Value Added Tax (‘VAT’) in Thailand - Mazars - Thailand

Value Added Tax (‘VAT’) is a tax on the sale of goods or the provision of services. The current rates are 7% and 0% with some exemptions from VAT.

VAT paid (‘input VAT’) is offset against the VAT charged on sales (‘output VAT’). Should input VAT exceed output VAT then a refund can be claimed from the Revenue Department. This is either in cash or as a credit against future output VAT.

A tax payer that has only zero-rated income will have the option to reclaim the input VAT.

Registration process

Registration requires the submission of the VAT 01 form before commencing business or within 30 days after income exceeds the threshold of at least 1.8m Baht per annum.

Tax invoice

The invoice must, as a minimum, contain at least the following:

• the words “tax invoice” in a prominent place;
• the name, address and taxpayer identification number of the VAT registrant issuing the tax invoice;
• the name and address of the purchaser of the goods or service;
• serial number of tax invoice;
• description, type, category, quantity and value of goods or services;
• the amount of VAT calculated on the value of goods or services clearly separated from the value of goods or services; and
• the date of issuance.

Invoices raised in currencies other than Thai Baht require the presentation of both currencies on the face of the invoice and the rate used stated. It is the amount in Thai Baht which is reported to the Revenue Department.

Provision of services

Generally, an invoice is issued to request for payment of the service and then a tax invoice is issued on receipt of payment, which is the tax point for VAT purposes.

Imports and exports

The export of both goods and services rendered in Thailand but wholly consumed overseas have a VAT rate of 0%.

When importing goods, VAT is due and payable to the Customs Department during the import process.

Rates

Some common VAT rates and exemptions:

Submission to the Revenue Department

The VAT return (PP 30 and/ or PP36) is submitted to the Revenue Department (‘RD’) within the 15th day of the following month in which the tax invoice was raised. E.g. a tax invoice dated 25th July 2009 will be included on the VAT return submitted to the RD by the 15th August 2009.

Late submission

The fine for late submission is twice the amount of tax due that month. There is also a surcharge of 1.5 percent of the tax payable per month.