Tax deduction for the purchase of computer software

In late June 2017, the Thai government approved a draft law which allows a corporate income taxpayer to deduct (in addition to the normal depreciation or deductible amount) the acquisition cost of software.

Keywords: Mazars, Thailand, Tax, Software Industry Promotion Agency

18 September 2017

We set below a list of conditions under this draft law:

1. The fee (“the Fee”) for purchasing a computer program, hiring another person to write a computer program, or using the computer program of another person, shall be deductible for corporate income tax purposes in addition to the normal depreciation or deductible amount.

2. The computer program or related services must be purchased or acquired from a seller or service provider registered with the Software Industry Promotion Agency.

3. The additional deductible amount may not exceed the Fee, and is capped at 100,000 baht.

4. A taxpayer who is entitled to such a tax benefit under this law must have income from selling goods or providing services of 30 million baht or less in a given accounting period, and must have registered paid-up capital of 5 million baht or less on the last date of the accounting period.

5. The tax benefit under this law shall be available for those accounting periods which start on or after 1 January 2017, and no later than 31 December 2019 (3 accounting periods).