Did you know? Indonesia is the 11th largest eCommerce market with a revenue of US$33 billion in 2020.

To make sure you’re staying ahead of the eCommerce game, we’re pulling all of the most important information into this one space so you know exactly the requirements of clearing customs for your shipments to Indonesia – be they deliver to your own local warehouse in the area or straight to the doorstep of your customers. Let’s have a read below!

1. General Required Documents For Imports Into Indonesia

Sending an eCommerce shipment abroad to Indonesia? Effective from 1st August 2021, Indonesia’s customs requires the receiver’s local tax ID number or an alternative identification number for each air waybill before the shipment can pass through customs. Failure to provide any identification number can result in your shipment being confiscated or stuck in customs.

Sometimes, customs officers will mark certain parcels as “suspicious” and ask for supporting documents for further inspection. For first-time customers, please note that customs clearance will take a longer time in the beginning and that supporting documents are more likely to be needed. These include:

• Tax ID (NPWP)
• Identification Document – ID Card (Kartu Tanda Penduduk)/ Driving License (SIM)
• Identification documents can be used if the consignee does not have an NPWP
• Proof of Purchase (POP)
• Website Link (website where the item was bought from)
• Personal Use form (mandatory for medicine and supplements)

If the receiver does not have a local tax ID (NPWP), other forms of identification may be used instead such as:

• the Kartu Tanda Penduduk (KTP) number (identification card) also known as Nomor Induk Kependudukan (NIK)
• Passport number (only for foreigners)
• or any other numbers that can be used for identification such as a driving license.

Bear in mind to describe your parcel content correctly to ensure a smooth delivery. This includes the item’s respective brand name, materials and type, such as OMEGA Lady’s Quartz Watch and NIKE Cotton Baseball Cap. Click here to learn more.

To reiterate for shipments that come with medicine and supplements, you’ll also need to provide a filled personal use form signed by the receiver. Kindly ensure that the receiver’s email address has been shared with your network partner before the shipment to go on the road.

2. Quantity Restrictions For Parcels Entering Indonesia

Indonesia’s Directorate General of Customs and Excise has placed limits on item quantities per shipment. By following the item quantity restrictions, you can avoid confiscation issues at the customs. So, we’ve included the details on the maximum quantity that can be delivered per parcel according to the respective item category in the table below:-

3. Customs Duties and Taxes & Customs Lanes

Once your parcels land at an international airport, such as Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta (CGK), they’ll be first unloaded from the flight into the customs warehouse. Then, the customs officers stationed there will proceed with prohibited or controlled goods checking before segmenting them further into different customs clearance channels.

In Indonesia, there are 3 customs lanes for shipments:

• Red channel: all of the goods are taken out to be physically inspected
• Yellow channel: only 20% of goods are physically inspected
• Green channel: the goods don’t require any physical inspection, and the customs officer will only check the customs documentation

Once the goods are discharged from the inspection channels, the import duties and taxes will be calculated based on whether it is a B2C or a B2B shipment. If the declared value of the goods is below the de minimis rates, the goods can be released without paying for additional duties and taxes.

If the shipment value is over Indonesia’s de minimis rate of US$3, B2C eCommerce shipments are taxed with the following:

• Import duties (depends on the product)
• Value Added Tax (VAT) at 10%
• Income Tax
  • 7.5 – 10 % for those with a valid tax ID (NPWP)
  • 20% for those without a valid tax ID

The total duties and taxes are a percentage of the shipment’s invoice value. The calculations in the illustration below factors in the higher range of 20%. Bags, Shoes and Garments are taxed at a higher rate than other goods, as summarised below:-

Indonesia De Minimis 2020

On the other hand, the import duties and taxes calculated for B2B shipments are based on the item’s Harmonised Systems Code (HS Code). To get your goods cleared from customs, you could opt for either 1 of these steps:-

• Set up a local entity in Indonesia to handle customs clearance
• Engage with a third party to clear customs in Indonesia