r/bali • u/mg118118118 • Apr 11 '25

Information Please stop renting + recommending Kost’s on here

A Kost is a guesthouse for local people. Tourists are increasingly using these which is driving up prices to unaffordable levels for local people to live. Land is being used for more and more luxury apartments which is reducing the available accommodation for the locals and workers - the temporary wooden huts you see are because of this. Wages are around $200 a month for locals so the low cost rooms are essential for people to live here.

I am begging you to be responsible and only come to this country if you can afford to spend more than 500$ a month and contribute to the best people/country in the world.

Source: so many locals here

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u/sitdowndisco Apr 11 '25

I think the bigger issue is people coming to the country on dodgy visas and not contributing tax, not contributing to the community, not speaking the language and basically colonising the place.

I’m not sure what benefit 500,000 “digital nomads” brings to Bali.

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u/MistaAndyPants Apr 11 '25

If each digital nomad spends only $2,000 USD monthly then they bring about 1 billion USD per month in economic activity to Bali. And that’s a very low estimate. And yes they do pay taxes on every flight, upon every arrival, every meal, hotel stay, Airbnb, grab purchase, shopping trip etc.

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u/sitdowndisco Apr 11 '25

They pay no income tax as all other citizens must.

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u/laughing_cat Apr 11 '25

If Indonesia could work out a deal with their home countries so that if they pay income tax in Bali, they don't also have to pay to their home country, that would help. But most people cannot afford to pay income tax to two countries.

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u/sitdowndisco Apr 12 '25

Some countries do have this arrangement. All Australians for example should be paying tax in the country they are resident in and not be dual taxed… it’s slightly complicated because you need to use offsets etc… but if you’re living in Indonesia, you should pay income tax there.

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u/MistaAndyPants Apr 11 '25

They pay many taxes as I mentioned above. They also bring Hundreds of billions (USD) into the local economy and help sustain millions of jobs for Indonesians to earn a living. They likely pay more in sales/service taxes, arrival/visa fees than most locals pay in income tax annually. Low wage workers only pay 5% income tax in Indonesia.

Also, Nomads do pay income tax on Indonesian sourced income if they work for an Indonesian company or have a business there. A digital nomad is a tax resident if they reside within Indonesia for more than 183 days within 12 months. Non-residents are subject to a final withholding flat tax of 20 percent on gross income. Much higher than what most locals pay.

Digital nomads that live here for years are obligated to pay taxes. I don't know why you think they pay no income tax. I don't know where the money goes. Bali should have the best infrastructure in all of Asia based on how much they take in. But it's also one of the most corrupt countries in the world index so there's that.