Bali field guide
Denpasar Customs: Limits, Vapes, Medicines and Cash
The exact Indonesian allowances for tobacco, vape liquid, alcohol and cash, what happens to the amount above the limit, how the arrival declaration is filed now, and the rules on bringing prescription medicines.
Published 2026-09-28
The useful part, first
File the All Indonesia declaration within three days of arrival, keep excise goods inside the published quantities because the excess is destroyed rather than taxed, and declare cash of IDR 100,000,000 or more.
In this guide
01
The declaration is now part of the arrival card
Since 1 October 2025 the customs declaration, the immigration arrival card and the health declaration are filed together through the All Indonesia system, on its website or its mobile application. The form costs nothing, and any service charging a fee to submit it on your behalf is selling you something the state gives away.
It is filed within three days before arrival, counted from the Indonesian arrival date rather than the date you take off. Every traveller needs an individual submission and receives an individual QR code, so a family of four carries four codes rather than one. Screenshot them, because the signal at the airport is unreliable.
02
USD 500 per person, and what sits above it
Personal goods are exempt from import duty and tax up to USD 500 per person. Above that figure the excess is taxed rather than the whole suitcase, so the number that decides what you owe is the value of what exceeds the allowance, not the total value of everything you packed.
This allowance is separate from excise goods. Tobacco, electronic cigarettes and alcohol are counted under their own rules, described below, and they are declared whether or not they fall inside the quantity allowance. Declaring costs nothing at all when the quantities are within the limits.
03
Tobacco, vapes and alcohol: the exact quantities
Per adult passenger the excise exemption is 200 cigarettes, or 25 cigars, or 100 grams of sliced tobacco, or 100 grams of other processed tobacco. For electronic cigarettes it is 140 solid sticks or 40 capsules, 30 millilitres of open-system liquid, or 12 millilitres of closed-system liquid. Alcoholic drink is capped at one litre.
These are alternatives rather than a list to combine, and carrying more than one type means the exemption is apportioned between them. Crew allowances are lower again, at 40 cigarettes and 350 millilitres of alcohol, which is worth knowing if someone on the flight offers to carry something through for you.
04
The excess is destroyed, not stored
For excise goods above the allowance the regulation is specific: the excess is destroyed on the spot by customs officers, with or without the passenger watching. It is the amount over the limit that goes rather than everything you were carrying, and paying duty instead is not offered as an alternative.
In practice this bites hardest on vape liquid. Thirty millilitres of open-system liquid is one small bottle, so a traveller who packed a month's supply should expect to hand most of it over at Ngurah Rai. Buying locally after arrival is the only version of this that ends with the liquid still yours.
05
Cash above IDR 100 million must be declared
Carrying cash or bearer instruments worth IDR 100,000,000 or more, in rupiah or the foreign-currency equivalent, triggers a declaration obligation. At recent rates that is roughly USD 6,000, which is a lower bar than it sounds if you are arriving with a deposit for a long villa rental in hand.
The threshold governs declaring rather than permission: there is no ceiling on what you may bring in, only on what you may bring in quietly. The question now appears on the arrival card itself, so the declaration is made before you land instead of at a counter after a long flight.
06
Medicines, and the things that are simply prohibited
Carry prescription medicines in their original labelled packaging with a copy of the prescription or a doctor's letter naming the diagnosis and the dosage, and declare them on arrival. Medicines classed as narcotics in Indonesia are not admitted through passenger baggage without authorisation arranged in advance, and being lawful at home changes nothing about that.
Narcotics, firearms, explosives, pornography and counterfeit goods are prohibited outright, and Indonesian drug law is severe by any international comparison. Where the legal class of a medicine is unclear, settle it with the Indonesian food and drug authority while you are still packing rather than at the red channel in Denpasar.
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