Companies employing foreigners are charged $100/month (US$ 1,200/year per expatriate employee to offset the costs of training Indonesian nationals. This tax is administered through the Manpower Ministry. Proof of payment of the Skill & Development Fund fee to the BNI ’46 bank for one year in advance, amounting to US$1,200 (nonrefundable) is needed before a Work Permit can be approved.

For positions other than Directors, a foreigner’s expertise must be proven, as government regulations limit the employment of foreigners in Indonesia to ‘experts’; which can contribute to the national development. Due to the high unemployment rate of nationals, it must be proven that the expertise of a foreigner cannot actually be supplied by a national instead.

Manpower plans are only approved for one year. When a company’s manpower plan is approved, a certain number of slots for positions held by foreigners are approved by Kemenakertrans. If a firm wants to add another foreigner to its staff, they must go back to Kemenakertrans and revise their manpower plan and wait several months for approval. It is not always easy for a firm in Indonesia to hire a foreigner and involves considerable expense and dealing with bureaucracy.

Deportation of foreigners for abusing their work permits is not uncommon. The usual offense is that the person is working in a position other than what is allowed by the work permit. If your work permit says you are the Production Director … and your business card says you are the Managing Director – those are grounds for deportation due to abuse of work permit. Another problem is caused when the declared address of work on the IMTA differs from your actual work location. If it does not match, this could void the IMTA and put the employee at risk of a deportation. BEWARE and be cautious about what you put on your business card – make sure it agrees with your work permit!

One common misconception is that the IMTA belongs to the expatriate employee; actually they are issued to the company, NOT to the foreign worker. If a foreign worker loses his job, he is not entitled to work for any other company without processing a new IMTA, even if the previous IMTA still has validity. This very common misconception leads expats to think that they have a work permit – they don’t – the company has it!

A work permit issued for a foreigner does NOT entitle their spouse to work as well. A “dependent spouse” must obtain their own sponsor and work permit in order to work in Indonesia. This can be done, but depends on the demand for their expertise. Many working spouses find the transition difficult as they are used to working. There are, however, many opportunities for worthwhile and meaningful involvements in community and educational organizations and opportunities for everyone to hone new skills during their time in Indonesia.

If you want to keep your ITAP active, you must pay the DPKK.

Source : http://www.expat.or.id/info/docs.html#DPKK