THAI ACCOUNTANT answers a question regarding VAT tax point.

Question:

We are going to sign a contract with a Thai government agency and they asked us not to date the service quotation and the invoices that we will send to them until they tell us to. Can we do it that way? Will it affect our taxes?

Answer:

I think you can do it that way if it just only for services. However, you need to make sure your invoice is NOT a Tax Invoice. (When they are going to pay, then you will issue a tax invoice). This is because if you send your tax invoice to the client without a date, it is very risky and your company will be fined if the Revenue Department finds out. And you need to submit the VAT too far in advance even though you don’t need to yet. It affects the cash flow of the company.

The tax point of VAT for a service business is when we get paid not when we invoice the client. Normally, you need to issue a tax invoice when you get paid. However, if part of the business of the Thai company is to sell goods, the tax invoice of the sale transaction must be issued when delivering the goods or getting paid whichever comes first.

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