Indonesia to impose gold export tax of up to 15% from 2026

The tax policy, currently being finalized, is being designed so that lower rates are applied to processed goods to help encourage domestic processing, according to Febrio Kacaribu, a senior official from the country’s Ministry of Finance.

Global gold prices will also be a factor in determining the taxes, he said, noting that higher rates are likely to be applied when prices are at or above US$3,200 per troy ounce to capture miners’ windfall profits.

Indonesia has the world’s fourth-largest unmined gold reserves, including in the Grasberg mine in the country’s east, operated by a local unit of Freeport-McMoRan.

The mechanism is designed to help Indonesia capitalize on the ongoing "global gold boom" while encouraging domestic production of higher value-added gold products.

However, many domestic investors have found it difficult to find gold bars to buy amid the boom in gold investment, Febrio said.