Sri Mulyani's Red Carpet For COVID-19 Vaccine: Import Duty Free Of IDR 8.9 Trillion

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Finance through the Directorate General of Customs and Excise reports that the government has imported around 506.6 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine in the period November 2020 to March 2022.

Head of the Sub-Directorate of Public Relations and Customs Counseling Hatta Wardhana said the number consisted of 153.90 million doses in the form of raw materials (bulk) and 349.59 million doses ready for distribution. According to him, hundreds of millions of taxable goods were given exemption from tax levies to support strategic programs of an emergency nature.

"The import value of the vaccine reaches IDR 47.40 trillion with the value of exemption from import duties and PDRI (Tax in the Context of Imports) of IDR 8.94 trillion," he said in an official statement, Monday, April 25.

Wardhana added, this strategic step is expected to support the national vaccination program to achieve herd immunity in Indonesia.

In detail, Sri Mulyani's subordinate explained the facilities provided in the form of exemption from import duties and/or excise, not collecting Value Added Tax (PPN) and Sales Tax on Luxury Goods (PPnBM), as well as exemption from Income Tax (PPh) 22 on vaccine imports.

"These various facilities can be utilized more so that they are able to have a more positive impact on the community, both in handling health and economic recovery conditions due to COVID-19," he said.

For information, in 2022, the utilization of import facilities for handling COVID-19 is IDR 893 billion, which consists of importing vaccines of IDR 719 billion and importing facilities of medical devices (alkes) of IDR 174 billion.

Of the total realized value, imports of vaccines still dominate at 81 percent, followed by medical devices with 19 percent, such as medicines, PCR test kits, oxygen cylinders, and respiratory therapy devices.

“Understand all procedures and take advantage of the facilities. Let's help the government together in this recovery effort," concluded Wardhana.