Buying property in Bali from Singapore: tax, transfers and what you actually earn

What a Singaporean can own in Bali

The same things any foreigner can. Hak Milik, Indonesia's freehold, is for citizens under the 1960 land law, and there's no ASEAN carve-out. Your options are a leasehold, Hak Pakai once you're resident on a KITAS or KITAP, or a PT PMA of your own that holds HGB, the right to build.

Leasehold is the normal route and the structure behind most of our listings. Half the leases in our catalog run 27 years or more before any extension. Think of it as closer to a fixed-term lease than to a 99-year HDB or private leasehold: when the term ends, land and house revert to the owner of the land unless your contract provides an extension. Our explainer on foreign ownership in Bali compares the three routes.

Be wary of anyone offering to hold land for you in an Indonesian name. The 1960 law cancels such arrangements in Article 26(2), and you can't recover what you paid.

Tax: 20% in Indonesia, nothing more in Singapore

Your only tax on the rent is Indonesian: PPh 26, a 20% levy on the gross amount for owners who aren't resident there, with no costs deducted. The Indonesia–Singapore tax agreement, signed February 4, 2020 and in force since July 23, 2021, leaves that right with Indonesia under Article 6. Guests also pay a 10% regional tax on nightly stays, which the operator hands over each month.

Singapore then stays out of it. Foreign-sourced income received in Singapore by a resident individual is exempt under section 13(7A) of the Income Tax Act, unless it comes through a partnership. Income kept abroad was never taxed in the first place, because Singapore taxes foreign income only on receipt. Either way, Bali rent paid to you personally carries no Singapore tax.

A company is a different case. The section 13(8) exemption for companies covers foreign dividends, branch profits and service income, not rent. A Singapore holding company that brings Bali rent home may well be taxable on it, so get advice before you buy through one.

Source: Income Tax Law (Indonesia), Article 26; Indonesia–Singapore DTA, 2020, Article 6; IRAS, Income received from overseas; IRAS e-Tax Guide, Tax exemption for foreign-sourced income; IRAS, Companies receiving foreign income

What a Bali villa earns next to a Singapore condo

Compare on net, because gross numbers flatter both sides. Private apartments in Singapore yielded about 3.36% gross in Q3 2025, according to Global Property Guide figures, and roughly 1.5–2 points less after costs. That puts a typical condo at under 2% net, our estimate from those sources.

A managed Bali villa nets 6–10% a year in our model, and 8–12% in the strongest locations, after management, upkeep, vacant nights and the 20% Indonesian tax. The trade-off is term and liquidity. A leasehold runs down every year, and a Bali villa takes longer to sell than a condo in Tampines. The path from gross to net is laid out in our rental yield guide.

Source: RP Realty Plus citing Global Property Guide, 2025; PropertyNet.SG, 2026 yield guide (both our estimate, not official); Rise Real Bali yield model, September 2026

CPF, HDB and stamp duty: the Singapore rules that matter

You can't use CPF savings on a Bali villa. The Ordinary Account pays only for HDB flats and private property in Singapore, so the purchase comes from cash or an overseas-property loan from a Singapore bank. Our guide to financing Bali property covers what banks offer.

HDB owners have a timing rule. During the five-year minimum occupation period, you, your spouse and the flat's occupiers can't buy private residential property in Singapore or overseas, according to the Council for Estate Agencies. Wait until the MOP ends before you sign a Bali reservation.

Stamp duty works in your favor. A citizen buying a second Singapore home pays 20% Additional Buyer's Stamp Duty and a third 30%, rates in force since April 27, 2023. In Bali the buyer's transfer duty (BPHTB) is 5% on titled property above a Rp 80 million allowance, and a typical leasehold carries none.

Source: CPF Board, Using your CPF to buy a home; Council for Estate Agencies, HDB MOP rules; IRAS, ABSD rates; BPHTB rules in Law 1/2022 and the Badung regional tax regulation

Sending money: a direct rupiah route since August 31, 2026

Singapore has no exchange controls, so the only checks on a large transfer are your bank's source-of-funds questions. Inside Indonesia the rupiah is compulsory, a rule Bank Indonesia set in 2015, so you send each installment as a wire to the Indonesian account in your contract.

Since August 31, 2026, the Bank Indonesia and MAS local currency framework lets appointed banks, nine Indonesian and three Singaporean, convert Singapore currency to rupiah directly without going through a third currency. It covers trade, direct investment and cross-border payments. Ask your bank whether it's on the list before your first wire.

Once the rent is taxed, nothing in Indonesian law stops it from coming home (Law 24/1999). For fees, timing and the Rp 100 million cash declaration, read our guide to transferring money to Indonesia.

Selling, estate duty and holding through a PT PMA

Singapore has no capital gains tax, so a profit on selling the villa is tax-free at home unless IRAS sees you as trading property. Indonesia does tax the sale, keeping 2.5% of a titled sale as final income tax (PP 34/2016). The treaty's Article 13 lets Indonesia tax gains on Indonesian real estate and on shares in a company whose value comes mainly from it.

Singapore abolished estate duty for deaths from February 15, 2008. If you hold through a PT PMA, the company pays 22% Indonesian tax on profit and dividends to an individual shareholder in Singapore carry 15% withholding under the treaty, or 10% for a company holding at least 25%. Our selling guide covers exit costs.

Source: IRAS, Gains from sale of property; PP 34/2016; Indonesia–Singapore DTA, Articles 10 and 13; IRAS, Estate duty; Withers, Updates to the Singapore–Indonesia tax treaty

A weekend is enough for a first look

Singapore passports get 30 days visa-free in Indonesia under the ASEAN exemption, but that stay can't be extended. If you plan a longer trip, take a visa on arrival instead. Bali's Rp 150,000 tourist levy applies either way. With about 112 flights a week and 2 hours 45 minutes in the air, you can see two areas over a weekend.

Start with our area guides to match an area to how you'll use the villa, then filter the catalog by lease term and net yield. Singaporeans made 211,330 trips to Bali in 2025, BPS Bali reported, so the island is familiar ground for many of our buyers from there.