Buying a Bali villa that already has a rental license: what transfers to you

Villas are often advertised as sold “with license” or “fully licensed”, as if the license were part of the property. Indonesian licensing ties the business license to the business that holds it. What the building carries is different — its building approval and fitness certificate. This page reads the 2025 licensing regulation, the 2021 building regulation, the 2023 regional tax regulation and the 2022 regional tax law, and separates what passes with the villa from what the buyer has to obtain.

Seven documents in a licensed villa sale

The documents a seller describes as “the license”, and whose each one is.

What passes with the villa, and what does not

The business license stays with the seller

The NIB is “bukti registrasi/pendaftaran Pelaku Usaha … dan sebagai identitas bagi Pelaku Usaha” — proof of the business actor's registration and its identity (PP 28/2025 Pasal 1 angka 12). Every business actor must hold one, only one, valid while it trades (Pasal 206); it records the actor's profile, capital, tax number, KBLI and location, with an individual profiled by NIK (Pasal 207). The license for each five-digit KBLI and location is obtained by that actor in OSS (Pasal 211); for the villa code 55203 that means the standard certificate and the health certificate OSS lists (OSS — KBLI 2025 55203 and KBLI 2020 55193, investment requirement (2026)). We found no clause that lets an NIB or standard certificate be transferred to another party or travel with an asset. A buyer who will let the villa registers its own NIB, adds 55203 and applies. Checking a license. The villa standard.

Who can hold the villa code

KBLI 55203 is allocated to cooperatives and micro, small and medium businesses; a foreign-owned PT PMA cannot take the seller's place on it. PT PMA and the villa license.

The zoning approval

Where land already held by a business actor with a KKPR passes to a new actor for the same KBLI, the same activity and the same area, the new actor's KKPR can be issued without assessment (PP 28/2025 Pasal 27(2)(c)). The buyer still needs its own; the regulation makes it faster. KKPR.

The building's records: PBG, SLF and SBKBG

The PBG is the permit given to the building owner to build, alter, extend or maintain it, and the SLF states the building is fit for use (PP 16/2021 Pasal 1). Both numbers are recorded on the SBKBG, the proof of the building's ownership status, along with the owner and the land title (Pasal 275(3)). A sale of the building is made before the competent official, with a notarial deed and the SBKBG (Pasal 304); after a transfer, the buyer — or its proxy — applies to change the SBKBG, and the building data are updated through SIMBG, free of charge (Pasal 303, 306). For a building on someone else's land, the seller needs the landowner's consent (Pasal 305(2)).

The SLF clock

An SLF must be renewed: every 20 years for single and row houses, every five years for other buildings, after an inspection of fitness for use (Pasal 297). If it lapses, the SBKBG is void and municipal utility services can be cut until a new SLF is obtained (Pasal 302). A villa run as a business is the case the five-year rule describes on our reading; the date of the last SLF is a question for the seller. The SLF. The PBG.

Taxes the seller leaves behind

Hotel services in Badung include villas and private homes run as hotels, and the taxpayer is the person or entity supplying the service (Perda Badung 7/2023 Pasal 22, 25). A self-assessed taxpayer registers itself and its taxable object and receives one NPWPD, linked to its NIK or NIB (PP 35/2023 Pasal 51); the NPWPD can be deactivated or deleted only if the taxpayer has no tax arrears and no pending challenge (Pasal 53(4)). We found no rule passing a seller's arrears to a buyer; the practical check is the seller's filed monthly returns and payment slips. Hotel tax filing.

Land and building tax

PBB is owed by whoever actually holds or benefits from the land and building, assessed on the property's position on 1 January (UU 1/2022 Pasal 39, 43). At the deed, the PPAT must see proof of BPHTB payment, and the BPHTB check matches the property number to the PBB bill or payment (PP 35/2023 Pasal 60, 63). PBB. Taxes on a transfer.

The checks, in order

1. License. The seller's NIB and standard certificate for 55203 at this location — proof the villa traded lawfully, not something you take over.
2. Building. The SBKBG with PBG and SLF numbers, and the SLF's date.
3. Tax. The seller's hotel tax returns and payments, and the latest PBB bill and receipt.
4. Your own license. Who will hold the NIB and the villa code after completion, and how long that takes.

What this page does not cover

• Buying the seller's company instead. Selling or buying the shares.
• Staff employed by the seller, whose contracts are with the seller.
• Booking-platform listings and reviews, which follow the platforms' own terms.

Common questions