Selling Property in Bali: Steps, Taxes and Documents

Selling property in Bali: who can buy your title, the papers to prepare, the seller’s 2.5% tax, the steps to the deed, leaseholds and foreign owners.

Selling property in Bali with a land title takes a buyer who may hold that title, a 2.5% final income tax paid by you as the seller, and a deed of sale signed before a PPAT (land deed official) and registered at the land office. A leasehold is sold differently, by handing over the lease, with the landowner’s consent unless the lease allows it. Here is how it works as of October 2026.

Who can buy what you are selling?

Your certificate (sertipikat) shows your right, and that decides who can buy.

A foreign buyer’s house must cost at least IDR 5 billion in Bali (Kepmen ATR/BPN 1241/2022), be their home and, as a rule, sit on one plot of up to 2,000 m²; below that price, a foreign buyer can only lease it. Never sell to a buyer who will hold the land through an Indonesian nominee: such arrangements are void (Basic Agrarian Law, art. 26(2)), and Bali’s regional regulation (Perda) 4/2026 bans nominee land ownership. If a property is held in someone else’s name for you, get independent legal advice before you list it: courts treat the person named on the certificate as the owner.

Before you list: the documents to prepare

Buyers and their PPAT will ask for:

• Certificate: names, plot size and boundaries matching your ID and the land. Badung has issued electronic certificates since February 2024; if yours is on paper, ask the PPAT whether it will be converted.
• Land and building tax (PBB): the latest yearly notice (SPPT) and receipts for recent years.
• Building approvals: the PBG (Persetujuan Bangunan Gedung, building approval, which replaced the old IMB permit) and SLF (Sertifikat Laik Fungsi, certificate of fitness for use), matching what is built.
• IDs: ID card (KTP) or passport, family card and any tax number (NPWP).
• Marriage: without a marriage agreement separating your property, what you bought during the marriage is joint, and selling it needs both spouses’ consent (Marriage Law art. 36).
• Inheritance: proof of who the heirs are; ask the notary whether the property must first be registered in their names.
• Company or leasehold: the company’s deeds and signing powers, or the lease deed and the landowner’s details.

Fix what you can first: pay land tax arrears, have the plot measured through your notary if the fences differ from the certificate, and agree with the bank and the PPAT how any mortgage is paid off and lifted. A building without a matching PBG risks sanctions up to a demolition order (Buildings Law, UU 28/2002 as amended); for an older IMB, ask the regency office whether it covers the building as it stands. Tell buyers what you cannot fix.

We market villas and land for owners across southwest Bali, and we review the certificate and permits with the owner before a listing goes online; only a PPAT can request the official land office check. To start, list your property or contact us.

Setting the price, in rupiah

Buyers weigh location, title, years left, land size, zoning, approvals, condition and rental history; compare similar villas for sale. The NJOP (Nilai Jual Objek Pajak) on your land tax notice is a tax base, not a market value: the buyer’s BPHTB is charged on the price, or on the NJOP if higher (Law 1/2022). Writing a lower price in the deed is no legitimate saving, and the tax office can check it.

Indonesia’s Currency Law (Law 7/2011) and Bank Indonesia’s regulation (PBI 17/3/PBI/2015) require rupiah for transactions in Indonesia, by residents and non-residents alike, and payment must be received in rupiah. Bank Indonesia’s circular names price clauses in contracts and agents’ fees in property sales among the prices that must be in rupiah, and businesses, agents included, must quote prices only in rupiah, online too, not side by side with a foreign currency. The exceptions are a closed list, such as international trade, and a property sale in Indonesia is not on it. So the price in the PPJB and AJB and the payment are in rupiah; a figure in another currency is only an approximate conversion, not the price.

Selling property in Bali, step by step

1. Offer (you and the buyer): agree the price, what is included, the timetable and who pays which fees, in writing.
2. Deposit or PPJB (before a notary): a buyer paying in stages can first sign a binding sale agreement (PPJB, Perjanjian Pengikatan Jual Beli), stating when a deposit is refundable. On signing, the buyer’s BPHTB becomes due by law, and your 2.5% can fall due on each payment you receive.
3. Checks (the buyer’s PPAT): only a PPAT can request the official certificate check (fee IDR 50,000); our due diligence guide lists the rest.
4. Taxes (you and the buyer): you pay the 2.5% with a billing code from the tax office’s Coretax system and have it validated, yourself or through a notary registered in Coretax; the buyer pays BPHTB to the regency.
5. Deed of sale (before the PPAT): you, your spouse where needed, any co-owners and the buyer sign the AJB (Akta Jual Beli).
6. Registration (land office): the transfer is registered; a foreign buyer’s change into Hak Pakai can be processed at the same time (Permen ATR/BPN 18/2021 art. 161).
7. Handover (you): keys, documents and utility accounts once the full price is paid; settle bills, staff and any tenant’s deposit as agreed.

Tax on selling property in Indonesia: what the seller pays

Your main tax is a final income tax (PPh) of 2.5% of the gross transfer value (Government Regulation, PP, 34/2016), due on a loss as much as on a profit. Companies pay it too. Passing property on by inheritance, and certain gifts within the family, are exempt, but a later sale by the heirs is taxed as usual. A private owner charges no VAT. Not tax-resident in Indonesia? Ask a tax adviser how it applies to you.

For worked examples, see our guide to Bali property taxes and buying costs.

How to sell a leasehold villa in Bali

You sell the years left on your lease: the buyer takes it over (an assignment) or signs a new lease with the landowner.

• Consent: without the landowner’s permission you may not hand the lease to someone else unless it allows this (Civil Code art. 1559), at the risk of cancellation and damages. Get written consent before taking a deposit.
• Deed: have a notary put the assignment or new lease in a deed signed by you, the buyer and, where needed, the landowner; if the lease was recorded at the land office, ask how the record is updated.
• Price: buyers compare the price per remaining year and the extension terms; see our guide to leasehold vs freehold in Bali.
• Tax: no BPHTB. How your price is taxed is not clearly settled in the rules we checked, so have a tax adviser confirm it before you agree a price. A landowner paid for a new lease or an extension owes 10% final tax on it (PP 34/2017).

Selling property in Bali as a foreigner

Hak Pakai: sell to an Indonesian, an Indonesian company or a qualifying foreigner (the IDR 5 billion minimum applies again). Over someone’s Hak Milik, you sell the years left; check whether your grant deed needs the owner’s consent. An Indonesian buyer can apply to change a Hak Pakai on State land into HGB, but don’t promise a return to freehold. Without a valid immigration document, for example after leaving Indonesia, you generally have one year to sell or transfer, or the right ends (PP 18/2021 art. 50). See our guide to Hak Pakai in Bali.

PT PMA: the company sells its HGB by a PPAT deed and pays the same 2.5%; if it is VAT-registered (PKP), the sale may also carry VAT, so ask its tax adviser before you agree a price. A foreign individual buying the house gets Hak Pakai. A sale of the shares leaves the title with the company but follows its own tax and company-law rules, so have a tax adviser and a licensed consultant compare both; see our PT PMA guide.

Selling with tenants or a rental business

A sale does not end a lease made earlier, unless the lease said so when it was made (Civil Code art. 1576): the buyer takes the property with the tenant. Even where the lease lets a sale end it, the tenant is owed compensation only if the lease expressly says so, and then need not leave until it is paid. Give buyers a copy of the lease, and agree in the sale contract who keeps prepaid rent and who returns the deposit.

For a holiday-rental villa, buyers will check the PBG and SLF and ask whether they need their own business license (NIB, business ID number, from the OSS licensing system), which belongs to whoever runs the business. See our guide to renting out a villa in Bali.

Mistakes to avoid when you sell

• Listing before the papers are ready, or without every signer, such as a spouse or co-heirs.
• Taking a deposit without written terms on refunds and deadlines.
• Handing over the keys before full payment and the AJB, or accepting dollars or cash.
• Missing a one-year deadline: after you stop qualifying for Hak Pakai, or after a foreigner inherits Hak Milik without a will (Basic Agrarian Law, art. 21(3)).
• Hiring an agent without written terms. A licensed brokerage company must have a written agreement with you, and its commission on a sale is 2% to 5% of the transaction value, paid by its client (Trade Minister Regulation 33/2025, in force since October 2025, which replaced Permendag 51/2017). Agree the rate, what it covers, how long the agreement runs and when the fee is due, in writing and in rupiah.