Turban Explorer

Hello everyone

Im seeking some advice... Im contemplating visiting Bali or the neighbouring islands with a view to buying a villa. Critical for me is proximity to scuba diving reefs as principally Ill be using it as a dive lodge. Ive been thinking Menjangen area but as yet Ive not really explored Lombok or the Gillis. Its a really fledgling idea but I wanted to get more information before I visit in March to start looking for real.

Immediate questions are...
a) visa? How do visas work? Ive always just had the month one but if you own property can you get longer? (Im 45 if thats relevant)
b) Im aware the property is leasehold - any significant cons in that?
c) Can I ship up a container full of my stuff from Australia?
d) Can you get large photograph frames in Bali? (Im a photographer)
e) Is Air B and B for a foreign owned villa allowed?

Other than these questions Id be very grateful for any information on the scuba diving, Lombok versus Bali and so on. Im aware its much more Islamic - not really a turn off for me. Id prefer that to Kuta at schoolies....

Many thanks

Davita

Hi T.E. and welcome to the Indonesian BE.

a) There is no difference in visa re: property ownership. The best visa for you would be a Sosbud. You will need a sponsor and agents can do that for a fee ...or better to be-friend an Indonesian or expat with Kitas/Kitap to sponsor. They need to provide a letter to the effect they will support you if all else fails....that's all. I've never heard of a sponsor being called out. A Sosbud initially allows 60 days extendable monthly up to 6 months.
b) Only Indonesians are allowed to own freehold (called Hak Milik) property. There are two types of leasehold. 1. Called (Hak Pakai) where the title is registered in the land office in the foreigners name and 2. Long-term rental contract between the owner and the leaseholder signed in front of a notary. Both will have the terms written into the details of the lease. The former is imo much safer than the latter.
c) Short answer is only tax-free if you attain a temporary/permanent visa called Kitas/Kitap. Will be taxed on a Sosbud or other visitor visas.
d) Indonesians make fantastic, and ridiculously cheap, custom picture frames.
e) You will legally need a Pondok Wisata permit to be able to rent property like a villa. The person who actually owns the villa will need to apply for that. Many do rent under the table but the authorities scrutenize AirBnB to find who's doing illegal acts and there are consequences.

Fire any specific questions and I'll attempt to find answers but I'm not familiar with sports like scuba, surfing, kiting etc. as I can hardly swim...

Turban Explorer

Many thanks for your help Davita.

Do you know what sort of tax amount they charge on shipping in possessions? Its furniture Ive had going on 20 years.... Its been in storage since I left Australia in 2014 and Im loathe to chuck it away after spending so much!

To my mind I think the best diving is Tulamben , Amed area. There are so many properties on the market I guess there must be a lot of give in the prices.

Im sure other questions will spring up.

Davita

Sorry T.E. I have no idea the rate and anyway...they will attempt to extort as much as they can get. I simply do not recommend bringing anything...at least until you have an address and a Kitas visa.

To give an example my wife and I sold a 5000 sq ft House in Vancouver before coming to live in RI. We had garage sales and give-aways etc for a month before leaving. The one thing my wife couldn't leave was her bone-china dinner service which was a wedding gift from her Flight Attendant colleagues.... we were married in 1987.

We shipped to Jakarta and even we both have Kitas the bas***rds charged us on a 30 year-old dinner service. They argued I couldn't produce the boarding pass of the flight I originally arrived in Indonesia...WTF... who keeps boarding passes...but that's the way these people work.
When we have dinner-guests I tell the story they are dining-off the most expensive plates money can buy.

However I have heard of those who weren't charged a dime so its hit or miss. The one thing I recommend is you ship door to door...this was my mistake as we shipped to pick-up at Jakarta airport which was cheaper but, in the end, much more expensive.

sayang

a) No difference for visas
b) Not really. As you can't own freehold anyway, it is irrelevant as well (advantage/ disadvantage of leasehold vs freehold)
c) You can. You would be pretty stupid to though given custom duties - and as you have no residency permit, expect lots of extra payments to clear the paperwork. When I worked in Indonesia first time, I lived out of a suitcase for 6 months as I refused to pay the "extras". In the end, I got the stuff as due to the business I was in a cargo agent owed me a favour, and used his contacts in customs to clear.
d) Yes
e) Yes, as long as you have correct licenses and pay correct taxes. NB - looks like Indonesia will end up treating AirBnB as hotel, which will mean 21% service tax.

Note - if you stay in Indonesia more than 183 days a year, you are technically tax resident, even if just using tourist visas.

scot47

I would think it is better to check up visa, residency etc BEFORE buying a place. Just a thought.