Owning a business in Bali as a foreigner: what you can and cannot own in 2026.

Owning a business in Bali: what a foreigner can hold in 2026.

You can own shares in an Indonesian company. You cannot own the things most newcomers ask about first: freehold land in your own name, a business parked with a local nominee, or a holiday-rental licence as a private person. Everything else follows from that.

The company is a PT PMA, a limited company with foreign shareholders. Foreigners may hold up to 100% of it when Presidential Regulation 10/2021, amended by 49/2021, does not restrict the activity. Each activity has a five-digit KBLI (business classification code), and each code has a risk tier under Government Regulation 28/2025. In 2026 those two labels, the code and the tier, decide whether your idea can be registered in Bali at all.

This is a builder's reading of published sources as of 12 November 2026, not legal advice. A notary and a licensing agent confirm your case before you commit money.

PT PMA in Bali: capital rules after BKPM Regulation 5/2025.

Two numbers apply to every foreign-owned company. The first is paid-up capital: IDR 2.5 billion (about USD 150,000) per company, set by Article 26(10) of the regulation issued on 2 October 2025. Older pages that quote IDR 10 billion are out of date.

The second is the investment plan: more than IDR 10 billion (about USD 606,000), not counting land and buildings. The plan is the total you commit to put into the business. The paid-up capital is the part that goes into the company's bank account as cash.

How the plan is counted

The general rule counts the plan per five-digit code and per project location. A company with three different activities at one address needs three plans. Food and drink is treated differently: Articles 26(3)(b) and 26(4) count it per two-digit code and per “location point”, and one location point is a whole regency or city (Hukumonline, 25 June 2026). Three venues in Badung regency, say a restaurant, a bar and a café, fit under one plan. A fourth across the border in Gianyar needs its own.

The full licence set for a restaurant is on our licence map.

The 2026 OSS restriction on low-risk codes.

OSS (Online Single Submission) is the national portal where a company obtains its business number (NIB) and licences. Following a letter from the Governor of Bali dated 28 January 2026, the portal rejects new PT PMA applications in Bali under low-risk and medium-low-risk codes. The applicant sees “Pengajuan Tidak Dapat Dilanjutkan”: the application cannot proceed. Medium-high and high-risk codes are not affected. The consultancy Emerhub reported this on 18 May 2026, and no regulation number has appeared since, so treat the scope as something to verify, not to assume.

The background is volume. Bali held 72.1% of all Indonesian projects registered under property code KBLI 68111, and that code is among those now closed to new foreign companies on the island. The same report gives the wider numbers below.

What the audits mean for an owner.

Companies that already hold a valid business number keep their licences, but they are being checked, and nearly every investigation so far has ended in a sanction. The report does not publish the inspectors' checklist. We read it plainly: do what the licence says, at the address it names, with the investment you declared, on land zoned for it.

For a buyer this cuts both ways. A company under a code that can no longer be registered looks attractive for that reason, and its compliance history is the first thing to examine. How to buy a business in Bali lists the documents to ask for.

Why a restaurant is still open to foreign owners.

Hukumonline's legal clinic (25 June 2026) sets out the case we follow most closely. Restaurant code KBLI 56101 does not appear on the restricted lists, so a company can be 100% foreign-owned. Every PT PMA counts as a large-scale business, and a large-scale restaurant is classed medium-high risk in Annex I.L of Government Regulation 28/2025. That tier sits outside the block described above.

Medium-high risk means more paperwork: a business number, a verified standard certificate (Sertifikat Standar), a tourism standard certificate from a certification body, a hygiene certificate (SLHS) from the regency health office, and a foreign-worker plan (RPTKA) if the company hires foreigners.

Now the caveat. Sources conflict. Emerhub's own restaurant guide, updated on 15 June 2026, says the block “covers most restaurant classifications”. Another consultancy, XPND, wrote on 11 May 2026 that the 56100 series was among proposals still under review. Cafés under KBLI 56303 are described by some sources as medium-low risk, which would put a new foreign-owned café inside the block. Consultants disagree, and only the portal settles it. See can a foreigner open a restaurant in Bali for the step-by-step version and opening a café for the café question.

Business in Bali for foreigners: what ownership looks like day to day.

You do not own the restaurant, the lease or the licences. The company does, and you own the company. The notary's deed names who directs it and who signs at the bank.

Premises

Land is leased, not bought. Commercial leases are often paid five or ten years in advance, as consultancy guides report, and Governor's Instruction 5/2025 keeps commercial buildings off protected rice fields. See how to read a commercial lease.

Staff and permits

The 2026 minimum monthly wage is IDR 3,791,003 in Badung and IDR 3,316,798 in Gianyar, with Denpasar in between (Governor's Decree on 2026 minimum wages). A foreign manager needs the RPTKA approval mentioned above. Your own stay permit goes through a visa agent and is outside our work.

Tax

Corporate income tax is 22%, and the 0.5% turnover scheme closed to PT PMAs in April 2026 under Government Regulation 20/2026, as bali.live reported. A restaurant also collects 10% regional tax from guests. Costs are in starting a business in Bali.

Three ways to own a restaurant, from all of it to a share.

For a restaurant, café, bar or beach club there are three ways to hold it. We work with each.

• Own and operate. Your PT PMA holds the lease and licences; we take the venue from site check to opening day. See turnkey opening.
• Own the venue, hire the build. You already hold land or a building; the Kimo Construction team builds or fits it out to drawings and a bill of quantities. See restaurant construction.
• Own a share. You take shares in the Indonesian company (PT PMA) that holds the lease and licences, with a shareholders' agreement drafted by a notary. Ticket size, reporting and exit terms are set per project and sent as a project sheet on WhatsApp. We do not promise a return: restaurants trade on thin margins and need daily management. See how co-ownership works.

The cost calculator gives an indicative range for 2026; a fixed price follows drawings and a bill of quantities.