When your company considers changing accounting year-end, for example from 31 August to be 31 December of every year, you need to get approval from both the Revenue Department and the Department of Business Development. Mostly, the documents you need for changing accounting year-end are as follows:
1. Copy of company affidavit;
2. Copy of Minute of Statutory Meeting (This is the document you made when you registered the company. It says whether or not the company has adopted Articles of Association) or copy of the company’s Articles of Association (which most likely says when the accounting year-end is);
3. Minute of shareholders’ meeting with the resolution to change the accounting year-end;
4. Copy of the latest Corporate Income Tax Return and audited financial statements
5. Others
For the Revenue Department you will need to write a letter explain why you want to change your company’s accounting year-end and say what your first accounting period will be once they approve your new accounting year-end. After the RD has checked all your documents, they will approve it and send a letter to the company within a few weeks/months.
After you got the letter of approval from the RD, you will submit online some forms with more or less the above set of documents for changing accounting year-end to the DBD.
Once the DBD approves, you will be able to change your accounting year-end. However, no set of accounts will be for more than 12 months. From the example, if your current accounting year-end is 31 August and you have been approved to change it to 31 December of every year, here are what you will do (now is September 2021):
1. The financial year ended 31 August 2021 – you need to submit the audited financials and corporate income tax return to the Revenue Department within 150 days from 31 August 2021. However, for the Department of Business Development, you need to hold an AGM to approve the audited financials within 31 Dec 2021 and submit it within one month from the AGM date.
2. For the following accounting period, because the DBD’s approval comes out before 31 December 2021, then you will have to close the accounts as of 31 December 2021 within about 5 months about end of May 2022.
Note that if the DBD’s approval comes out after 31 December 2021, then you will close the accounts as of 31 August 2022, then 31 December 2022.
Consult with MSNA Group, your trusted Thai accountants who speak fluent English and have been in the business servicing international business community for over 25 years.
