To avoid unforeseen surprises that may appeal a couple of months after you have made a decision to purchase a property, we suggest that you discuss taxes and fees with your selected real estate agent before moving forward.
These are some examples of taxes and fees applied to a property purchase or property rental transaction in Thailand. These fees are mostly calculated in relation to the government’s tax assessment value of the property and this value is normally well below the market value.
1. Transfer fee
It is to be charged by the Provincial Land Office and collected on the day of ownership transfer. The rate is 2% of the declared sale price or the government assessed value of your property – whichever is highest. It is normally shared equally between both a buyer and a seller upon agreement of both parties.
2. Lease registration fee
This is 1.1% of the registered sale price, including local taxes. Lease registration fee is normally shared equally between the buyer and seller upon agreement of both parties.
3. Specific business tax
Specific business tax is only payable on freehold property sales and only if companies and individuals have owned the property for less than five years. If the seller has owned the property for more than 5 years, no specific business tax is due. Instead, stamp duty is payable. The rate of specific business tax is 3% – 3.3% including local taxes. This tax is calculated based on the official appraised value or the contracted price, whichever is highest.
4. Stamp duty
Stamp duty (approximately 0.5%) is only paid on freehold property sales when specific business tax is not applicable. It is based on the official appraised value or the contracted price, whichever is highest.
5. Withholding tax
This is basically a prepayment of income tax by the seller. The rate is 1% of the official appraised value or the contracted price, whichever is highest if the seller is a company. On the other hand, if the seller is an individual, the withholding tax is based on the individual’s marginal tax rate (except that the first 100,000 baht is taxed at 5% rather than falling under the tax-free threshold) after deducting from the official appraisal price a standard deduction based on the number of years of ownership. It is paid directly to the Land Department when the property’s ownership is transferred.
6. House and land tax
If you wish to rent out your property, you will be asked to pay house and land tax. Currently, the rate is 12.5% and calculated using the estimated annual rental value of your property or your actual rental income based on your accounts, whichever is higher.
If you wish to purchase a property through a company, please note that corporate tax is higher than personal tax, and the cost of setting up a company has to be considered as part of the initial investment.
These fees are typically based on the original cost of lease, or an evaluation from the Land Department. For further clarification and assistance needed, please contact us at
Sales contact
Email: info@sandseaphuket.com
Phone: +66 (0) 93 052 2529
Line: @sandseaphuket