Taxation Aspect of E-Commerce Transactions in an Online Marketplace in Indonesia

With its many advantages over conventional commerce, e-commerce as a new form of business is rapidly growing. This study discusses tax aspects of e-commerce transactions on an online marketplace in Indonesia, including corporate income taxation, withholding, and value- added taxation. After reviewing Indonesian tax regulations governing e-commerce, we employ descriptive analysis of data collected from documentation studies and prior literature. We show that Indonesia’s tax treatment of e-commerce and conventional business recognizes no conceptual differences between e-commerce and brick-and-mortar commerce. In honoring five key principles governing taxation, Indonesia acknowledges that the only difference rests in use of the Internet as a transaction medium and commercial infrastructure. Therefore, all taxation rights and obligations relevant to conventional business are attached to e-commerce in Indonesia.