The short answer
Bali charges international visitors a tourist levy of IDR 150,000 (roughly USD 9) per person, per entry, paid through the official Love Bali portal at lovebali.baliprov.go.id. It has been in force since February 2024 and is separate from your visa: paying for a visa on arrival does not cover it, and it funds culture and environment programmes on the island. Children pay too; the levy has no age exemption.
Pay before you fly
The clean way is online, a few days before departure: enter each traveller's name exactly as in the passport, passport number and arrival date, pay by card or QRIS, and a QR voucher lands in your email. Save that QR to your phone (a screenshot is fine) and keep it for the whole trip. Be careful where you type your card number: only the baliprov.go.id domain is official, and lookalike sites have charged travellers inflated "service fees" for the same voucher. The levy is IDR 150,000 flat; anyone quoting more is adding margin.
Paying on arrival instead
If you did not pay in advance, there are levy counters at the airport and seaports, cashless only (card or QRIS). It works, but it is one more queue after a long flight, stacked on top of immigration and customs. As of 2026, hotels and tour operators are also allowed to collect the levy officially, so do not be surprised if your accommodation asks about it at check-in. Two minutes on the portal from your sofa at home beats all of these.
Who is exempt
Ordinary tourists are not exempt: the exemptions cover holders of KITAS/KITAP residence permits, diplomatic and official visas, student visas, golden visas, family-unification visas, and transport crew. Indonesian citizens do not pay at all. The catch is that most exempt categories do not skip the system; they apply for the exemption through the same Love Bali portal, ideally around a month before arrival, and carry the approval. If you are on a visa on arrival or a C1 tourist visa, assume you owe the levy.
How checks work in practice
Honestly: there is no hard gate. Immigration at the airport does not currently refuse entry over an unpaid levy, and plenty of visitors have passed through without being asked. What exists instead are spot checks: since 2025, officials have scanned QR vouchers at attractions like Tanah Lot, Uluwatu, Tirta Empul and Penglipuran, and enforcement has been tightening each year. For the price of a couple of coffees, being the person paying by QRIS at a temple gate while your driver waits is not worth it. Having mobile data helps here too: the voucher email is easy to re-download on the spot if you saved nothing offline.
Bali only, and per entry
This is a Bali provincial levy, not an Indonesian one: Jakarta, Lombok and the rest of the country charge nothing like it. It applies each time you enter Bali, so a new international arrival means paying again. The good news for island-hoppers: official guidance says boat side trips that are part of the same visit, like Nusa Penida or the Gilis, have not required a fresh payment on your return to Bali. If you fly out of Indonesia mid-trip and come back to Bali later, treat it as a new entry and budget another IDR 150,000.
