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Paying Taxes in Indonesia

U.S. Taxes

In Indonesia

There are two ways in which you can go about dealing with your taxes in Indonesia.

The first is to contact the Department of Finance to ask what the most up-to-date obligations are for North Americans teaching English. The other is to wait until you leave the country, when you may be asked to pay a fiskal tax in the airport before being allowed onto the plane (in addition to the international departure tax of 12,000RP). This fiskal tax, which is a set rate of 289,800RP (about US$125) is really intended for people who are in and out of Indonesia conducting business and not for one-time English teachers, but if you do not have some sort of documentation from the Ministry of Finance saying that you are not responsible for paying the fiskal tax, you may be asked to pay it. One North American teacher arrived at the airport and was asked to pay the tax. Because she only had 10,000RP in cash at the time, her baggage was removed from the plane and she had to reschedule her flight after she had paid the tax. Contact the Ministry of Finance office in Jakarta for the most current information:

Director of International Tax Relations
Department of Finance
Jalan Gatot Subroto #4
Jakarta Selatan, Indonesia
(021) 769-1863 (direct line to the Director's office)

U.S. Taxes

As an American working abroad, you will be exempt from U.S. income taxes as long as you make less than US$70,000 annually. You should still file a tax return with the Internal Revenue Service. Even though you may not owe any money, not filing can result in huge hassles years down the line when you have long forgotten your failure to file.

The burden will be yours to prove to the IRS that you were actually overseas at the time and that you didn't make enough money to require any tax payment.

For complete information, the IRS publication "Tax Guide for U.S. Citizens Abroad," is available through the IRS and the various embassies. There is an IRS representative located year-round at the U.S. embassy in Tokyo, Japan, who is available for consultation:

IRS
U.S. Embassy, Tokyo
10-5, Asasaka 1-chome
Minato-ku (107)
Tokyo, Japan
(81) (3) 3224-5470
Fax: (81) (3) 3224-5274

To contact the IRS from the United States prior to your departure, dial (800) TAX-FORM to order tax forms or informational booklets or (800) TAX-1040 for assistance with preparing your taxes. To obtain a list of the regional U.S. tax offices, including numbers that can be dialed from overseas, request publication 910.