Depreciation of a car used for R&D

A car defined in excise tax law as having 10 seats or less can only be depreciated, for corporate income tax purposes, for no more than 1 million baht.

Keywords: Mazars, Thailand, Tax, CIT, Revenue Department, Royal Decree Number 620, Automotive Industry

3 October 2016

Previously, the only exemption to this rule (i.e. the entire acquisition cost of the car could be depreciated) was for such a car used in a leasing business, and a company could not use such a car for any other business. In August 2016, the Revenue Department issued Royal Decree Number 620, which expands this exemption to include a car (which is acquired on 1 January 2016 and onward) used for research, development, or capacity testing, that is exempt from excise tax.

The purpose of expanding the exemption is to promote the competitiveness of the automotive industry in Thailand, and to boost investment in Thailand as a hub for the research, development, and capacity testing of cars.