Compliance in Indonesia: A Checklist for Businesses
Compliance in Indonesia as one checklist: the recurring tax, BPJS, LKPM and company filings, the licence you need now, and the old permits that no longer exist.
- PMK No. 81 Tahun 2024 — Article 94 payment deadlines; Article 95 annual tax paid before the return; Articles 100 and 173 the next-working-day rule for monthly payments and returns; Article 169 annual return deadlines; Article 171 monthly returns
- PP No. 28 Tahun 2025 on risk-based business licensing — in force 5 June 2025, revoking PP No. 5 Tahun 2021. Article 78 environmental approval; Article 164 food and drug licences; Article 206 the NIB; Article 218 the licence forms by risk level
- Permendag No. 26 Tahun 2025 — revokes the regulation that issued trade business licences (SIUP), Permendag No. 36/M-DAG/PER/9/2007
- Peraturan Menteri Investasi dan Hilirisasi/Kepala BKPM No. 5 Tahun 2025 — in force 2 October 2025. Articles 286 and 295, LKPM
- Permenperin No. 13 Tahun 2025 — Article 5(3), SIINas industry reports
- UU No. 40 Tahun 2007 (the Company Law) — Article 68 statutory audit; Article 78 the annual meeting. Permenkum No. 49 Tahun 2025, Article 16 filing the annual report approval
- UU No. 25 Tahun 2007 on Investment — Article 5(2), foreign investment through a PT
- Perpres No. 82 Tahun 2018 as amended by Perpres No. 64 Tahun 2020 and No. 59 Tahun 2024 — BPJS Kesehatan rate, cap and due date. PP No. 44, 45 and 46 Tahun 2015 — BPJS Ketenagakerjaan programmes
- Permenaker No. 18 Tahun 2017 — Article 5(3), the annual manpower report. PP No. 50 Tahun 2012 — Article 5, the safety management system
- PMK No. 197/PMK.03/2013 — the VAT registration threshold. Perpres No. 13 Tahun 2018 — Article 21, beneficial-owner updates
- PP No. 42 Tahun 2024 on Halal Product Assurance — Articles 160 and 161
- Permenkes No. 5 Tahun 2026 on Health Supplies — Article 50, medical device marketing authorisation
Compliance in Indonesia comes down to five areas: the business licence, tax, employment, the company’s own housekeeping, and — for some businesses — sector and environmental approvals. Most failures are not refusals to comply. They are recurring filings nobody was watching, so the recurring ones come first below, then what each area adds.
Every date and rate here is taken from the regulation that sets it, named alongside — most of the tax dates from PMK 81/2024 and the licensing rules from PP 28/2025. The dates month by month, filtered by type of company, are on the Indonesia compliance calendar.
What recurs, and who it goes to
| How often | Who it goes to | Set by | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Withholding and instalment tax, paid | Monthly, by the 15th of the following month | Directorate General of Taxes | PMK 81/2024, Article 94(2) |
| Monthly income tax returns | Monthly, within 20 days of the month end | Directorate General of Taxes | PMK 81/2024, Article 171(1) |
| VAT, paid and reported | VAT (value added tax): monthly, by the end of the following month, paying before filing | Directorate General of Taxes | PMK 81/2024, Articles 94(3) and 171(13) |
| BPJS health contributions | BPJS (the state social security agencies): monthly, by the 10th | BPJS Kesehatan | Perpres 82/2018, Article 39 |
| BPJS employment contributions | Monthly, by the 15th, for the previous month | BPJS Ketenagakerjaan | PP 44, 45 and 46 of 2015 |
| LKPM investment report | LKPM (Laporan Kegiatan Penanaman Modal): quarterly by the 15th for medium and large businesses; half-yearly for small ones and for representative offices | The investment board, through OSS (Online Single Submission, the licensing system) | Permeninves/BKPM 5/2025, Articles 286 and 295 |
| SIINas industry report | SIINas (the national industry information system): quarterly, by the 10th, for industrial businesses rather than trading companies | Ministry of Industry | Permenperin 13/2025, Article 5(3) |
| Annual corporate tax return | Within four months of the year end, with any tax due paid first | Directorate General of Taxes | PMK 81/2024, Articles 95 and 169 |
| Annual general meeting | Within six months of the year end; the approval then filed within 30 calendar days | The shareholders, then the Ministry of Law | Company Law, Article 78; Permenkum 49/2025, Article 16 |
| Manpower report (WLKP) | WLKP (wajib lapor ketenagakerjaan): yearly, in December | Ministry of Manpower, online | Permenaker 18/2017, Article 5(3) |
| Beneficial-owner update | Yearly, and within three working days of a change | Ministry of Law | Perpres 13/2018, Articles 20 and 21 |
Two things decide how to read it. Obligations attach to what is registered, not to what the business is doing this month: a company with an NIB (Nomor Induk Berusaha, the business identification number) owes its LKPM before it trades, and a VAT-registered company files every month even when there is nothing to report (PMK 81/2024, Article 171(17)). A company that stops trading keeps almost all of these, which is covered in what a dormant company still owes.
And a monthly tax date that falls on a weekend or public holiday moves to the next working day (PMK 81/2024, Articles 100 and 173). The annual returns have no such rule, so plan for the date itself.
Compliance in Indonesia, area by area
The business licence
The licence is one number, the NIB, plus a standard certificate or a permit where the risk level of your business classification (KBLI) requires one. A foreign investor has to operate through a PT (a limited liability company), not a CV (a limited partnership) (UU 25/2007, Article 5(2)).
Learn more →Tax
Tax compliance covers registration, the monthly cycle and the annual return. A company must register for VAT once its turnover passes Rp4.8 billion in a financial year (PMK 197/PMK.03/2013).
Learn more →Employment
Employment brings BPJS for every employee, income tax withheld on pay, the annual manpower report, and a formal safety management system at 100 workers or in a high-hazard business (PP 50/2012, Article 5).
Learn more →The company itself
The company holds and files its annual meeting, keeps directors’ terms and beneficial-owner details current, and is audited where the Company Law requires it.
Learn more →Sector and environment
Every business needs an environmental approval, in a form that follows its impact. Food, drugs and cosmetics need licences from BPOM, the food and drug authority.
Two permits you cannot obtain any more
The NIB replaced both the SIUP (trade business licence) and the TDP (company registration certificate). The Job Creation Law revoked the law behind the TDP, and Permendag 26/2025 revoked the regulation that issued SIUPs, on 30 June 2025. The licence now takes one of three forms: an NIB alone for low-risk activity, an NIB with a standard certificate for medium risk, and an NIB with a permit for high risk (PP 28/2025, Article 218). The NIB has no renewal date: it remains valid for as long as the business operates (Article 206(9)).
What missing a filing costs
- A late tax return draws a fixed fine: IDR 100,000 for a monthly income tax return, IDR 500,000 for a VAT return and IDR 1,000,000 for the annual corporate return (UU KUP, the tax procedures law, Article 7(1)). Late payment draws interest on top, at a monthly rate the Ministry of Finance sets.
- A missed LKPM starts a ladder: three warnings, then suspension with a fine, then revocation of the business licence — and for a company with one business activity, the NIB goes with it (Permeninves/BKPM 5/2025, Articles 363 and 373–376).
- An unfiled annual meeting approval may bring a warning and then a block on the company’s access to the Ministry of Law’s online system, through which every later change to the company is filed (Permenkum 49/2025, Articles 17 and 18).
Tax points that are often got wrong
- Dividends are not withheld under Article 23. A resident company receives Indonesian dividends exempt; a resident individual pays at most 10% final, or nothing if the dividend is reinvested in Indonesia; a non-resident falls under Article 26 at 20%, subject to any tax treaty (Income Tax Law, Articles 4(3)(f), 17(2c) and 26). The mechanics of Articles 21, 23 and 26 are set out in withholding tax on services.
- Employee income tax (PPh 21) uses monthly effective rates from January to November, with the year reconciled in December or the month employment ends (PP 58/2023, in force 1 January 2024).
- A company’s tax number now has 16 digits, in use since 1 July 2024 (PMK 112/PMK.03/2022 as amended by PMK 136/2023).
Employment obligations
The social security contributions, and who bears them:
- BPJS Kesehatan (health): 5% of monthly wages — 4% from the employer, 1% from the employee — on wages capped at Rp12,000,000 (Perpres 82/2018, Articles 30 and 32, as amended).
- Old-age savings (JHT): 5.7% — 3.7% from the employer, 2% from the employee (PP 46/2015, Article 16).
- Pension (JP): 3% — 2% from the employer, 1% from the employee — on a wage cap adjusted every year (PP 45/2015, Articles 28 and 29).
- Work accident (JKK) and death (JKM): employer only, 0.24% to 1.74% by risk group and 0.30% respectively (PP 44/2015, Articles 16 and 18, as amended by PP 82/2019 and PP 49/2023).
Working hours, overtime, leave, minimum wages and termination sit in the Manpower Law as amended by the Job Creation Law (UU 6/2023), with PP 35/2021 and PP 36/2021 (the latter amended by PP 51/2023 and PP 49/2025). The Constitutional Court’s decision 168/PUU-XXI/2023 gave the legislature two years from 31 October 2024 to pass a new manpower law, so those rules may change shortly.
When a statutory audit is required
An audit by a public accountant is compulsory once assets or turnover reach Rp50 billion, and for certain other companies (Company Law, Article 68). Who is caught, and when the audit has to be finished, is set out in statutory audit requirements in Indonesia. Below those thresholds, an annual review is good practice rather than a statutory audit, and it should be called a review.
Sector approvals and intellectual property
Beyond the licence, some businesses need approvals specific to what they make or sell:
- Environment — every business needs an environmental approval: an AMDAL (environmental impact assessment), a UKL-UPL (environmental management and monitoring plan) or an SPPL (a statement of commitment to manage the impact), depending on the activity (PP 28/2025, Article 78).
- Food, drugs and cosmetics — BPOM licenses medicines, herbal medicines, supplements, cosmetics and processed food (PP 28/2025, Article 164). How an imported product is registered is in food registration in Indonesia, and cosmetics follow their own notification, set out in cosmetics registration in Indonesia.
- Medical devices — licensed by the Ministry of Health, not BPOM, through a marketing authorisation held by an Indonesian distributor (Permenkes 5/2026, Article 50). See medical device registration in Indonesia.
- Halal — mandatory certification is phased in by product class and business size. For food and drink the phase-in ended on 17 October 2024 for medium and large businesses, and runs to 17 October 2026 for micro and small businesses (PP 42/2024, Article 160). Cosmetics, supplements, clothing and many household goods reach the same 17 October 2026 date, over-the-counter medicines 2029 and prescription medicines 2034 (Article 161). How a business is certified is in halal certification in Indonesia.
- Financial services — supervised by OJK, the financial services authority.
- Trademarks and patents — registered with the Directorate General of Intellectual Property (DJKI), part of the Ministry of Law.
What this means for you
For most operating companies, the table at the top is the whole of the recurring work, and the risk lies in the gaps between the people who own each line: a filing that belonged to nobody is the one that goes late. Put every row in one calendar with a named owner, and confirm the licence against the NIB system once rather than working from a list that still names the SIUP.