Stakeholders in Indonesia's property sector may regret to learn that Indonesia's House of Representatives (DPR) decided to postpone deliberations on the tax amnesty bill until (at least) April 2016. This tax amnesty bill, originally planned to be implemented in early 2016, offers attractive tax rates to those tax evaders who declare untaxed wealth and repatriate their funds to Indonesia. If implemented in early 2016, then the bill was estimated to generate up to USD $4.4 billion in additional tax revenue in 2016. Meanwhile, part of repatriated funds would find their way into the nation's property sector.

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In line with the recently unveiled economic policy package, Indonesian Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro said that the government plans to revise its luxury tax policy for houses. Currently, houses worth over IDR 2 billion (approx. USD $140,000) are subject to a 20 percent luxury tax. The government now plans to raise this threshold to IDR 10 billion (approx. USD $700,000). Indonesia’s luxury tax was introduced in Suharto’s New Order regime in an effort to curtail inequality within Indonesia’s society.

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Indonesian Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro is completing a study related to the possibility of allowing foreign ownership of property in Indonesia. In a bid to generate more state revenue through taxation, the Indonesian government may allow foreigners (expats) to own luxurious (residential) apartments in the bigger cities of Indonesia. These apartments should be worth at least IDR 5 billion (approx. USD $375,940) according to current proposals. Brodjonegoro emphasized that expats will not be allowed to own landed houses.

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Real Estate Indonesia (REI) advises the Indonesian government to open up the country's property sector to foreign ownership as this is considered to benefit the Indonesian economy through the collection of taxes and foreign exchange earnings. According to Teguh Kinarto, vice-chairman of the REI's Central Board, the state can gain a lot of revenues through taxes, such as the property tax of 10%, luxury tax of 20%, as well as various other taxes. Currently, foreigners can only buy the right to use property in Indonesia, not the right to own.

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