Practical guides to bookkeeping, VAT, corporate tax, payroll and supporting records, with responsible authorities, process steps, document checklists and official sources.
The Accounting Act B.E. 2543 requires juristic persons registered in Thailand to keep accounts and retain supporting documents. This page explains who bears the duty, who may act as bookkeeper, and how foreign-language records are handled.
A Thai juristic person must prepare annual financial statements, have them audited by a certified auditor, approve them at a shareholders’ meeting and file them with the DBD. This page sets out the sequence and the foreign documents that commonly need certified translation.
Companies operating in Thailand file corporate income tax with the Revenue Department on both a half-year and an annual basis. This page explains the sequence, the supporting records, and foreign documents such as tax residence certificates used for treaty relief.
Employers in Thailand must withhold tax from employees’ income and remit it to the Revenue Department, and must register employees with and contribute to the Social Security Fund. This page covers the core duties and the foreign employee documents that usually need certified translation.
A business whose sales or service income passes the threshold set by the Revenue Code, or that carries on an activity requiring registration, must apply for VAT registration with the Revenue Department. This page sets out the conditions, the sequence, the documents and how a foreign shareholder’s or director’s paperwork must be certified.
A payer who withholds tax must issue a withholding tax certificate to the recipient, while anyone claiming double tax agreement relief usually needs a residence certificate from the Revenue Department. This page explains the documents, the sequence and the certification needed before overseas use.
A Thai limited company or registered partnership answers to two main authorities: the Department of Business Development (DBD), which supervises bookkeeping and annual financial statements under the Accounting Act B.E. 2543 (2000), and the Revenue Department, which administers corporate income tax, withholding tax and VAT. Payroll adds a third — the Social Security Office.
These duties start on the registration date, not when revenue starts. A dormant company still has to close its books and file audited statements every year, which is the point foreign owners most often miss.
Monthly: withholding-tax returns (PND 1, 3, 53), the PP 30 VAT return for registered businesses, and social-security contributions. Half-yearly: the PND 51 estimated corporate tax return. Annually: a shareholders’ meeting to approve the accounts, filing of statements audited by a Certified Public Accountant with the DBD, the PND 50 corporate tax return and the shareholder list (Bor.Or.Jor.5).
Exact deadlines can change by official notice and e-filing often carries an extension, so each guide links to the official source to check the current date before you file.
Newly incorporated? Start with setting up the books and record keeping, then VAT and withholding tax. Hiring staff? Read payroll and social security. Approaching year-end? Read the audit and filing guides.
The guides are general information, not tax advice for your situation. Tax outcomes depend on how transactions are actually structured, so have a bookkeeper or auditor review your records before acting.
Receiving company income into a personal bank account; keeping copies instead of original tax invoices, which blocks input-VAT credit; forgetting to withhold tax on service payments; and leaving director loans undocumented. Each is easy to avoid if the system is set up in the first month.
ผู้ประกอบการต้องเก็บบัญชี เอกสารที่ใช้ลงบัญชี และเอกสารที่เกี่ยวข้องไว้ไม่น้อยกว่าห้าปีตาม พ.ร.บ.การบัญชี นับจากวันปิดบัญชี และผู้มีหน้าที่เสียภาษีต้องเก็บเอกสารที่เกี่ยวกับการคำนวณภาษีไว้ให้เจ้าหน้าที่ตรวจสอบได้ เอกสารสำคัญได้แก่ ใบกำกับภาษี ใบเสร็จรับเงิน สัญญา สมุดบัญชีธนาคาร และรายงานการประชุมผู้ถือหุ้น
การเก็บเอกสารเป็นไฟล์อิเล็กทรอนิกส์ทำได้ แต่ต้องสามารถเรียกดูและพิมพ์ออกมาได้เมื่อเจ้าหน้าที่ร้องขอ บริษัทที่มีธุรกรรมกับต่างประเทศควรเก็บสัญญาและหลักฐานการโอนเงินไว้ครบ เพราะการหักภาษี ณ ที่จ่ายและการโอนกำไรออกนอกประเทศต้องใช้เอกสารเหล่านี้ประกอบ
Under the Accounting Act, an operator must keep accounts, supporting documents and related records for at least five years from the closing date, and tax records must remain available for official inspection. Key documents include tax invoices, receipts, contracts, bank statements and shareholders’ meeting minutes.
Electronic storage is allowed, but records must be retrievable and printable on request. Companies with cross-border transactions should keep contracts and remittance evidence complete, because withholding tax and profit remittance abroad both rely on these documents.
The Accounting Act requires books and supporting documents to be kept at the bookkeeping location for at least five years from the closing date, and the Revenue Code requires VAT-registered businesses to keep input and output tax reports, tax invoices and copies for at least five years as well; the Director-General can require longer in some cases.
File these separately from day one: purchase and sales tax invoices, receipts, withholding-tax certificates (50 Tawi), monthly bank statements, leases and employment contracts, the fixed-asset register with depreciation, board and shareholder minutes, and social-security payment proofs. Scans make retrieval fast, but keep the paper originals the law expects.
A bookkeeper must meet DBD qualification rules and be notified to the department; they record transactions and prepare the statements. A Certified Public Accountant (CPA) is registered with the Federation of Accounting Professions, must be independent of the company’s bookkeeper, and gives an opinion on the statements — they do not keep the books.
Small registered partnerships under the statutory thresholds for capital, assets and revenue may use a Tax Auditor (TA) instead of a CPA; every limited company needs a CPA. Thresholds can change by notice, so confirm with the Revenue Department before appointing.
Foreign directors usually want English statements and tax reports for the parent company or their home-country filings. Filings with Thai authorities must be in Thai, so the English version is supporting material; agree at the outset which version prevails if they differ.
Dividends, interest, service fees or royalties paid abroad attract withholding tax at Revenue Code rates, which may be reduced under Thailand’s double-tax agreement with the recipient’s country — supported by the recipient’s tax Certificate of Residence.
A business whose taxable turnover exceeds THB 1.8 million a year must register for VAT within 30 days of crossing the threshold, and a business may register voluntarily earlier. Once registered, it must issue full tax invoices, charge VAT at the prevailing rate, file PP 30 every month even with no sales, and keep input and output tax reports. Exports of goods are zero-rated, while certain activities such as residential rental and some financial services are exempt.
Registering voluntarily lets a start-up reclaim input VAT on set-up costs, but it also commits the business to monthly filing from the start. Weigh the administrative load against the expected input-tax recovery before choosing.
Who will actually record our transactions, and are they a notified bookkeeper? Which CPA will audit us, and is that person independent of your bookkeeping team? How do you receive our documents each month, and by what date? Who files PND, PP 30 and social-security returns, and who bears penalties caused by late filing on your side? Can we receive English management reports? Clear written answers avoid most disputes later.
A company that stops trading is not closed until it is formally dissolved, liquidated and the liquidation is registered with the DBD, with final statements audited and tax clearance from the Revenue Department where required. Until then, monthly and annual filings remain due, and missed filings accumulate penalties against the company and its directors. If the business may restart, keep the books current rather than abandoning them.
The Accounting Act requires books and supporting documents to be kept at the business premises for at least five years from the closing date, and the Revenue Code requires separate input- and output-VAT reports. Keep tax invoices, receipts, payment vouchers, leases and service contracts, 50 Tawi withholding certificates, meeting minutes and a copy of every return filed.
Where records are in a foreign language, a tax officer may ask for a Thai translation during an audit. Translating key intercompany agreements and parent-company invoices in advance shortens any review.
Payments of service fees, royalties, interest or dividends to a non-resident usually require withholding and a PND 54 return, and some imported services also require self-assessed VAT on a PP 36. A double-tax treaty may reduce the rate, but only with the recipient’s Certificate of Residence on file.
This most often affects subsidiaries of foreign groups and companies paying for software or online advertising. Check the contract and the type of income before each payment: under-withholding leaves the Thai payer liable for the tax plus surcharges.
A bookkeeper must meet DBD qualification rules and register with the Federation of Accounting Professions, and the statements must be audited by a separate Certified Public Accountant. Most small companies therefore outsource bookkeeping and appoint an independent auditor.
Before engaging anyone, verify their registration with the Federation, get the scope of work in writing, and agree who files online and who holds the company’s e-Filing credentials.
Service fees paid to individuals in Thailand are subject to withholding tax at the rates in the Revenue Code, with a withholding certificate (50 Tawi) issued to the payee. Where the payee is a foreign company without a permanent establishment in Thailand, the rate depends on the income type and may be reduced or exempted under a double tax treaty, supported by a certificate of residence.
A common error is paying the gross amount without withholding, which leaves the payer liable for the shortfall plus surcharges. Have your bookkeeper review every cross-border contract before the first transfer.
Rules and fees change. Confirm current requirements with the responsible authority before filing.