Tax, Accounting & Financial Statements

The core set is the parent company's certificate of incorporation, three years of audited financial statements, a board resolution approving the Thai investment, and a power of attorney for the filing agent. Each must be notarised in the country of origin, then apostilled (Hague states) or legalised by the origin foreign ministry plus the Thai embassy, then translated into Thai and legalised at the Department of Consular Affairs. The BOI generally wants documents issued within the last six months, so work backwards from your interview date.

Take the audited statements and the filed PND.50 corporate tax return, have an attorney certify the copies and the director's signature, then translate into English and legalise at the Department of Consular Affairs. From 2026 Thailand issues apostilles, so for Hague member states you no longer need the destination embassy step — which removes several days and one set of fees from the process.

The two most requested are the Certificate of Residence for tax purposes (R.O.22) and the Tax Payment Certificate (R.O.21), both issued by the Revenue Department and used to claim double-tax-treaty relief. Both can be translated and legalised immediately. Ask the Revenue Department for the English-language version at issuance to shorten the translation step.

Staying 180 days or more in a calendar year makes you a Thai tax resident, with an obligation to file on Thai-source income and, under current rules, on foreign income remitted into Thailand. Supporting evidence normally includes income statements and proof of tax paid abroad, which must be translated and certified before filing. Plan with your accountant before the tax year closes rather than after.

A private limited company can now be formed with two or more promoters following the amendment to the Civil and Commercial Code. Name reservation through the Department of Business Development system takes one to three working days. With complete papers filed online, the registrar often completes registration the same day or within three working days. Post-incorporation steps — tax ID, VAT registration and bank account opening — add several more working days.

When turnover from goods or services exceeds the Revenue Code threshold in a year, the application must be filed within thirty days of crossing it. Companies that need work permits for foreign staff, or that supply large corporate customers, often register voluntarily before reaching the threshold so they can issue tax invoices and reclaim input VAT.

Service and hire-of-work fees, rent, advertising, transport and professional fees are the everyday categories, each with its own rate set by Revenue Department orders. The payer must withhold and remit using form PND.3 or PND.53 by the seventh of the following month, extended for online filing, and must issue a withholding tax certificate to the recipient every time.

Financial statements must be audited by a licensed auditor, approved by the shareholders' meeting within four months of the year end, filed with the Department of Business Development through DBD e-Filing within one month of approval, and reported to the Revenue Department on form PND.50 within one hundred and fifty days of the year end. Late filing attracts fines from both authorities and directors can be fined personally.

Anyone present in Thailand for one hundred and eighty days or more in a tax year is tax resident, and under Revenue Department guidance foreign-source income remitted into Thailand must be included in the tax computation, with possible relief under the double tax agreement with the source country. Keep evidence of the source, the remittance date and any foreign tax paid, and check the current guidance with the Revenue Department before filing.

Beyond the tax privileges that vary by activity, the practical ones are the e-Expert system for approving skilled and expert foreign positions, visa and work permit processing through the one-stop service centre, and the right to hold land for the promoted activity. All of them depend on maintaining the conditions of the promotion certificate and reporting on schedule.

Dissolve and liquidate it properly. A company that has not been dissolved still owes annual financial statements and tax returns, and failure to file accumulates fines and exposes the directors. The steps are a shareholders' resolution to dissolve, registration of the dissolution and appointment of a liquidator, public notice to creditors, final tax filings, and finally registration of the completion of liquidation.

The order that works is: confirm the visa category matches your purpose, secure housing and file the TM.30 address notification, obtain a certificate of residence from immigration or your embassy, then open a bank account, convert or obtain a Thai driving licence, and plan for tax once you meet the residence test. Doing these out of order usually creates document dependencies that force you to start again.

A representative office may only carry out non-revenue activities such as sourcing, quality inspection and market reporting for the head office, so it earns nothing in Thailand and pays no corporate income tax on profit. A branch may sign contracts and earn revenue locally, but needs a foreign business licence and pays tax on Thai-sourced profit. Both require a full set of notarised and legalised parent-company documents.

Yes, but the missing accounts must be replaced with other proof that the business genuinely operates: an office lease with photographs of the premises, VAT registration, employer registration with the Social Security Office, evidence that capital was actually remitted to the company account, and first client or supplier contracts. Officers frequently make a site visit, so a real signboard and working desks at the registered address matter.

Registration is required within 30 days of turnover reaching THB 1.8 million per year, and may be done voluntarily earlier when clients need tax invoices. For foreign staff matters, the PP.20 certificate is one of the documents the Department of Employment and Immigration rely on to confirm the business is trading, so it is regularly requested when applying for and renewing work permits and Non-B visas.

Monthly: PND.1 payroll withholding, PND.3 and PND.53 supplier withholding, and PP.30 for VAT, alongside social security contributions. Half-yearly: PND.51. Annually: PND.50 with financial statements audited by a licensed Thai auditor, plus the SBC.3 filing with the Department of Business Development within the statutory period after the annual general meeting.

Dissolution needs two shareholder meetings, registration of the dissolution and appointment of a liquidator, newspaper publication and creditor notice, settlement of debts and collection of receivables, closing tax filings and surrender of the VAT certificate, and finally registration of completed liquidation. In practice this runs about six to twelve months, mostly depending on the Revenue Department's refund audit. Ordinary filings continue until closure is registered.

Contractually yes, but there is no Thai employer to file social security and withhold tax, so the employee must file personal income tax independently, and that foreign entity cannot sponsor a work permit or Non-B visa. The usual solutions are incorporating a Thai entity, engaging a properly licensed employer of record, or placing the employee on a visa category that permits remote work under its own conditions.

A BOI certificate grants shareholding, land, visa and work permit privileges through the e-Expert system for the approved activity. An International Business Center is a Revenue Department tax regime for support services provided to affiliated companies abroad, subject to minimum annual local expenditure and headcount. Many groups hold both, but revenue must be segregated in the accounts to survive audit.

Anyone present in Thailand for 180 days or more in a tax year is a Thai tax resident and must file PND.90/91 covering Thai-sourced income, and foreign-sourced income according to the Revenue Department rules in force for that year. Tax already paid abroad may be creditable under an applicable double tax agreement, so keep foreign tax certificates and remittance records every year.

RO 22 certifies Thai tax residence and RO 21 certifies tax withheld. Both are presented to foreign tax authorities to claim double tax treaty relief or a refund of tax deducted abroad. Applications go to the Large Taxpayer Office or the local Revenue office with copies of returns and receipts, and take roughly one to two weeks. For overseas use, add a certified translation legalised by the Department of Consular Affairs.

Confirm that the visa category matches the actual purpose, then secure housing and file the TM.30 address notification so an address record exists. Use it to obtain a residence certificate from immigration or the embassy, then open a bank account and convert or obtain a Thai driving licence, and finally plan tax once the 180-day residence test is met. Reversing the order usually creates missing source documents and repeated steps.

Monthly filings usually include PND.1 payroll withholding, PND.3 and PND.53 withholding on payments to individuals and companies, and PP.30 if the company is VAT registered. Annually there is PND.51 at the half year, PND.50 with audited financial statements, and the SBC.3 submission to the Department of Business Development. Nil filings are still required when there is no activity, otherwise penalties accrue per form.

BOI promotion allows full foreign ownership in promoted activities and gives faster visa and work permit channels, with land rights for some categories, but the activity and minimum investment must qualify. A Foreign Business Licence suits service businesses outside BOI scope, takes longer to obtain and carries no tax incentives. The right route depends on the activity and the growth plan, so the analysis should come before incorporation.

Dissolution starts with a three quarters shareholder resolution, registration of the dissolution and appointment of a liquidator, newspaper notice to creditors, VAT deregistration and final tax filings, audited accounts as at the dissolution date, and finally registration of completion of liquidation. In practice it commonly takes several months up to about a year because the Revenue Department review drives the timeline.

Foreign electronic service providers whose Thai customers are not VAT registered must register for VAT through the Revenue Department VES system once turnover exceeds the threshold, and remit VAT monthly without issuing tax invoices. Where the Thai customer is a VAT registered company, the customer self assesses and remits using form PP.36 instead.

Contractually it is possible, but it creates obligations inside Thailand: personal income tax withholding, social security registration, and the risk that the employee's activity is treated as a permanent establishment, which makes the parent company taxable here. The usual alternatives are a subsidiary, a representative office or an employer of record, and each has different tax and work-permit consequences. We compare the structures against your revenue plan first, then handle the registrations in one coordinated sequence.

A representative office may only perform non-revenue activities such as sourcing, quality inspection and market reporting for the parent company, so it has no trading income to tax, but it must remit operating funds under the prescribed conditions and cannot issue sales tax invoices. A limited company can trade fully, though majority foreign ownership brings the Foreign Business Act into play unless BOI promotion is obtained. Choose on the basis of your revenue plan for the next three years rather than on ease of incorporation.

An employer must register within thirty days of engaging its first employee and remit contributions by the fifteenth of the following month. Foreign employees working lawfully under a work permit are covered on the same basis as Thai staff. The SSO 1-10 filings evidencing actual remittance matter later, because they are checked when the work permit and business visa are renewed. We reconcile payroll, withholding tax and social security every month so the three sets of records agree.

Payments of service fees, royalties or interest to a foreign recipient are generally subject to withholding under section 70, remitted on form PND.54, alongside VAT on imported services remitted on form PP.36. The effective rate may be reduced by a double tax agreement where the recipient provides a certificate of tax residence. The frequent error is classifying a payment as a service fee when it is a royalty, or the reverse, because the rates differ. We review the contract and prepare the supporting file before each payment.

Start at least thirty days before expiry. The core documents are the current company affidavit, the latest filed financial statements, the PND.50 and monthly PND.1 filings, SSO 1-10 forms, the list of Thai employees, the employment contract, the passport and existing work permit, plus photographs and the medical certificate required by the labour office. The usual obstacles are sustained losses in the accounts or a shortfall in the Thai-employee ratio, both of which need planning months ahead rather than in the filing week.

e-Tax invoice and e-Receipt remain optional for VAT-registered operators, subject to Revenue Department approval and the use of a digital certificate for signing. The benefits are less paper storage and easier retrospective checking; the constraint is that data must be transmitted in the prescribed format and within the deadline. If the accounting system does not support it, the change adds work rather than saving it, so assess monthly document volume before switching.