State Receives Land Grant, Purbaya Vows No Tax
JAKARTA, DDTCNews - The government has officially received a grant of land measuring 30 hectares from PT Lippo Cikarang Tbk, following the signing of a land grant commitment by both parties.
Minister of Finance, Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa, affirmed that the land granted by the property giant would not be subject to tax. In his view, the initiative by the businessperson to support the government's programme of 3 million homes deserves recognition.
"I was asked earlier whether we could provide incentives to Lippo. I was puzzled as to what incentive that would be. They said, don't impose tax on the land being transferred. Well, that's simple enough; surely we wouldn't tax someone wishing to give something to us," he said at the signing ceremony for the land grant commitment by PT Lippo to the State, as reported on Tuesday (30/6/2026).
Nevertheless, Purbaya recounted that his subordinates had indicated the land grant must be subject to tax. He also admitted his concern that imposing tax would result in many parties becoming reluctant to provide grants in support of government programmes.
In line with this, he chose to bypass the applicable regulations and procedures, which he deemed obstructive. He even threatened to dismiss any employee who objected and continued to impose tax.
"So I will bypass all the rules within the Ministry of Finance so that this can proceed. If there are officials who push back, I will simply dismiss them," said Purbaya.
Purbaya explained that the 30-hectare land asset was granted by Lippo in support of the construction programme for 3 million people's homes. The land grant will subsequently be transferred to BPI Danantara as state capital participation to be managed according to that state-owned enterprise's business processes, so as not to burden the state budget (anggaran penerimaan dan belanja negara/APBN in Indonesian).
He has set a target for the construction of homes on the granted land to commence within 2 months. Policy regarding the programme will be further discussed with the Minister of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning, Nusron Wahid, and the House of Representatives (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat/DPR in Indonesian).
"Under the scheme that has been promised, the [grant] will ultimately be handed over to Danantara. At Danantara, likewise, we will debate internally who gains and who loses. But what matters, they say, is zero cost, zero profit. I also benefit from lower expenditure and more homes supplied. So this is a truly excellent collaboration," he said.
As additional information, the provisions on the imposition of income tax on transfers of assets in the form of grants, aid or donations comprising land and/or buildings are stipulated under Government Regulation (Gov. Reg.) 34/2016.
Pursuant to Gov. Reg. 34/2016, income received or obtained by an individual or entity from the transfer of the right to land and/or building is subject to final income tax.
Income from the transfer of the right to land and/or building concerned refers to income received or accrued by the transferor of the right to land and/or building through sale, exchange, relinquishment of rights, transfer of rights, auction, grant, inheritance or any other means agreed between the parties.
The final income tax on the transfer of the right to land and/or building is levied at 0% where the transfer of the right to land and/or building is conducted to the government, a state-owned enterprise (SOE or badan usaha milik negara/BUMN in Indonesisan) assigned a special mandate by the government or a local-owned enterprise (badan usaha milik daerah/BUMD in Indonesian) assigned a special mandate by the head of the regiond, as referred to in the Law governing land acquisition for construction in the public interest. (dik)
