certain foreign residents are taxed only on income from Indonesia for their first four tax years as residents [1]. It isn't automatic. It applies to foreign workers in listed expert positions and to approved researchers, with criteria such as science, technology or maths expertise and a duty to transfer knowledge [1]. You apply to your tax office, and you can't use this benefit and the tax treaty at the same time: you pick one [1].

A surf coach or a freelance designer working from Uluwatu is unlikely to fit. Don't assume it covers you without written advice.

The E33G remote worker question

The E33G remote worker visa is for people employed by a company outside Indonesia earning at least US$60,000 a year [8]. A lot of online commentary says E33G holders aren't taxed in Indonesia on their foreign salary. The official visa page we checked doesn't say that. It lists the income test, the overseas employment contract and the fees, and is silent on tax [8].

So treat the visa and your tax position as two separate questions:

The visa tells you what you may do in Indonesia.
The 183-day, residence and intention tests in the Income Tax Law decide if you're a tax resident [1].
The treaty decides which country taxes which income if both claim you [3].

If you hold an E33G and spend most of the year in Bali, get advice from a registered Indonesian tax consultant before your first March deadline. Keep your flight records and a simple day count from the start.

What the Australia–Indonesia tax treaty does

Australia and Indonesia have a double tax agreement signed in 1992, in effect in Indonesia from 1 July 1993 [2]. Both countries later adopted changes under the OECD Multilateral Instrument (MLI), which apply from 1 January 2021 and add an anti-abuse "principal purpose test" [2].

If both countries call you a resident

Article 4 of the treaty breaks the tie for individuals in this order: where you have a permanent home available to you, then where you habitually live, then where your personal and economic relations are closer [3]. If you've rented out your Brisbane house and lease a villa in Sanur, the permanent-home test may point to Indonesia. If your Melbourne flat sits empty waiting for you, it may point home.

Key treaty rules for individuals

Income	What the treaty says
Salary for work done in Indonesia	Taxable in Indonesia unless you're there 120 days or less in any 12 months, your employer isn't Indonesian, and the pay isn't borne by an Indonesian branch [3]
Independent (freelance) services	Indonesia can tax them if you're there more than 120 days in any 12 months, or have a fixed base there [3]
Pensions and annuities	Taxed where you're resident, but the source country may tax up to 15% of the gross amount [3]
Dividends, interest, royalties	Source-country withholding capped at 15%, 10%, and 15% or 10% [2]
Double taxation	Australia gives a credit for Indonesian tax on Indonesian-source income [3]

Notice the 120-day test. It's tighter than the 183 days many people quote from other treaties. Working remotely for your Sydney employer from Bali for five months can give Indonesia the right to tax that salary under the treaty [3].

Getting an NPWP

The NPWP is your Indonesian tax number. A resident taxpayer must register once they receive or earn income [1].

What you need

For a foreign individual, the DJP lists two documents [5]:

a copy of your passport
a copy of your KITAS (temporary stay permit) or KITAP (permanent stay permit)

Registration and returns now run through Coretax, the DJP's new system. For individual annual returns from tax year 2025, Coretax replaced DJP Online [6].

Step by step

Get your stay permit first. Without a KITAS or KITAP, you won't have the second document [5].
Create a Coretax account and register as an individual taxpayer, uploading your passport and KITAS [5][6].
Add your family. Foreign family members who aren't taxpayers themselves need a tax identity number (NIP) before you can add them to your family unit data [6].
Keep records. Payslips, foreign tax paid, bank statements and your day count.
File your annual SPT by the end of March for the previous calendar year [6].

Your foreign spouse and kids are dealt with by KPP Badan dan Orang Asing, the tax office for companies and foreigners [6].

How the ATO side works

The ATO has four residency tests: resides, domicile, 183-day and the Commonwealth super test [7]. The resides test comes first, and it looks at your physical presence, intention, family, work, assets and social ties [7]. Visa rules and tax residency are different things, and keeping strong connections with Australia can mean you're still a resident [7].

What changes if you do become a foreign resident for Australian tax:

You no longer declare foreign income, like a Bali salary, from the day you stop being a resident [7].
Australian interest and dividends get non-resident withholding as a final tax [7].
You don't pay the Medicare levy for the days you were a foreign resident [7].
In the year you change, you answer the residency question on your return and get a pro-rata tax-free threshold [7].

Common Australian–Bali patterns

Your situation	Likely Indonesian position	Likely ATO position
Three-month winter in Bali, home kept, job in Australia	Not resident if under 183 days and no intention to stay [1]	Still resident [7]
E33G holder, Australian employer, Bali lease, Australian home rented out	Probably resident; treaty 120-day test applies to salary [1][3]	Possibly foreign resident; tie-breaker matters [3][7]
Retiree on E33E, super pension, no Australian home	Resident; pensions treaty article applies [1][3]	Likely foreign resident [7]
Running a PT PMA in Bali	Resident; salary and dividends from the PT taxed in Indonesia [1]	Depends on remaining ties [7]

These are patterns, not answers. Two people with the same visa can land in different places.

Mistakes we see

Counting calendar years. The Indonesian test is any 12 months [1].
Assuming the visa sorts tax. It doesn't, on the official page [8].
Forgetting Australia. Rental income from your Australian property stays taxable in Australia whatever Indonesia decides, so keep lodging a return.
Missing the March deadline. The annual return is due by the end of March [6], and filing late can bring penalties. Diarise it the day you get your NPWP.
Using the four-year exception and the treaty together. You can't [1].

Want to know how other Australians in Bali handled their first SPT? Join Cooee Indonesia, our Facebook group for Australians in Indonesia, and ask who they used and what Coretax threw at them.

Tax in Indonesia for Australians: the 183-day rule, the NPWP and the treaty