In short. Parcel charges are calculated on the price of the goods, not the weight (PMK 96/2023 as amended by PMK 4/2025): up to 3 dollars only 11% VAT, from 3 to 1,500 dollars 7.5% duty plus VAT, watches, cosmetics and metal goods 15% plus VAT and a 5% tax, clothes, shoes, bags and bicycles 25% plus VAT and 5%, above 1,500 dollars the ordinary rates with a separate declaration; documents and books are duty free. Pos Indonesia sends a bill by WhatsApp, SMS or a notice slip, and you pay through a virtual account; the status and amount can be seen on the customs page by tracking number. Medicines by parcel only with a prescription and for no more than 90 days, psychotropic ones are not allowed; items must be new, seeds without a certificate are seized, and phones are registered by IMEI at clearance. A call from a "customs officer" on a personal number asking you to pay extra is fraud.
How the charges are calculated. The rules are set by Ministry of Finance regulation PMK 96/2023 as amended by regulation PMK 4/2025, in force since 5 March 2025. Charges are calculated on the price and type of the goods; the weight of the parcel does not matter. The dollar threshold is judged by the price of the item itself without delivery. Duty and taxes are charged on the amount together with delivery and insurance.
- Letters, postcards and documents: no duty or taxes.
- Goods up to 3 dollars inclusive: no duty, VAT (PPN) 11%.
- Above 3 and up to 1,500 dollars: duty 7.5% and VAT 11%.
- Books: duty 0%, and scientific books are also free of VAT.
- Watches, cosmetics, iron and steel goods: duty 15%, VAT 11% and PPh tax 5%.
- Bags, clothes and textiles, shoes, bicycles, e-bikes and e-scooters: duty 25%, VAT 11% and PPh 5%.
- Above 1,500 dollars: ordinary rates by goods code and a separate declaration.
The table on the customs site gives VAT as 12%, while in its answers to questions the same customs service gives the formula 11/12 × 12%, that is, 11%.
An example from the Aceh provincial customs office: sneakers for 90 dollars, delivery 9.5 and insurance 0.5, 100 in total. Duty of 25% adds 25 dollars, and on the resulting 125 they charge VAT 11% and PPh 5%, which is another 20. The total is 45 dollars, almost half the price. An ordinary item for the same 100 dollars comes to about 19 dollars under this scheme: 7.5 duty and about 11.8 VAT. Pos Indonesia adds its own handling fee to the charges, even when only VAT has been assessed.
How the bill arrives and how to pay. Parcels sent by ordinary post are delivered by Pos Indonesia. It sends a notice on WhatsApp, by SMS or as a paper X13 slip: how much customs has assessed, how much the post charges and how to pay. You pay by the virtual account number in the notice: in the Pospay app, at the post office counter or through a bank. After payment the parcel is brought to your address; you go to the post office for it only if you asked for that. If you do not pay within three days, the post office will charge a storage fee. Couriers such as DHL and FedEx pay customs themselves and then send you their own bill. Clearance needs the recipient's NPWP number; a foreigner without an NPWP can use a passport number. A parcel that lies in the customs warehouse for more than 30 days without clearance is declared unclaimed.
Where the parcel is now. The route by tracking number is shown on the Pos Indonesia tracking page; the post office helpline Halo Pos is 1500161. On the customs page on parcels the status and the amount of charges are visible by the same number, and the Mobile Beacukai app can also track parcels. Questions to customs go to the Bravo Bea Cukai helpline: telephone (021) 1500225, every day from 9 to 18 Bali time, with an online chat and email as well.
If the amount looks wrong. Customs may first ask for documents: an invoice or proof of payment for the order. Keep them until you receive the parcel. If the SPPBMCP bill for a Pos Indonesia parcel has a typo in the name or address, an arithmetic error or an error in the rate, file an application for correction: before payment, no later than 15 days from the date of the bill, with supporting documents. Customs considers it for up to 7 days. If you disagree with the valuation or the rate, file an objection, keberatan: within 60 days through the customs portal, in Indonesian, with a security deposit equal to the amount of the bill. The decision is made within 60 days.
Medicines, cosmetics and food. These rules are set by BPOM, the agency supervising medicines and food. Medicines are sent by parcel only with a doctor's prescription and for no more than 90 days of treatment. Psychotropic and narcotic drugs are not passed by parcel at all: a foreigner can bring psychotropic ones only personally, in luggage, with a prescription and for no more than 60 days. Vitamins, supplements and herbal products: up to 5 items of each kind, cosmetics up to 20 items, processed food up to 5 kg per sender or recipient. Medicines are imported only for yourself and must not be resold, including through orders placed for others. You can check your own case on the BPOM page with answers to questions or at the Halo BPOM helpline 1500533.
Alcohol, tobacco, used items, seeds and phones.
- Alcohol and tobacco: without excise, one parcel per recipient may contain up to 350 ml of alcohol and up to 40 cigarettes, or 5 cigars, or 40 g of tobacco. Customs destroys the excess in the presence of a post office representative. E-cigarettes have their own limits, given on the customs page on parcels.
- Items must be sent new only, as Ngurah Rai customs in Bali writes. Customs gives worn clothing as an example of goods whose import is prohibited. For those moving, there is a separate procedure, barang pindahan: household items that you used in your previous country of residence are imported without duty, with VAT and PPh, and must arrive within 90 days before or after your own arrival.
- Seeds, plants, animals and products from them go through quarantine and need a health certificate from the country of origin. Seeds from online orders without a certificate are seized and destroyed by quarantine.
- Phones and tablets: the IMEI is registered at customs clearance of the parcel, and the post office or courier helps with this. More in our guide to IMEI.
Other restrictions can be found by the description of the goods in the INSW reference.
Fraudsters posing as customs. The scheme is this: a seller online offers an item far below market price, or a new acquaintance promises to send a gift. Then a "customs officer" calls from a personal number, with a photo of an employee as the avatar, says the parcel has been held, threatens a fine and asks you to transfer money to a personal account. Charges go only to the state treasury: by billing code, through the post office or on a courier's bill; customs does not use personal accounts. Ask for the tracking number, check it on the customs site and call Bravo Bea Cukai. If the money has already gone, call the bank it was transferred to so that the account is blocked, report it to the police and block the number.
What this means for you. For most goods allow about 19% of the price with delivery for the charges, plus the post office fee, and for clothes, shoes, bags and bicycles almost half. Pay only by the virtual account from the Pos notice, by billing code or on the courier's bill, preferably in the first three days. Check the status and amount against the tracking number on the customs site. Ask for medicines to be sent with a prescription and for no more than 90 days of treatment. Do not order used items or seeds by parcel and do not ask for them to be sent.