Are foreigners allowed to bring branded cars into Thailand?

According to the Customs, foreigners are allowed to import cars to Thailand provided that applicable taxes are paid and proper clearances are obtained. For personal use, personal vehicles such as car, motorcycle, sports boat or yachts and fishing vessel, etc. can be imported into Thailand either temporarily or permanently.

In a temporary import of personal vehicles for a short visit into Thailand by owners, tax or duty allowance can be granted provided that they are to be re-exported within 1-2 months but not exceeding six months. Any persons intending to temporarily import personal vehicles have to closely observe the regulations and conditions of Customs.

For permanent import of vehicles, new vehicles of all types that are not yet registered abroad are allowed to be imported without applying for an import permit from the Ministry of Commerce. For used or secondhand vehicles, the importer needs to obtain an import permit from the Foreign Trade Department of the Ministry of Commerce before the arrival of the vehicles otherwise he/she will be liable to a fine equal to 10% of the price of vehicle but not less than Baht 1,000 or exceeding Baht 20,000. For new or used vehicles with the weight of less than 3500 kgs., the importer needs to obtain an import permit from the Industrial Standard Institute.

Know more about your tax obligations in Thailand. Contact MSNA for consultation.

Foreign companies carrying on business in Thailand, whether as a branch or an office must apply for tax identification number from the Revenue Department. An application form (Lor Por 10.3) together with other relevant documents such as a copy of the company’s registration license, house registration, etc., shall be submitted to the Area Revenue Office within 60 days from the date of registration or operation.

Moreover, all companies whether a Thai or foreign which carries on business in Thailand must submit the corporate income tax returns and payments twice a year:

1. The half year tax return must be submitted (Corporate Income Tax PND 51 form) within two months after the end of the first six months. The amount of tax due shall be half of the entire year projection of the company’s annual net profit.
2. The annual tax return (Corporate Income Tax PND 50 form) must be submitted within 150 days after the closing date of its accounting period.

Contact MSNA for further assistance in filing your half year corporate income tax return and annual corporate income tax return in Thailand.

Not all foreigners working in Thailand are required to obtain a work permit. Under Section 4 of Working of Alien Act B.E. 2551 (2008), exemptions from the work permit requirement are granted to foreign individuals performing certain duties and missions as follows:

1. Members of consular missions
2. Members of diplomatic corps
3. Representatives of member countries and officials of the United Nations and its specialized agencies or institutions
4. Personal servants coming from abroad to work exclusively for persons listed under items 1, 2 or 3
5. Persons who perform duties on missions in the Kingdom under an agreement between the government of Thailand and a foreign government or international organization
6. Persons who enter into the Kingdom for the performance of any duty or mission for the benefit of education, culture, arts or sports
7. Persons who are specially permitted by the Thai Government to enter into and perform any duty or mission in the Kingdom.

Foreigner working in Thailand? Contact ThaiLawyers for your Thai visa and work permit needs.

There are certain categories of taxpayers and income which are exempt from Corporate Income Tax in Thailand as follows:

1. The categories of taxpayers which are exempt from Corporate Income Tax are as follows:

– Companies which were granted exemption from tax for a period of time by the Board of Investment under the Investment Promotion Act (1977);

– Foreign organizations under mutual agreements or diplomatic organizations.

– Specific foundations or organizations; and

1. The categories of income which are exempt from Corporate Income Tax are as follows:

– A special purpose vehicle (“SPV”) for securitization is granted the tax exemption on income derived from a securitization project approved by the Office of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). Nevertheless, the operation and allocation of cash inflow for the settlement of debts and expenses must follow the plan approved by the SEC. moreover, no dividends may be paid to the shareholders of an SPV until all remaining assets and benefits have been transferred by the SPV back to the originator of the securitization project and the SPV ceases to exist.

– Interest on foreign loans paid to financial institutions organized under a specific law and wholly-owned by a foreign government;

– Interest on government bonds paid to a foreign company not carrying on business in Thailand;

– Interest on foreign currency deposits received from a commercial bank used for lending to non-Thai nationals domiciled or residing abroad, foreign companies not carrying on business in Thailand and foreign banks including those with a branch or representative office in Thailand.

– Dividends received from foreign investments are exempt from tax provided that the Thai company receiving the dividends has held at least 25% of the shares with voting rights of the company paying the dividends for a period of not less than six months before the date on which the dividends were received and the dividends were derived from net profits in the foreign country taxed at a rate of not lower than 15%. In the event that a “special law” in a particular foreign country provides a reduced tax rate or exemption for the net profits, the limited company which receives the dividends is still eligible for the tax exemption;

– Dividends or share of profits paid by an unincorporated joint venture to a Thai company or foreign company carrying on business in Thailand;

– Dividends received from a Thai company by a company listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand. Dividends received by a non-listed company from another Thai company are also exempt from tax, provided that the company receiving the dividends holds at least 25% of the total shares with voting rights without any direct or indirect cross-shareholding. In other cases where one Thai company receives a dividend from another Thai company, one-half of the dividend is exempt from tax. However, in all cases, the listed or non-listed company receiving a dividend must have held the shares in the company paying the dividend for at least three months before and three months after the dividend was received. In the case of an amalgamation (merger) or entire business transfer (EBT), the new or surviving company can include the period of ownership of any predecessor company that was part of the amalgamation or EBT when counting the three-month period;

Contact MSNA for your Thai accounting, taxation and other business needs.

At present, the Corporate Income Tax (CIT) rate is 23% for accounting periods beginning between 1 January and 31 December 2012. For accounting periods beginning between 1 January 2013 and 31 December 2014, CIT rate is 20%.

The CIT rates for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are as follows:

i. For accounting periods beginning between 1 January and 31 December 2012:

Net profit (THB) CIT rate

0 – 150,000 -0-

150,000 – 1,000,000 15%

Over 1,000,000 23%

ii. For accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2013:

Net profit (THB) CIT rate

0 – 150,000 -0-

150,000 – 1,000,000 15%

Over 1,000,000 20%

In order to be eligible for the reduced tax rates, the SMEs must meet the following conditions effective from the accounting period which begins on or after 1 January 2012:

(1) The paid-up capital on the last day of any accounting period must not exceed THB 5 million;

(2) The income from the sale of goods and provision of services must not exceed THB 30 million in any accounting period.

On the other hand, banks are subject to CIT at the rate of 10% in respect of profits derived from lending to non-Thai residents from foreign currency funds obtained from non-Thai sources.

Contact MSNA for your Thai accounting and taxation questions.

In Thailand, an employee is expected to follow the Employer’s disciplinary measures as follows:

1. He or she must comply with the work rules.
2. He or she must comply and follow a lawful order of a superior.
3. He or she must perform work on the time assigned and make the working time in record.
4. He or she must perform duties with integrity and must not persecute or intend to cause any damage to an employer or other employees.
5. He or she must perform work actively with utmost effort.
6. He or she must follow a regulation on occupational safety.
7. As necessary or as suitable to his/her duty, he or she must maintain machines, tools and equipment to be in a good condition and well keeping.
8. Employees must carefully carry out surveillance and prevention against the potential loss or damage made by a person or other ominous incidents to property in working place or factory compound with full of ability.
9. Employees must keep a workplace or factory compounds clean and clear.
10. He or she must not make a brawl with or an assault against any person in a workplace or factory compounds.
11. He or she must not take illegal drugs, a lethal weapon or an explosive substance into a workplace or factory compound.

In the event of an employee acts against these disciplinary measures, he or she will be warned in oral, warned in writing, suspended or dismissed according to the level of his/her offence. Whereas, an employee allegedly violate the disciplinary measures, the employer may issue a written order of the suspension stating the offence committed and the period of suspension of not exceeding 7 days and notify the employee prior to the suspension.

During the suspension, the employer must pay the employee of not less than 50% of the wages of a working day prior to his/her suspension. Upon the completion of the investigation, if it appears that the employee is not guilty, the employer must pay wages to the employee equivalent to the wages of a working day from the date of suspension. The payment must be included as part of the employee’s wages, plus interest at a rate of 15% per annum.

Know more about your duties as an employer in Thailand. Contact MSNA for Thai Labor Law consultation and related services.

Through its medical hub policy, the Thai government will serve as a facilitator for private hospitals in helping them to improve their medical services to foreign visitors seeking health care in Thailand. Thus, the Thai government ensures that the medical hub policy would not affect the availability of affordable health care for Thai people. The policy involves mainly the operations of private hospitals while government hospitals still focus on medical services for Thai nationals so it should not adversely affect Thai patients and the government would not spend national funds on private hospitals.

The government had recently organized the first workshop for hospitals under the Ministry of Public Health and the Ministry of Education to work together in an integrated manner so that they would optimize the use of existing resources. In the workshop, they discussed the road map to proceed with Thailand’s medical hub policy which also includes the creation of more qualified physicians. More workshops will be held for further discussions on the issue.

Apart from serving as the facilitator, the public sector would help boost the image of the country in terms of medical advances. The medical hub policy would encourage health establishments in Thailand to improve their health services to higher standards. This will enhance the competitiveness of Thailand as a country as well.

In developing Thailand into a regional medical hub, the Thai government will emphasize four areas. In the first area, Thailand will be promoted as a wellness hub with full cycle services. The second area is that the medical service hub will link with spa services and health tourism. The third area aims to turn Thailand into an academic hub for health care. The fourth area aims to develop Thailand into a pharmaceutical and health products center.

Since 2012, the number of medical tourists visiting Thailand is continuously rising. In facilitating their trips to Thailand, the Government has granted visa extension from 30 days to 90 days for nationals of six countries in the Middle East in the initial stage so that they can stay in Thailand for a longer period for medical services. Visa extensions will later be granted to medical tourists from other countries.

More updates on this medical hub policy will be announced later. Visiting Thailand? Obtain a proper type of Thai visa before leaving your country. Contact ThaiLawyers for Thai visa application assistance.

Further to the duties of a taxpayer summarized in the previous article, today, Thai Tax Expert outlines the rights of a taxpayer in Thailand as follows:

Tax installment payment

For personal income tax, a taxpayer can pay any tax amount which exceeds 3,000 Baht in up to three installments without paying fines or surcharges.

A taxpayer can file a request for an installment payment of tax arrears. However, such payment must meet the requirements set by the Thai Revenue Department.

Application for exemption or reduction of fine and surcharge

A taxpayer has the duty to file his tax return and pay proper taxes on time. Should he fail to do so, he will be subject to fine and surcharge on top of the tax due. However, on some special grounds he may request for exemption or reduction of fine. A tax officer does not have the power under any law to exempt or reduce surcharge. Only in the case where the Director-General grants an extension of the time period of tax payment or remittance and such tax has been paid or remitted within the extended time period, then the surcharge may be reduced to 50% thereof.

Access to documents

A taxpayer has the right to make a copy of his documents relevant to his past tax payment record (tax returns and receipt).

Appeal in dispute of tax assessment

In the case where a taxpayer disagrees with the assessment made by the assessment officer, he has the right to appeal to the Commission of Appeals (in the form P.S.6) within 30 days starting from the day which an assessment notice has been received.

Should a taxpayer disagree with the ruling of the Commission of Appeals, he has the right to appeal within 30 days starting from the day the ruling of the Commission of Appeals has been received. Should he fail to appeal within 30 days, he no longer has the right to appeal and must pay the whole amount of tax, fine and surcharge.

Deferral of tax payment by using collateral for tax arrears

The right to appeal is not a deferral of tax payment.

A taxpayer who receives a tax assessment notice must pay tax on time as stated in the assessment notice. However, should he wish to wait for the hearing or decision of the Commission of Appeals, he has the right to defer tax payment by providing various securities as collateral in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Revenue Department.

Know more about the rights and duties of taxpayers in Thailand. Contact MSNA for Thai accounting and taxation services.

In Thailand, all juristic companies, partnerships, branches of foreign companies and joint ventures are required to prepare financial statements for each accounting period. The financial statements must be audited by and subjected to the opinion of a certified Thai auditor with the exception of the financial statement of a registered partnership established under Thai law, whose total capital, assets and income are not more than that prescribed in Ministerial Regulations. The performance record is to be certified by the company’s auditor, approved by shareholders and filed with the Commercial Registration Department of the Ministry of Commerce and with the Revenue Department of the Ministry of Finance.

Preparation and filing of reporting requirements vary based upon the type of business entity selected such as follows:

For a private limited company

The company director is responsible for arranging the annual meeting of shareholders to approve the company’s audited financial statements within 4 months at the end of the fiscal year and filing the audited statement and supporting documents including a list of shareholders on the date of the meeting to the Registrar no later than 1 month after the date of the shareholder meeting.

For a public limited company

The company director is responsible for arranging the annual meeting of shareholders to approve the audited financial statements of a company within 4 months at the end of the fiscal year. A copy of the audited financial statement and annual report, together with a copy of the minutes of the shareholder meeting approving the financial statement, should be certified by the director and submitted to the Registrar along with a list of shareholders on the date of the meeting no later than 1 month after approval at the shareholder’s meeting. The company is also required to publish the balance sheet for public information in a newspaper for a period of at least 1 day within 1 month of the date it was approved at the shareholder’s meeting.

For a foreign company such as branch office, representative office or regional office and excluding joint ventures

The Manager of the branch office must submit a copy of the financial statement to the Registrar no later than 150 days after the end of the fiscal year. In this kind of set up, approval of the shareholder meeting is not required.

To ensure that your reporting requirements are prepared properly and submitted within the specified deadline, it is essential to have a good and diligent accountant. Contact English speaking accountants of MSNA for your accounting, tax and audit needs.

Today, Thai Tax Expert talks about the duties of a taxpayer in Thailand.

A taxpayer is an individual or entity that has the duty to pay taxes and is classified into two:

1. Resident – any individual residing in Thailand for a period or several periods in total of at least 180 days in a tax year (January 1 to December 31) who has a duty to pay tax on income remitted from a source in Thailand as well as on any income from a foreign source in connection with the taxpayers’ employment or business carried on overseas or a property situation overseas and that income is remitted into Thailand within the year that the taxpayer receives that income.
2. Non-resident– the one who is subject to tax only on income from sources in Thailand.

A taxpayer has the following duties:

• File tax returns and pay proper tax
• Register for tax identification number and must also notify the Revenue Department officers of any changes in his particular details
• Pay tax as assessed by the Revenue Department officers on time
• Provide relevant documents and accounts as the law requires. These include receipts, profit and loss statements, Balance sheets, special accounts, etc.
• Cooperate and assist the Revenue Department officers and provide additional documents or information when required as well as comply with the summon

If in any case a taxpayer fails to pay a complete amount of tax, the Revenue Department assessment officer has the right to seize, attach and sell that asset (source of income) by auction even without a court decision and the cash that will be raised from the transaction will be used to pay off tax arrears. Eventually, any taxpayer who does not comply with the law will face civil and criminal action.

Understand better the Thai taxation and know more about your duties as a taxpayer in Thailand. Contact English speaking accountants and Thai tax experts of MSNA for consultation.