Jakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesia’s Minister of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME), Maman Abdurrahman, stated that no discussions have been held regarding taxing MSMEs through e-commerce platforms.

"Honestly, I do not know. So far, there has been no discussion about making e-commerce platforms tax collectors," he said on Friday.

This comes after the Ministry of Finance announced plans to formulate a policy requiring e-commerce platforms to collect income tax from merchants.

According to the Directorate General of Taxation, the platforms would collect tax directly from seller transactions, replacing the current system where sellers pay their taxes individually.

Abdurrahman clarified that his ministry's role is limited to monitoring how many MSMEs are using digital platforms for business.

"There is no directive or policy regarding tax collection through marketplaces," he emphasized.

Still, Abdurrahman reiterated his support for MSMEs to expand their market reach through digital technologies, including e-commerce.

"We are collecting data on how many MSMEs are involved in e-commerce and monitoring their business growth," he added.

On June 28, the Ministry of Finance said the government had decided to use e-commerce platforms to collect tax on seller income as a way to streamline tax administration and promote compliance. The ministry noted this approach is not new.

Febrio Kacaribu, Director General for Economic and Fiscal Policy, explained that similar mechanisms are already in place for platforms such as Google and Netflix.

He added that the government expects to collaborate with e-commerce platforms to support this tax collection system and increase annual revenue.

However, sellers earning less than Rp500 million (around US$31,000) per year would be exempt from paying the tax.

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