In response to the Thai Cabinet’s resolution on 26 January 2021, the following tax measures have been launched to relieve the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Lower Registration Fees for Residential Property Transactions

To adopt the Thai Cabinet’s resolution, the Ministry of Interior announced notifications to reduce registration fees for residential property transactions on 1 February 2021 and the said notifications were promulgated in the Royal Gazette on 2 February 2021 which has been in effect from 3 February 2021.

Under the relevant notifications, the registration fee for transfer of certain types of residential property will be reduced to 0.01% (from the normal 2%) based on the official appraised value. Transfers qualifying for the reduction are transfers of land together with a residential building (e.g., single house, semi-detached house, town house, or row house), or of a residential condominium unit, of which:

• the transfer price does not exceed 3 million baht;
• the transferor is a licensed land developer or licensed condominium developer; and
• the transfer must be done during 3 February 2021 to 31 December 2021.

The fee for registration of a mortgage in any of these cases will also be reduced to 0.01% (from the normal 1%) of the mortgage value if the mortgage registration is made together with the transfer.

Lowering Land and Building Tax

As a result of official publication of the Royal Decree on Land and Building Tax Reduction (No. 2) B.E. 2564 (2021) in the Royal Gazette on 31 January 2021, land and building tax for 2021 will continue to be reduced by 90% from the statutory amount otherwise payable, resulting in land and building taxpayers continuing to be entitled to pay 10% of the otherwise applicable tax, as was also the case in 2020. The land and buildings which are qualified for this tax scheme are as follows.

1. Land or building used for agricultural purposes;
2. Land or building used for residential purposes;
3. Land or building used for purposes other than a. and b.; and
4. Vacant or unutilized land or buildings.

 Extending Tax E-Filing Deadlines

On 28 January 2021, the Ministry of Finance issued notifications to provide an extension of deadlines for e-filing of the following tax returns as summarized below:

• Personal Income Tax 2020:

The extended deadline for filing personal income tax returns for the 2020 tax year is 30 June 2021 (otherwise would have been 8 April 2021).

• Withholding Tax during January to May 2021:

For withholding tax returns which are required to be filed during February to June 2021 the deadline for filing is extended to the last day of the month in which the applicable return would normally be required to be filed (normally this would be the 15^th day of the following tax month).

• Value Added Tax (VAT) during January to May 2021:

For monthly VAT returns and VAT remittance returns which are required to be filed during February to June 2021 the deadline for filing is extended to the last day of the month in which those returns are required to be filed (normally it would be the 23^rd day of the following tax month for monthly online VAT returns and the 15^th day of the following tax month for online VAT remittance returns).

For any further information, please contact our team at Price Sanond.