balivillacareThe service charge on a villa bill: whose money it is
Key takeaways
- Service money in certain businesses is non-wage income under PP No. 36 Tahun 2021. The company collects it and must pay it out to workers after reserves for loss and staff development.
- Where that rule applies, it is neither owner revenue nor a management fee. On a statement it should be its own line, paid out.
- The detailed rule — 3%, 2% and 95% — is written for hotels: rooms in a building. It does not name villas.
- Adding a service charge is optional: a hotel business may apply one.
- The accommodation tax is charged on what the guest pays, which is the question to ask about any line added to the bill.
Many villa bills in Bali carry a service line on top of the rate. Owners rarely know where that money goes, and statements rarely say. Indonesian wage law does say — with one gap that matters for villas.
Six words around a service line
The confusion starts with the words, because a service charge, a tip and a tax get written on the same bill.
| Term | What it is | What it means for a villa |
|---|---|---|
| Service charge, uang servis | An addition to the set tariff for service. | Non-wage income that belongs to the workers. |
| Tip | A voluntary payment by the guest. | Not what the service-money rules regulate. |
| “++”, plus-plus | A price shown before tax and service are added. | What the guest actually pays is the base the hotel tax works from. |
| PBJT | The regency's tax on accommodation. | At most 10% under UU No. 1 Tahun 2022. |
| Non-wage income | Income that is not part of the wage. | Service money is in this category. |
| Usaha hotel | Accommodation in the form of rooms in a building. | Where the detailed service-money rules apply. Villas are not named. |
What the wage regulation says
PP No. 36 Tahun 2021 on wages separates what a worker is paid into wages and non-wage income. The religious holiday allowance is the non-wage income every employer must pay (Pasal 8 ayat (1) and Pasal 9). Beyond it, an employer may give incentives, bonuses, money in place of work facilities, and service money in certain businesses (Pasal 8 ayat (2)). For the last, the regulation sets three rules (Pasal 13):
- it is collected and managed by the company;
- it must be distributed to workers, after deducting a reserve for loss or damage and for developing staff quality; and
- the details are left to the manpower minister's regulation.
So where the rule applies, a service charge is not the villa's revenue and not the manager's fee. It belongs to the people who serve. Which businesses count as “certain businesses” is the part the regulation hands to the minister.
The detailed rule is written for hotels
The minister's regulation is Permenaker No. 7 Tahun 2016, established on 8 March 2016, and its title says what it covers: service money in hotel businesses and restaurants in hotels.
What it sets
| Rule | Article | |
|---|---|---|
| How the collection is split | 3%, 2% and 95%: loss or damage, staff development, workers | Pasal 9 |
| Where it is kept | Separately from the company's operations | Pasal 7 |
| Transparency | A written announcement of the total every month, before distribution | Pasal 8 |
| When it is paid | By the end of the month after it was collected | Pasal 14 |
| How it is shared | Half equally, the rest by seniority and performance | Pasal 15 |
| Who qualifies | Fixed-term, indefinite and outsourced workers | Pasal 3 |
| Income tax | The worker's, withheld when paid out | Pasal 5 |
Not paying it out to workers attracts administrative sanctions (Pasal 18).
The hotel rule on one month's collection
An illustration of the arithmetic, not a figure from any villa: a month in which guests paid IDR 10,000,000 in service charges, shared among five staff.
| Amount | Rule | |
|---|---|---|
| Collected in the month | IDR 10,000,000 | Announced in writing (Pasal 8) |
| Reserve for loss or damage, 3% | IDR 300,000 | Pasal 9 |
| Staff development, 2% | IDR 200,000 | Pasal 9 |
| To workers, 95% | IDR 9,500,000 | Pasal 9 |
| Half of it, equally | IDR 4,750,000 — IDR 950,000 each | Pasal 15 |
| The other half | IDR 4,750,000 by seniority and performance | Pasal 15 |
Each share is the worker's income, and the tax on it is withheld from the worker when it is paid (Pasal 5). Nothing in it is a cost of the villa's operation or an income of its owner.
Where villas sit
The regulation defines a hotel business as accommodation in the form of rooms in a building, charged daily (Pasal 1). A villa let whole is not obviously that, and villas are not named. PP No. 36 Tahun 2021 applies to service money in certain businesses and leaves the detail to the minister, and the minister's regulation read here names hotels and their restaurants. So for a villa let whole, neither text settles whether the rule binds. What both make plain is what a service charge is meant to be: the staff's money, managed separately, less two small reserves.
Service charge on your statement, but no payout line?
Tell us which part of Bali the villa is in. Five questions, and your details are the last step.
A service charge on the owner's statement
It should be visible
If a villa's bookings carry a service line, the statement should show what was collected and what was paid to staff. The hotel rule's monthly written announcement is a fair standard to ask for.
It is not an income line for anyone but staff
A service charge that ends up inside the manager's revenue, or netted against the owner's distribution as if it were the owner's money, is not what the wage regulation describes. Every line on a statement.
The tax on the booking
The regency's accommodation tax is charged on the amount the guest pays (UU No. 1 Tahun 2022, Pasal 57), at a rate of at most 10% (Pasal 58). Whether a service line forms part of that amount on a particular villa's bills is worth asking the manager to show. The tax on the rent.
Service charge and tips
A tip is the guest's own payment to a person; a service charge is added to the tariff by the business. The rules read here regulate the second. A villa that adds a service charge and also invites tips has two separate things to account for.
What this page does not cover
- Whether a regency or court treats a villa as a hotel business for the service-money rule. Not read.
- What service percentage villas charge. No published source; we give none.
Common questions
Who does a service charge on a villa bill belong to?
PP No. 36 Tahun 2021 treats service money in certain businesses as non-wage income that the company collects and manages and must distribute to workers, after deducting a reserve for loss or damage and for staff development (Pasal 8 and 13). Where that rule applies, the money is neither the owner's revenue nor the manager's fee.
Does the 95% service charge rule apply to villas?
The detailed rule — 3% for loss or damage, 2% for staff development, 95% to workers — is in Permenaker No. 7 Tahun 2016, which covers hotel businesses, defined as rooms in a building, and restaurants in hotels. It does not name villas. PP No. 36 Tahun 2021 speaks of service money in certain businesses and leaves which ones to the minister, so neither text settles the question for a villa let whole.
Is a villa required to add a service charge?
No. Permenaker No. 7 Tahun 2016 says a hotel business may apply one (Pasal 2). Nothing read for this page requires a villa to.
Is the service charge taxed?
The worker's income tax on their share is the worker's, withheld by the employer when it is paid out (Permenaker No. 7 Tahun 2016, Pasal 5). The regency's accommodation tax is charged on the amount the guest pays (UU No. 1 Tahun 2022, Pasal 57).
How often must a service charge be paid out?
Under the hotel rule, a month's collection is distributed by the end of the following month, after a written announcement of the total (Pasal 8 and 14).
Is a tip the same as a service charge?
No. A service charge is added to the tariff; a tip is the guest's voluntary payment. The service-money rules read here regulate the first.
Sources cited on this page
- PP No. 36 Tahun 2021 — wages and service money, Pasal 8 and 13
- Permenaker No. 7 Tahun 2016 — service money in hotels
- UU No. 1 Tahun 2022 — Pasal 57, the base of PBJT
Every figure above was read from the source it is attributed to on 20 September 2026. How we check this.