Lower transfer fees aim to reinvigorate Indonesian property market
Lower transfer fees aim to reinvigorate Indonesian property market
Trying a different tact to boost a slow property market, the government will make BPHTB cheaper than ever
For its fourth economic stimulus package, Indonesia is cutting its property transfer fee (BPHTB) from 5 percent to 1 percent.
The Ministry of Finance is also planning to slash the tax on real estate investment trusts (REIT) to 0.5 percent, The Jakarta Post reported.
“No more double taxation. The total will be 1.5 percent for BPHTB and REITs,” Bank Indonesia governor Agus Martowardjojo said.
BPHTB makes up one of the largest sources of revenue for local government units in Indonesia. In Banten province, for example, the property transfer fee contributes to almost 30 percent of total revenues.
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Yet the cuts on BPHTB have resonated with some local government executives. Jakarta’s governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama was optimistic that the reduction of the BPHTB would actually increase local revenues, citing Singapore’s property fee rate which stands at a competitive 3 percent.
Tough times have called for tenacious measures in Indonesia, whose residential market recorded a quarterly increase of only 0.73 percent in the last quarter of 2015. Starting next month, first-time Indonesian homebuyers may enjoy less restrictive loan-to-value ratios and place lower downpayments as a result.
The Indonesian government is also implementing a tax amnesty law that could repatriate IDR560 trillion (USD42 billion) into the archipelago and boost domestic investment.
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Source: Property Report