e-Meterai for Company Documents: When It Is Required and How to Apply It

Once a company starts signing contracts and statements electronically, one question comes up almost every time: does this document need e-Meterai, and if so, who pays and when? This guide answers it for everyday company documents, from what Indonesian stamp duty (bea meterai) is to how to manage it when you handle many documents.

Note: This guide is general information and not tax or legal advice. Stamp duty rules and the tariff can change, so check the current tariff and rules before you decide, and ask a tax or legal adviser about your specific case.

What bea meterai and e-Meterai are

Bea meterai is a tax on documents. A document here includes handwritten and printed writing as well as electronic writing that can serve as evidence or information. The legal basis is Law No. 10 of 2020 on Stamp Duty (UU Bea Meterai), in force since 1 January 2021, which replaced Law No. 13 of 1985.

The duty is a flat Rp10,000 for each document that is an object of the duty, and one document carries one duty. If a document is made in duplicate, each copy counts as a separate document. The rate can be changed by government regulation, so check the current figure before you budget.

A meterai can be an adhesive stamp, an electronic stamp, or another form. e-Meterai (Meterai Elektronik) is the electronic form, affixed to an electronic document such as a PDF through the official Sistem Meterai Elektronik.

The implementing rules now sit in Finance Minister Regulation (PMK) No. 78 of 2024, in force since 1 November 2024. It revoked PMK 133, 134 and 151 of 2021, so any article or internal template that still cites those three is out of date.

Which company documents are objects of the duty

The Stamp Duty Law lists several groups of documents as objects. For a company, the summary looks like this.

The Rp5 million threshold (precisely, above Rp5,000,000) applies only to receipt-type documents, meaning documents that state receipt of money or acknowledge a debt that has been paid or offset in whole or in part. It does not apply to contracts. Agreements and statements are objects of the duty even for a small value or no monetary value at all. The idea that a contract under Rp5 million needs no meterai has no basis in the law.

The law also covers other documents that a government regulation may designate. If your document type is not in the table, check the full list in Article 3 of the Stamp Duty Law or ask a tax adviser.

What is not subject to the duty

Article 7 of the law lists documents that are not subject to the duty. The ones most relevant to a company are:

• transport and warehouse documents;
• diplomas (ijazah);
• receipts for salary and other payments related to employment;
• receipts for tax and state payments;
• internal organisation receipts;
• bank deposit documents.

The list in the law is longer, so for any document outside the list above, read the article itself.

When the duty arises on electronic documents

The timing depends on the type of document.

• Agreements and notarial or PPAT deeds: the duty arises when the document is signed.
• Statements, certificates and documents stating an amount of money: the duty arises when the document is handed to the party it was made for.
• Documents used as court evidence: the duty arises when they are filed in court.
• Documents made abroad: the duty arises when they are used in Indonesia.

The Stamp Duty Law defines a signature to include an electronic signature under the ITE Law. So a contract signed electronically triggers the duty at the moment of signing, just like a wet signature. The kinds of electronic signature are explained in the guide to electronic vs digital signatures.

Who pays

For a unilateral document, the party who receives it owes the duty. For a document made by two or more parties, each party owes the duty on the copy it receives. For court evidence, the party who files it pays.

The parties may agree who bears the duty. In business contracts this is usually a single clause, for example that the issuing party pays or that the cost is split equally. Without such a clause, the rules above apply.

How to pay and how to apply e-Meterai

There are two ways to pay: with a meterai (adhesive, electronic or another form) or with a tax payment slip (SSP).

For an electronic document, e-Meterai is affixed through the Sistem Meterai Elektronik. It is produced by a state-owned company appointed by the government and sold through official distributors (distributor resmi). Official distributors sell at face value, while retailers may set their own prices, so make sure you buy from an official source.

A valid e-Meterai carries a unique 22-character code, the words "METERAI ELEKTRONIK", the state emblem and the tariff. It counts as valid only if it was affixed through that official system and carries the code and notes. Otherwise the payment is invalid and the document is treated as not stamped. This means an image of a stamp pasted into a PDF by hand does not count as payment.

If the Sistem Meterai Elektronik cannot be accessed, PMK 78/2024 allows payment by SSP. SSP can also be used for a later stamping (pemeteraian kemudian) of more than 50 documents.

e-Meterai together with an e-signature

No rule requires e-Meterai and an electronic signature to be used together, and no rule fixes which comes first. Because the duty arises at signing, the sensible practice is to affix the e-Meterai when the signing process is complete.

On placement, a tax educator from the tax office (DJP) advised, as reported by the media in 2022, that the e-Meterai should not overlap the signature or other information on the document. Treat this as suggested practice and not a requirement in the regulations. The safest approach is to leave a blank area for the e-Meterai in your document template.

Handling volume

A company that signs hundreds of contracts, addenda and statements a month needs a working system, because affixing e-Meterai one document at a time gets tiring quickly.

There is a scheme for Pemungut Bea Meterai, collectors designated by the tax office (KPP) to collect the duty. It applies only to certain documents: cheques and giro slips, securities-transaction documents, statements and certificates of that kind, and documents stating an amount of money above Rp5 million. Agreements are not on that list, so the scheme does not solve contract volume.

What you can do instead:

1. Keep a register. Record which documents carried the duty, with the document number, the date and proof of affixing.
2. Assign responsibility. One person or team (usually legal or finance) owns the purchase of e-Meterai and checks the result.
3. Check each document type. Build an internal table that lists each document type, whether it is an object of the duty, when it arises and who bears it.
4. Watch your balance. Make sure you have enough e-Meterai before a busy signing period.

If the duty was missed or underpaid

A document whose duty was not paid, or paid too little, can be corrected through pemeteraian kemudian. You pay the duty owed plus an administrative sanction of 100% of that duty, for documents on which the duty has been owed since 1 January 2021. The tax office may also issue a tax assessment. The duty expires 5 years after it arises.

A document used as court evidence pays only the duty, with no 100% sanction.

On the validity of the contract, the Stamp Duty Law does not say that a contract without meterai is void. Secondary sources say the effect lies in how the document can be used as evidence, and that validity still follows the general conditions for agreements in Article 1320 of the Civil Code. So do not postpone pemeteraian kemudian on the grounds that the contract is valid anyway, because the 100% sanction still applies.

How Obscura helps

In Obscura, e-Meterai is applied within the same route as the signature, through a configured provider via the e-sign module. You set the order of review, signing, e-Meterai and numbering once in the approval route, and each document then follows it. Your e-Meterai balance is visible, a warning appears before the quota runs out, and failed serials are listed so you can reconcile them.

The history of every step and signature is kept on the same document as an audit trail, so nobody has to rebuild it from email. Provider availability differs, so we confirm the provider, the data it exchanges and its network requirements for your deployment. More detail is on the signing and e-Meterai workflow page and the document control page.

Quick checklist

• List your company document types and mark which are objects of the duty.
• Remember that the Rp5,000,000 threshold applies only to receipt-type documents and not to contracts.
• Check whether a document falls under the Article 7 exclusions.
• Decide who bears the duty and put it in a contract clause.
• Buy e-Meterai only from official distributors and affix it through the Sistem Meterai Elektronik.
• Affix the e-Meterai when signing is complete and leave room so it does not overlap the signature.
• Keep a register and assign an owner.
• If something was missed, do a pemeteraian kemudian and account for the 100% sanction.
• Make sure internal references cite PMK 78 of 2024.