What accounting does a PT PMA need?

The formation cost of a PT PMA is quoted constantly. The running cost is quoted rarely, and it is the number that actually matters, because it recurs every year for as long as the company exists.

The monthly obligations

Employee withholding tax (PPh 21), if the company has staff. Calculated, withheld, paid and reported monthly.

Withholding on payments to third parties (PPh 23, PPh 4(2)) — services, rent, certain contractor payments. Withheld at source and reported monthly.

VAT (PPN), if the company is registered as a taxable enterprise. Monthly returns, and e-faktur invoicing through the system.

Corporate income tax instalments (PPh 25), paid monthly against the eventual annual liability.

Every one of these has a deadline and every missed deadline generates a penalty. They accrue quietly.

The quarterly obligation

LKPM — the investment activity report — is filed quarterly by PMA companies. It reports realised investment and employment.

It is easy to overlook because it is not a tax filing and it comes from a different authority. It is also genuinely enforced, and a company with a history of missed LKPM filings has a standing problem that surfaces at licence renewal.

The annual obligations

Corporate income tax return (SPT Tahunan Badan), with financial statements attached.

Financial statements prepared to Indonesian standards.

An audit, where the company exceeds the thresholds requiring one. Below them, unaudited statements are acceptable.

Annual shareholder meeting (RUPS) and the minutes, which are a company law requirement rather than a tax one and are frequently forgotten by single-shareholder companies.

Personal returns for directors and commissioners who are Indonesian tax residents.

What it costs

A small, low-activity PT PMA with a handful of transactions and no staff typically runs USD 2,000 to USD 5,000 a year for bookkeeping, monthly filings, LKPM and the annual return.

A company with staff, VAT registration, meaningful transaction volume and an audit requirement runs considerably more — USD 6,000 to USD 15,000 and upward depending on complexity.

Add corporate secretarial work for any change to the company, and a virtual office or registered address if you use one.

This is the number that makes a PT PMA material at USD 300,000 of property value and immaterial at USD 1 million. It is also permanent: it does not stop because the company stopped trading.

Coretax changed the tolerance

Indonesia's tax administration now runs through Coretax, and the practical difference is that it matches data strictly and rejects rather than queries.

A name spelled differently between documents, an address that does not match, an unlinked NPWP, or a missing NITKU — the business unit identifier issued per registered place of business — produces a failed filing rather than a phone call.

Companies registered before the change frequently have a NITKU gap, and invoices referencing the wrong one cause problems. Have your consultant confirm the registration is clean rather than assuming it migrated correctly.

The dormant company trap

A PT PMA that stops trading does not stop filing.

Monthly returns, quarterly LKPM and the annual return remain due. Penalties accumulate against a company nobody is watching. Two or three years later, the cost of regularising exceeds what maintaining it would have cost, and the company cannot be cleanly closed until the arrears are cleared.

If a company has served its purpose, close it deliberately through the proper process. Abandoning it is the most expensive option available.

Choosing a consultant

Not the cheapest. The cost of a bad one is penalties and a company that cannot pass a licence renewal.

Ask what is included and what is extra, specifically: monthly filings, LKPM, the annual return, financial statements, audit coordination, corporate secretarial work and responding to tax office correspondence. That last one is commonly excluded and commonly needed.

Ask for a monthly reporting pack you can actually read, and ask who is accountable if a deadline is missed.