PT PMA in Bali: the foreign-investment company pathway.

PT PMA (Perseroan Terbatas Penanaman Modal Asing) is a foreign-owned Indonesian limited liability company. It is licensed by BKPM (Indonesia’s investment coordinating board) and operates under Indonesian corporate law. It can hold HGB (Hak Guna Bangunan), the right-to-build title, on tourism-zoned parcels. The HGB structure runs 30+20+30 years, similar to Hak Pakai but stronger because the holder is a corporate entity rather than an individual on visitor status.

The foreigner owns the PT PMA. The PT PMA owns the asset. The structural layer creates corporate liability protection and operating flexibility but adds material overhead. All four foreign-ownership pathways, explained.

• Minimum paid-up capital. The current floor on PT PMA capital sits at 10 billion IDR total investment (roughly A$960,000 at mid-2026 rates), with portions required to be paid in. Capital is locked, not deployed against revenue.
• Audited annual financial statements. Mandatory. A licensed Indonesian accountant prepares and certifies. Annual cost runs material in absolute terms.
• LKPM quarterly investment activity reports. Filed with BKPM. Non-compliance triggers fines and license-status issues.
• Indonesian corporate tax. 22% on net profit. Dividend withholding on distributions to foreign shareholders. Personal-tax treatment on the Australian side depends on the buyer’s domicile and any treaty position.
• Named director and commissioner. The corporate structure requires named officers and ongoing compliance.

The overhead is structural and recurs every year regardless of revenue performance. At low revenue scales the absolute cost of the overhead exceeds the value of the title-strength upgrade. The nominee structure to never sign.

PT PMA justifies itself in three scenarios:

1. Two or more villas held commercially. The reporting overhead amortises across multiple revenue streams.
2. A single villa above approximately A$1M deployed. The capital floor is already crossed; the overhead is a smaller percentage of asset value.
3. Licensed commercial-accommodation operation. Tourism-zoned parcels with active short-let licensing where the corporate vehicle is required by zoning, not by choice.

Outside these scenarios, the single-villa residential foreign buyer typically gets a better risk-adjusted outcome from Hak Pakai (if zoning permits) or Hak Sewa (with clean renewal clause). The agent recommending PT PMA at any scale often has a referral fee on PT PMA setup — read accordingly. The Hak Pakai pathway for personal residence.

The Thailand parallel sits at Thailand foreign freehold, where the Thai 49% quota structure produces a different corporate-vs-personal trade-off at different price points.