Tax Refund in Indonesia: Claiming Back an Income Tax Overpayment
A tax refund in Indonesia starts with the annual return. See which route decides it, who gets a faster preliminary refund, and when the money is paid.
References (4)
- The General Provisions and Tax Procedures Law (KUP Law), UU No. 6 Tahun 1983 as amended, latest by UU No. 6 Tahun 2023. Article 8(1) and (1a) set when a correction showing an overpayment can be filed. Article 11(1) to (3a) covers paying the refund, netting tax debts and interest on late payment. Article 17(1) and (2) set the overpayment assessment and the refund of tax never owed. Article 17B covers the ordinary refund, and Articles 17C and 17D the preliminary refund.
- PMK No. 28 Tahun 2026, in force 1 May 2026, on preliminary refunds. Articles 3, 4, 7 and 25 cover designated taxpayers, Articles 9 to 12 the size-based route, and Article 19 what happens around a preliminary refund. Article 26 revokes PMK No. 39/PMK.03/2018 and its amendments.
- PMK No. 81 Tahun 2024. Articles 122 and 137(1) cover the refund of tax never owed. Articles 103(3)(c) and 154 cover netting debts and the tax deposit, Article 146(1) the application for interest, Article 155(1) the bank account, and Article 189 the overpaid return as the refund request.
- PMK No. 15 Tahun 2025 on tax audits, Article 4(1)(d): a taxpayer given a preliminary refund can be audited afterwards.
A tax refund in Indonesia is how a company or an individual gets back income tax paid in excess of the year’s tax, an overpayment known as lebih bayar. The overpaid annual return is itself the request: you ask for the refund in the return, and the time limits run from the day the complete return is received (PMK 81/2024, a Minister of Finance regulation, Article 189). The route the request takes decides how fast it is paid. Refunds within set limits, and refunds to taxpayers designated as compliant, are reviewed and decided faster. The rest go through an audit of up to 12 months.
Where an overpayment comes from
During the year, tax is paid in advance. A company pays its monthly instalments of corporate tax, and some of its customers withhold tax from what they pay it. An employee normally has tax deducted from each salary under the monthly rates an employer applies, and the total appears on the year-end tax slip, the BPA1. When these credits come to more than the tax due for the year, the difference is an overpayment (the General Provisions and Tax Procedures Law, or KUP Law, Article 17(1)).
Tax that was never owed is a separate case: too much withheld, tax on a cancelled transaction, or tax withheld from a non-resident above a treaty rate. It is reclaimed by its own application, which the tax office decides within three months (KUP Law, Article 17(2); PMK 81/2024, Articles 122 and 137(1)). The treaty case is set out in our note on reclaiming tax withheld above a treaty rate.
Asking for a tax refund in Indonesia
A refund is paid only when the taxpayer asks for it (KUP Law, Article 11(1)). You ask in the annual return itself, the company’s or your own. To use the faster preliminary route, you also fill the return’s preliminary-refund column (PMK 28/2026, Articles 6(3) and 10(1)).
An overpayment found later, after the return is filed, can be claimed through a corrected return. The correction must be filed before an audit of that year starts, and at least two years before the tax office’s time to assess the year runs out (KUP Law, Article 8(1) and (1a)).
Three ways a refund is decided
Which route applies depends on the size of the overpayment and the taxpayer, and on whether the tax office has designated the taxpayer as compliant.
| By size | Designated | Ordinary | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basis | KUP Law, Article 17D | KUP Law, Article 17C | KUP Law, Article 17B |
| Who | Individuals and companies within the limits below | Taxpayers the tax office has designated as compliant | Any other refund request on an overpaid return |
| Check | A review of the return | A review of the return | A tax audit |
| Decision | 15 working days for individuals, one month for companies (PMK 28/2026, Article 11(2)) | Three months (PMK 28/2026, Article 7(2)(a)) | 12 months from the complete request (Article 17B(1)) |
| No answer | Treated as granted (Article 11(3)) | Treated as granted (Article 7(3)) | Treated as granted, with an overpayment assessment within one more month (Article 17B(2)) |
| Afterwards | An audit is possible (Article 17D(4)) | An audit is possible (Article 17C(4)) | The assessment may show an overpayment, nil or tax due |
A request that does not pass the preliminary review is not lost: it moves to the ordinary route (PMK 28/2026, Article 19(5)). If an audit later finds tax underpaid after a preliminary refund, the difference is payable with an additional charge, so it pays to check the figures before asking (KUP Law, Articles 17C(5) and 17D(5)).
Which route applies to you
The limits for the preliminary routes differ for individuals and for companies.
An individual with no business and no independent work, such as an employee or an investor, can take the preliminary route with no limit stated on the amount (PMK 28/2026, Article 9(2)(a)).
An individual with a business or independent work can take it for an overpayment of up to IDR 100 million for the year (Article 9(2)(b)). Any individual’s request of up to IDR 100 million is handled on this route (Article 19(3)).
A company qualifies for the size-based route when its turnover is above zero and no more than IDR 50 billion, and the overpayment is no more than IDR 1 billion for the year (PMK 28/2026, Article 9(2)(c)). A company with no turnover yet cannot use it.
A company can also apply to be designated as compliant, through the taxpayer portal by 10 January (Article 4(1)).
Any other company’s request takes the ordinary route.
When the refund is paid
Once the amount is decided, the payment follows within a month (KUP Law, Article 11(2)).
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The decision
The route's decision or assessment fixes the amount.
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Debts first
Any tax you owe is paid off from it first (KUP Law, Article 11(1); PMK 81/2024, Article 154(1)).
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Payment
The rest normally goes to your own Indonesian bank account.
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Interest
Interest is paid, but only when you apply for it.
As a rule, the refund goes to an Indonesian account in the taxpayer’s own name, as shown in the tax profile, so keep it current (PMK 81/2024, Article 155(1)). Late-payment interest runs at the Minister of Finance’s monthly rate for up to 24 months (KUP Law, Article 11(3) and (3a); PMK 81/2024, Article 146(1)).
Questions people ask
Can the overpayment pay next year’s tax instead?
What if the preliminary refund is less than we asked for?
We were designated under the old rules. Does that still count?
Related refunds, and how we help
If your return shows an overpayment, you ask for the refund in the return; the limits and your tax record decide the route. VAT (value added tax) refunds follow their own rules, set out in our guide to monthly VAT, and the audit behind the ordinary route is explained in how the tax office runs an audit. For income tax, we prepare refund claims for companies and individuals alike, under our corporate tax and personal tax services.