Today, we got a question from one of our accounting clients regarding the import duties in Thailand.

Question:

I have a question that needs your expertise. We are selling a product to a client in Thailand that needs to be imported from the United States from our supplier there, who will issue an invoice to us. We would therefore like to know if there are any import taxes and what they amount to. If there are no such taxes, then the supplier can send directly the invoice to our Thailand Company but if there are, we are considering making the financial transactions via Head Office in Hong Kong, who would then be issuing the invoice to Thailand. Do you have any advice you could give us on this matter?

Answer:

Most likely there will be import duties and VAT to be paid at Customs. You need to consult with the company that provides customs clearance service (the Thai people like call “shipping company”). Some goods may be import duty exempted or even VAT exempted. However, in general, most products are subject to import duties and VAT. Whether you import directly or use Head Office to do it and invoice your Thai company, if the products are subject to import duties and VAT, you cannot avoid it.

The customer can import it themselves too, which bypasses your Thai company on the import duties and VAT because they will have to pay for them at the Customs. If your Thai company does the import, you will have to pass on the import duties and VAT to customer anyway, won’t you?.

Contact MSNA for your questions on Thai accounting and tax.