New Tax Amnesty

On 25 March 2019, the Government published the Act to Waive Tax Penalties and Surcharges and Criminal Liability to Support Tax-related Operations under the Revenue Code, 2562 B.E., in the Government Gazette. This Act became effective on 26 March 2019.

Keywords: Mazars, Thailand, Tax, Tax Amnesty, Government Gazette, Government Gazette, Income Tax, WHT, VAT, Stamp Duty

10 April 2019

Under this Act, any company or partnership which has the duty to pay income tax based on its net profit and has not filed a tax return, or filed a tax return incorrectly, before the date on which this Act comes into force (25 March 2019), may be exempt from penalties or surcharges. However, it will not be exempt if it has already received notice of a tax assessment.

In order to be exempt under the Act, a company or partnership must meet the following conditions:

1. It must have taxable income of not more than 500 million baht from its business or due to it in the last 12-month accounting period, where the last day of the accounting period ended on or before 30 September 2018.

2. It must have already filed an income tax return for the accounting period mentioned in point 1 above by 25 March 2019.

3. The Revenue Department must not have filed a complaint with the inquiry official of a violation of the Criminal Code in regard to tax invoices that the company or partnership issued or used by 25 March 2019.

In order to claim the exemption, the company or partnership must do the following:

1. Register with the Revenue Department by 30 June 2019 according to the rules, procedures, and conditions prescribed by the Director-General of the Revenue Department.

2. File returns for the following taxes, and remit any unpaid or underpaid taxes in full by 30 June 2019:

a. Income tax for an accounting period starting on or after the period from 1 January 2016 to 31 December 2017.

b. Value added tax or specific business tax on income for the tax month starting from January 2016 to February 2019.

c. Withholding tax on transactions that occurred from 1 January 2016 to 25 March 2019.

d. Stamp duty as specified by the Director-General of the Revenue Department to be paid in cash in lieu of affixing duty stamps for instruments executed by the company or partnership from 1 January 2016 until 25 March 2019.

3. File returns for all types of taxes under the Revenue Code which are applicable to the company or partnership for transactions that occurred from 1 January 2016 until 25 March 2019, as well as pay any unpaid or underpaid taxes in full by 30 June 2019.

Once a company or partnership has completed these procedures, it will be released from criminal liability and be exempt from any penalties or surcharges.

A company or partnership which has received an exemption from penalties or surcharges must file returns for all types of taxes for the period from 1 July 2019 to 30 June 2020 according to the rules prescribed under the Revenue Code electronically, unless there is a justifiable reason why it cannot do so, as prescribed by the Director-General of the Revenue Department. Failure to do so could result in the exemption being revoked. In that case, the Revenue Department would proceed as set out in the Revenue Code.