Enter the Largest ASEAN Economy with Confidence

The primary vehicle for foreign investors is the PT PMA (Penanaman Modal Asing), a limited liability company under the Investment Law. A PT PMA allows full commercial operations — invoicing customers, employing staff, importing under your name, and accessing Tax Holiday or Tax Allowance incentives. Representative offices (KPPA and K3PA) permit market research and liaison activity only; they cannot generate revenue or invoice customers. Taxable permanent establishments (BUT) arise for non-resident contractors in specific sectors. Most foreign investors start with a PT PMA.

The general minimum investment for a PT PMA is IDR 10 billion (approximately USD 620,000 at current rates), excluding land and buildings. This applies per business activity code (KBLI). If your business involves multiple KBLI codes, the threshold applies separately to each. Certain sectors, including oil and gas, mining, banking, and insurance, carry sector-specific capital requirements set by the relevant regulator (OJK, SKK Migas). The minimum paid-up capital is IDR 2.5 billion, which must be reflected in the deed of establishment. These are the standard rules under Government Regulation 5/2021.

Timeline depends on KBLI 2025 classification and OSS risk category. Low-risk activities (consulting, trading in non-restricted sectors) typically take 6 to 8 weeks from document submission. Medium-risk takes 8 to 12 weeks due to Standard Certificate processing. High-risk activities — smelter commissioning, mining, financial services, pharmaceuticals manufacturing — take 16 to 24 weeks because of AMDAL permits and sector-specific licensing. All timelines are indicative and subject to regulatory authority processing.

Indonesia’s compliance landscape involves BKPM for investment, DGT for tax, OJK for financial services, Bank Indonesia for foreign exchange, Kemnaker for labour, Kemenkumham for corporate filings, BPJS Kesehatan and Ketenagakerjaan for social insurance, plus sector-specific regulators. We maintain a compliance calendar per client that tracks every filing deadline across all applicable authorities. One team manages the full calendar — you do not need to know which regulator requires what by when.

Coretax became the Directorate General of Taxes unified filing platform in January 2025, replacing DJP Online and e-Faktur Desktop. Every PT PMA and VAT-registered entity must register for Coretax access, issue e-Faktur electronic invoices through Coretax with valid serial numbers, file all tax returns through Coretax, and make all tax payments through Coretax-linked banks. We handle the transition, integrate it with your cloud accounting system, and manage monthly filings on the 15th and 20th cadence.

Employer of Record (EOR) arrangements allow market entry without a legal entity — the EOR becomes the legal employer, handling contracts, BPJS contributions, and PPh 21 payroll withholding. This suits market testing or small teams. However, EOR does not permit invoicing Indonesian customers, importing or exporting under your name, or accessing Tax Holiday and Tax Allowance incentives. Many clients run EOR for 6 to 12 months before transitioning to their own PT PMA.

ISO 27001 certified. All client data sits on encrypted, access-controlled cloud infrastructure. NDAs are standard for every engagement. Our internal protocols cover data handling, staff access controls, document retention, and secure disposal. Cross-border data sharing between our India team and Jakarta partners follows structured handoff protocols aligned with Indonesia’s Personal Data Protection Law (UU 27/2022) and international data transfer requirements.

Our deepest Indonesia experience sits in basic metals and nickel downstream (smelter and EV battery supply chain investment), manufacturing, financial services (OJK-regulated), trading, technology platforms, consumer goods, and pharmaceuticals. We also work with plantations (palm oil, agribusiness), oil and gas, and cross-border groups requiring transfer pricing co-ordination. Each sector comes with its own KBLI codes, OSS risk levels, and licensing — we have built teams around those differences.