Begin with consumption taxes. The headline VAT rate remains 7 per cent, the reduced rate having been extended again through 30 September 2026 by Royal Decree No. 799 (B.E. 2568). It is worth remembering that the statutory rate under the Revenue Code is 10 per cent; the 7 per cent figure is a concession that must be renewed, and businesses should not assume it is permanent. Separately, foreign digital platforms selling into Thailand now fall within the e-Service VAT regime introduced by the Revenue Code Amendment Act (No. 53) B.E. 2564, a change that brought many offshore providers into the Thai net for the first time.
On income, corporate income tax now sits at 20 per cent, with a progressive schedule for small and medium enterprises under Royal Decree No. 530. Personal income tax runs across seven brackets to a top rate of 35 per cent. Most consequentially for anyone with offshore earnings, the treatment of foreign-sourced income has been revised under Departmental Instructions Por.161/2566 and Por.162/2566. The practical effect reaches expatriates, returning Thais, and investors who remit income earned abroad into Thailand, and it deserves close attention before any remittance is made.
Then there are the pillars that simply did not exist a generation ago. The Land and Building Tax Act B.E. 2562 replaced the old House and Land Tax and Local Development Tax, changing how owners of land and buildings are assessed. The Excise Tax Act B.E. 2560 consolidated seven separate excise statutes into a single framework. The Inheritance Tax Act B.E. 2558, with its companion Gift Tax provisions inserted into the Revenue Code, reintroduced a tax on the transfer of wealth. And the Emergency Decree on Top-up Tax B.E. 2567 brought Thailand into the OECD's Pillar Two global minimum tax, effective from 1 January 2025, placing large multinational groups under an effective 15 per cent floor.
Underlying all of this is a structural point that matters more than any single rate. Thai tax is built on a strict hierarchy: an Act of Parliament, then Royal Decrees, then Ministerial Regulations, then Notifications, then Departmental Instructions. A subordinate instrument can change how a tax operates without amending the parent Code, and increasingly the rules that bite are set at that subordinate level rather than by legislation. The consequence for business is concrete. A rate or relief that was correct last year may since have been quietly superseded by an instrument that never reached the headlines. Before relying on any figure, confirm the current text.
This is also why Thai tax rewards planning rather than reaction. The five categories of Thai tax, consumption, income, property, customs, and stamp duty and miscellaneous levies, interact, and a decision taken for one often carries a cost in another. Structuring a transaction, a remittance, or a succession with the whole picture in view is what separates an efficient outcome from an assessment.
Where we can help.
Dej-Udom & Associates has advised on Thai taxation since 1986. If you would like to understand how any of these changes bears on a specific business, investment, or estate, our tax practice offers a 30-minute strategy call to map the issues before they become assessments.
Disclaimer: This publication is for general information only and does not constitute legal advice. Rates and rules in Thai tax change frequently, often by subordinate instrument. For advice tailored to your circumstances, please contact Dej-Udom & Associates at [email protected].