The Bali tourist levy: who pays, how, and who is exempt

The short answer

Foreign tourists visiting Bali owe a provincial levy, which Love Bali, the provincial government's levy site, describes as a levy "for the Protection of Balinese Culture and Natural Environment".[4] The governing text, Bali Provincial Regulation No. 2 of 2025 amending Regional Regulation No. 6 of 2023, sets it at Rp150,000, payable cashless before or during the visit.[1] Payment goes through Love Bali at lovebali.baliprov.go.id, which emails a levy voucher with a QR code.[5][4] The amount and the rules below were read on 11 October 2026; the levy has already changed regulation once, so check Love Bali itself before travelling.

Who has to pay

The regulation defines a foreign tourist (wisatawan asing) as any individual from outside Indonesia who is not an Indonesian citizen and is travelling in Bali. Its Article 4A(1) makes the levy payable by foreign tourists "setiap masuk ke Bali secara langsung dari luar negeri atau secara tidak langsung melalui wilayah lainnya di Indonesia": each time they enter Bali, whether directly from abroad or indirectly through another part of Indonesia.[1] The Love Bali FAQ puts it as "every international tourist who travels to Bali and do tourist activities", and says the levy applies to cruise passengers.[5]

Once per trip, or each entry?

The official sources read differently here, and XTOUR reports the difference rather than resolving it.

• The Love Bali FAQ says the levy "is paid only 1 (one) time while traveling in Bali, before the person leaves the territory of the Republic of Indonesia".[5] An official of the provincial tourism office is quoted in a September 2026 news item from that office saying it is paid "hanya satu kali selama berwisata di Bali", only once while touring Bali.[8]
• The regulation's Article 4A(1) attaches the obligation to "setiap masuk ke Bali", each entry into Bali.[1] The governor's payment regulation, as amended in 2025, refunds a levy paid more than once "pada tanggal kedatangan yang sama", for the same arrival date, which ties a payment to an arrival.[2]

XTOUR's reading is that a single continuous stay in Bali needs one payment on every source. What applies to a traveller who leaves Bali for another Indonesian island and comes back before leaving Indonesia is not answered in terms XTOUR can reconcile; ask Love Bali before paying twice or not at all.

How and where to pay

The Love Bali FAQ lists three routes: online through the Love Bali system before entering Bali, at the payment counters at the airport and port in Bali, or while in Bali through "Endpoints (hotels, travel agents, tourist attractions)" registered in the system. It accepts credit cards (Visa, Mastercard, American Express and JCB), bank transfer, virtual account, UnionPay and QRIS, and "strongly encourages" paying online before departure.[5]

The governor's regulation, as amended in 2025, sets out the same routes in more detail:[2]

• Paying through Love Bali needs at least your name, passport number, nationality, email and arrival date (Article 9).
• If you have not paid before arriving, you can pay on arrival by air, sea or land, during your stay, or when leaving Bali (Article 12).
• At arrival and departure points, staff of the government's receiving bank take your passport as the basis for the data and issue a proof of payment (Article 13).
• At an endpoint you either scan the endpoint's QR code and pay yourself, or the endpoint's staff enter your data and pay for you (Article 14).

The Love Bali home page warns that the rupiah amount is converted at the rate shown on the payment page and that the issuing bank may add charges.[4]

Benefit partners and endpoints that facilitate payment may be paid a fee of up to 3% of the levy transactions they handle (Article 22A).[2] The provincial tourism office said in September 2026 that about 150 endpoints had registered, of which only 65 had signed agreements and were collecting.[8] XTOUR does not know which hotels or attractions are among them.

Proof of payment and checks

Love Bali emails a levy voucher with a QR code to the address entered; its leaflet tells travellers to present "your Levy Voucher or passport for scanning at available checkpoints".[7][5] The payment regulation says proofs of payment or exemption are scanned at arrival points, at endpoints, or "incidentally" elsewhere by the provincial agency or service providers, and allows the province to make incidental checks (Articles 16 and 17).[3][2] If a tourist cannot show proof, Article 6 of the regional regulation requires them to pay.[1]

The seven exemptions

The regional regulation exempts foreign nationals in seven groups, for reasons "berkaitan dengan urusan kedinasan, kewarganegaraan, dan/atau kemanfaatan bagi pembangunan Bali atau Negara Indonesia" (connected with official duties, citizenship or benefit to Bali or Indonesia):[1]

The Love Bali FAQ says points (f) and (g), golden and "other" visas, "need to apply through the Love Bali system, the rest are just by showing the card to the officer".[5] The 2024 payment regulation, in an article the 2025 amendment did not change, says those applications are made at least five days before arriving at Bali's entry points and decided within three days.[2][3] Neither text says which visas count as "other visa types"; XTOUR does not interpret visa categories.

What happens if you do not pay

Article 16A of the regional regulation sets administrative sanctions for a foreign tourist who breaches the payment obligation: an oral warning, a written warning, and/or "tidak mendapatkan pelayanan di Daya Tarik Wisata", not being served at tourist attractions.[1] The governor's 2025 code of conduct for foreign tourists says the same in English: non-payers "will be subject to sanctions in the form of denial of access to services at tourist attractions".[9] The same circular lists paying the levy through Love Bali among a foreign tourist's obligations; the rest of its rules, including those on temples, are in Bali temple rules as the provincial government states them.

The provincial tourism office reported that levy receipts up to 20 September 2026 had reached Rp289 billion, which it described as 43 percent of foreign tourists arriving in Bali.[8] XTOUR reports that figure as the office's own and draws no conclusion from it about enforcement.

What the money is for

The regional regulation says the proceeds fund the protection of culture and the natural environment, better tourism services under Balinese cultural tourism (destination quality, industry, marketing and institutions), and the cost of running the levy.[1] The September 2026 news item adds that the funds are also directed to helping Bali's 1,500 customary villages.[8]

Which text is current

Love Bali's home page says the application implements Regional Regulation No. 2 of 2025, while the footer on the same site still names Regional Regulation No. 6 of 2023, the text it amended.[6][4] Regulation No. 2 of 2025 and Governor Regulation No. 25 of 2025 were both set on 20 June 2025 and took effect on 1 July 2025; the 2024 payment regulation stays in force where it does not conflict with them.[2][1] The FAQ also cites a governor's decree with technical guidelines, No. 699/03-L/HK/2025, which XTOUR has not read.[5]

What XTOUR does not know

• Whether a traveller who leaves Bali and returns within one trip to Indonesia must pay again.
• Which hotels, agents and attractions are registered endpoints, and where on a visit the voucher is checked.
• Whether the Rp150,000 amount will change; XTOUR read it on 11 October 2026 and publishes no exchange-rate equivalent.

For planning a stay, see Ubud as a base in Bali and the country overview at Indonesia.