The Finance Ministry has reportedly collected Rp2.25 trillion in digital tax in a year. The ministry in July 2020 started imposing 10% valued-added tax (VAT) on foreign digital platforms, such as Netflix, Spotify and Zoom.

The ministry collected Rp730 trillion in digital tax from July to December 2020 and Rp1.52 trillion from January to mid-June 2021. According to Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, digital tax promotes equality for both local and international companies, keeping businesses on a level playing field. The collected tax will also serve as an additional source of funding for COVID-19 handling.

“Other than to create equality between local and foreign businesses, collecting VAT on foreign digital products is also important in order to boost state revenue, which could be the main source of funding for mitigating the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic," said Sri Mulyani at a press conference.