Jakarta. The Ministry of Finance will exempt import duties, VAT, and income tax on prizes from international competitions and awards, effective March 5, 2025. The policy, outlined in Minister of Finance Regulation No. 4/2025, applies to shipped items such as medals, trophies, and plaques.

"In this regulation, the Ministry explicitly provides fiscal facilities for gift shipments received as prizes from international competitions or awards. It applies specifically to shipped goods, not passenger baggage," said Chotibul Umam, Head of the Import Sub-Directorate at the Directorate General of Customs and Excise (DJBC), during a press conference at the DJBC headquarters on Tuesday.

Under the regulation, the exemption applies to a single item per recipient for medals, trophies, plaques, badges, or similar awards, as well as a single item for other prizes. If the number of items exceeds these limits, an import duty of 7.5 percent and a VAT of 12 percent will apply, while additional import duties and VAT exemptions remain.

"Principally, everything is exempted, but there is a quantity limit. One item per recipient for medals, trophies, plaques, and similar awards. Usually, winners receive a medal or trophy, and each will be exempted within the set limit," Chotibul explained.

However, prizes such as motor vehicles, excisable goods, and items won through lotteries or gambling are excluded from the fiscal relaxation.

"For instance, if there is a competition with a door prize, such prizes will not be exempted," he added.

The fiscal relaxation applies under four key criteria. First, the prize must be from an international competition or award in fields such as sports, science, arts, culture, and religion.

Second, either the sender or the recipient must be an Indonesian citizen who received the prize from an international event. Third, supporting documents must confirm participation in the competition or award, issued by Indonesian ministries, agencies, institutions, event organizers abroad, or domestic and international media.

"We will verify the documents or proof of participation. We will check which competition was attended. It could be an assignment letter from a ministry, institution, or university authorizing participation," Chotibul stated.

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