Jakarta (ANTARA) – The Indonesian government has postponed a planned tax on marketplace sellers originally scheduled to take effect this month, Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa announced Wednesday, citing the need to safeguard consumer purchasing power.”We will postpone it for now until the economic situation and purchasing power improve,” Sadewa told reporters during a press conference in Jakarta.The tax collection scheme was set to take effect on Aug. 1 under Minister of Finance Regulation No. 37/2025. The policy designates e-commerce platforms (PMSE) as tax collectors for Article 22 Income Tax (PPh Article 22).Prior to the postponement, Directorate General of Taxes head Bimo Wijayanto had granted a one-month transition period for four major platforms—Tokopedia, Shopee, Lazada, and Blibli—to reconfigure their technical systems to withhold the tax.Under the regulatory framework, marketplace platforms would collect a 0.5 percent Article 22 Income Tax on a seller’s gross turnover, excluding value-added tax (VAT) and luxury goods sales tax.Wijayanto clarified that the levy is an advance income tax payment rather than a new standalone tax, targeting only merchants with an annual gross turnover exceeding Rp500 million (US$31,250).The government has not set a new implementation date, emphasizing that economic recovery and stronger consumer spending remain prerequisites before resuming the policy.