Is the Bali Tourist Levy Really Mandatory in 2026? Here’s Who Actually Gets an Exemption

Since February 2024, every foreign visitor to Bali has had to pay a fee known as the Bali Tourist Levy (also called the Bali Tourist Tax). The amount is small — IDR 150,000, roughly USD 10, but the confusion around it is not. Travelers keep asking the same questions: Is this actually required? Who gets out of paying it? And does it work differently depending on where you’re from, including for Indian nationals? Below is a straight answer to each.

 What the levy actually is

Its formal name is Pungutan Wisatawan Asing, the “levy for foreign tourists,” and it exists under Bali Provincial Regulation No. 6 of 2023, later updated by Regulation No. 2 of 2025. Payment goes through the official Love Bali portal at lovebali It has nothing to do with your Indonesian visa, the two are entirely separate charges, paid separately, through separate systems.

The provincial government says the money goes toward:
– protecting Balinese culture, temples, and traditional arts
– protecting the natural environment – beaches, coral reefs, forests
– improving tourism infrastructure across the island

 Why it’s mandatory, not optional

This isn’t a voluntary contribution. It’s a legal requirement, and Bali’s provincial government has said plainly that foreigners who refuse to pay will be denied entry to the island.

In practice, this plays out in a few ways:

– It gets checked on arrival.

Beyond paying online in advance, there are payment counters at Ngurah Rai International Airport and at seaports (Benoa, Padang Bai, Gilimanuk), though queues there can eat into your arrival time.
– There are spot checks around the island. Tourism police carry out random checks at popular sites like Uluwatu and Tanah Lot. Show up without your QR voucher and you’ll be asked to pay on the spot.
– It applies per entry. You pay once for each visit. Leave the island and come back, including certain trips to the Gili Islands or Nusa Penida and depending on your route, you may need to pay again.
– There’s no age exemption.

Children, infants, and teenagers traveling on a foreign passport pay the same IDR 150,000 as adults.

 Who’s actually exempt

Exemptions are based entirely on visa type, not nationality. There are two tiers: automatic exemptions and exemptions you have to apply for in advance.

Automatic, no application needed:
– Diplomatic or official visa holders
– Airline and ship crew members
– Indonesian citizens (WNI) never subject to the levy, regardless of where they live

Require an application through Love Bali (typically at least a month ahead):
– KITAS (temporary stay permit) or KITAP (permanent stay permit) holders
– Family unification visa holders
– Student visa holders
– Golden Visa holders
– A few other non-tourist visa categories

One thing worth flagging: even if you’re confident you qualify for one of these, you can’t just claim the exemption at the checkpoint. The application has to be submitted and approved through Love Bali before you arrive, showing up and explaining your situation to an officer won’t work.

 And specifically, does the levy apply to Indian travelers?

Yes. Indian citizens pay the levy the same as anyone else, on the same terms as travelers from any other country.

The confusion here usually comes from mixing up two separate things: the visa rules and the tourist levy. They’re not the same system.

– On the visa side, India is one of roughly 97 countries whose citizens can get a Visa on Arrival or apply for an e-VOA online, a step up from the more than 160 nationalities that get visa-free entry, but still a straightforward process.
– On the levy side, none of that matters. Exemptions are tied to visa category – diplomatic, student, KITAS/KITAP, and so on – not to citizenship. An Indian traveler entering on a standard tourist visa or VOA owes the same IDR 150,000 as an Australian, British, or American traveler in the same position.

So if you’ve come across older claims suggesting Indian nationals were once required to pay and later weren’t, or vice versa, that’s not accurate. Nothing about the levy’s application to Indian citizens has changed. It’s mandatory for them just as it is for any other foreign visitor, unless they happen to hold one of the specific exempt visa categories listed above.

 How to pay it correctly

1. Go only to the official site, lovebali or do it through our website balitouristlevy.com
2. Enter your name exactly as it appears on your passport, passport number, email, country, and arrival date.
3. Choose individual or group payment.
4. Pay the IDR 150,000 by card (Visa, Mastercard, American Express, JCB), bank transfer, Virtual Account, UnionPay, or QRIS.
5. Save the QR voucher sent to your email, this is your proof of payment at arrival.

A word of caution: a number of lookalike websites copy the Love Bali design and charge two or three times the real fee. Stick to the official portal.

The bottom line

The Bali Tourist Levy is a legally binding fee that applies to every foreign visitor to Bali in 2026 – Indian nationals included. Exemptions exist, but they depend entirely on what kind of visa you hold – diplomatic, student, KITAS/KITAP, family unification, or Golden Visa, never on where you’re from. The safest way to avoid delays at the airport is to pay online at lovebali.baliprov.go.id at least 24–48 hours before your flight and keep the QR voucher saved on your phone.

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