Accounting and tax for hotels, guesthouses and serviced apartments in Pattaya

VAT on what you charge guests

Thai VAT is not written industry by industry: under the Revenue Code, entrepreneurs who sell goods or provide services in Thailand, as well as importers of goods, are liable to pay value added tax. What that reaches in your case we go through with you on your own bookings and bills.

• Rate: 10% under the Revenue Code, currently reduced to 7% by Royal Decree and liable to change — the Revenue Department's latest announcements apply.
• Threshold: annual turnover of THB 1.8 million, below which small businesses are exempt — a figure prescribed by Royal Decree and subject to change. Over it, the ภ.พ.01 (PP01) application goes in within 30 days of the date the threshold is exceeded; under it, registration is voluntary under Section 81/3 — a VAT-exempt or small business registering while still below the mandatory threshold — and an operator that registers that way may not unilaterally cease paying value added tax after registration unless it applies for cancellation as provided by law and obtains the Director-General's approval.
• Each tax month: output tax (ภาษีขาย) less input tax (ภาษีซื้อ), with the balance paid when the ภ.พ.30 (PP30) return is filed. Purchases used in both VAT-taxable and non-VAT business are apportioned according to the criteria, procedures and conditions the Director-General prescribes, and input tax on entertainment-type spending can never be credited, its exact scope judged under the criteria and conditions the Director-General prescribes.

Tax invoices for guests and agents

A VAT-registered operator must issue a tax invoice and its copy immediately when the VAT liability arises on every sale of goods or provision of services, and deliver it to the buyer. For services, as a rule liability arises when payment is received, and earlier in proportion if a tax invoice is issued or the service used first; for goods it arrives once the goods are delivered, and deposits or advance payments trigger it early, in proportion.

• For retail or minor-service businesses serving large numbers of walk-in customers the law provides two facilitation channels. One is for minor sales or minor service businesses as determined by the Director-General: a single transaction not exceeding the amount the Director-General determines (statutory cap THB 1,000) needs no tax invoice — and one must still be issued if the buyer requests it.
• The other is the simplified tax invoice: a business the Director-General determines to be retail in nature has the right to issue a simplified tax invoice (ใบกำกับภาษีอย่างย่อ), but a representative may not issue one, and prices displayed in retail business must be VAT-inclusive. That channel changes what the document must contain; it does not remove the duty to issue one.
• Agents and corporate clients need a full tax invoice stating all the Section 86/4 particulars, prepared in Thai language and Thai currency unless the Director-General has approved otherwise, because their input tax deduction depends on it — the tax invoice guide beside this page lists the particulars.
• A registered operator prepares an output tax report and an input tax report, and an operator selling goods a goods and raw materials report as well; the reports follow the form the Director-General prescribes, are prepared separately for each place of business, and entries go in within 3 working days of receiving or disposing of the goods or services. Those reports, the tax invoices and their copies are kept for not less than 5 years.

Staff: payroll and social security

Rosters change every month and the social security paperwork with them. Under Section 33 of the Social Security Act every employee aged at least 15 and under 60 is a compulsory insured person, and an employee who is already insured and, upon reaching 60, is still employed by an employer subject to that Act is deemed to continue as an insured person, so the deducting and remitting carry on after 60. The employer registers them on the แบบรายการขึ้นทะเบียนนายจ้าง and the แบบรายการขึ้นทะเบียนผู้ประกันตน within 30 days of the employee becoming an insured person (Section 34). The obligation turns on whether an employment relationship exists, regardless of probationary, temporary or part-time status, and we confirm the registration and the monthly filing for each of your staff rather than leaving it to the roster. Someone who has already left employment is on the separate voluntary route under Section 39, which works differently.

• Contributions: currently 5% each from employer and employee, with the rate and the minimum and maximum wages used for the calculation all prescribed by Ministerial Regulation and revised from time to time, so the Social Security Office's latest announcement applies. Both portions go in with the contribution list by the 15th of the month following the month of deduction, and staff joining or leaving and wage adjustments are notified by the 15th of the month following the change.
• Late or short: a surcharge of 2% a month on the amount not yet remitted or still outstanding, and the total may not exceed the principal contribution due.
• Hours: regular working hours must not exceed 8 a day and, in total, 48 a week. Overtime on a working day requires the employee's prior consent and is paid at not less than 1.5 times the normal hourly wage — certain employees who have managerial authority are not entitled by law to that overtime pay — and overtime on a rest day at not less than 3 times.
• No paying below the proclaimed minimum wage, and the proclamation is posted in a conspicuous place at the workplace. The daily figure for Chonburi is not set out in the statute but is governed by the Wage Committee's proclamation, which we confirm with you.
• We handle payroll, withholding tax and social security; work permit and visa applications are not on our service list.

Leave, holidays and the weekly day off

A property that opens seven days a week still owes every employee a weekly rest day of not less than 1 day per week, with no more than 6 days between two weekly rest days. Which day of the week it falls on may be fixed in advance, by agreement between the parties.

• For certain work such as hotels, transport, forestry work and work in remote areas, the parties may agree in advance to accumulate weekly rest days and defer them, provided they are taken within 4 consecutive weeks. The deferral only holds if the days are actually given: an employer who fails to provide the statutory rest days must compensate at the holiday work and holiday overtime rates.
• Annual leave: an employee who has worked continuously for a full year is entitled to not less than 6 working days a year, scheduled in advance by the employer or as agreed between the parties, and from the following year the employer may grant more. Under a year of service the employer may grant leave pro rata to the period worked, and untaken days may be accumulated and carried into later years by prior agreement. On departure, accumulated untaken annual leave is paid out whether the employee resigns or is dismissed, and the current year's entitlement is paid pro rata where the dismissal is not for a cause under Section 119.
• Sick leave may be taken for as many days as the employee is actually ill — the law sets no cap on the number of sick days — and for sick leave of 3 or more consecutive working days the employer may require a certificate from a first-class modern medicine practitioner or a government hospital. The paid portion is the working-day rate for no more than 30 working days a year, and days off for a work-related injury or occupational disease, and maternity leave, do not count as sick leave. Necessary personal-business leave is not less than 3 working days a year, paid at the working-day rate for no more than 3 working days.
• Wages run on through weekly rest days (except for employees paid by the day, by the hour or by the piece), traditional holidays and annual leave, so a monthly-salaried employee's pay may not be docked for them. The number of traditional holidays each year and how they are announced follow the provisions of the Labour Protection Act and the official rules, so no figure is printed here and we confirm the year's list with you. Work on a holiday is paid on top of normal wages — not less than 1 times the working-day hourly rate for an employee entitled to holiday wages, not less than 2 times for one who is not — and overtime on a holiday at not less than 3 times.

Withholding tax on what you pay out

Paying another person assessable income — service fees, rent, brokerage fees, interest, royalties — means withholding tax at source from the payment, issuing a withholding tax certificate to the recipient, and then filing a monthly return together with the remittance. At a property, that means rent, agent commissions, laundry, maintenance and security. Staff salaries do not go on either of these forms: employment income is withheld at the time of payment and filed monthly on ภ.ง.ด.1 (PND1), covered under staff below.

• ภ.ง.ด.3 (PND3) where the recipient of the payment is an individual; ภ.ง.ด.53 (PND53) where the recipient is a company or juristic partnership.
• Two copies of the certificate with identical contents each time tax is withheld; for employment income, by 15 February of the following tax year, or within one month from the date of leaving if the employee leaves during the year.
• The withholding at the time of payment, the certificate to the recipient and the monthly return filed together with the remittance are the Revenue Code's own scheme (Sections 50, 52 and 59); the remittance and monthly filing deadline follows the rules set by the Revenue Department, and we confirm it for your company before your first filing. The rates for service fees, rent and brokerage fees are mostly set separately by ministerial regulation or Royal Decree and are not written into the text of the sections, so this page states no rate and we confirm each one against your contract.
• Booking platforms and agents abroad: send us the agreement and we go through it with you before the first payment goes out.

Stamp duty on the building lease

A guesthouse or serviced apartment that rents a whole building signs a tenancy agreement, and that instrument carries stamp duty. A lease of land, buildings, other constructions or rafts is stamped at 1 baht for every 1,000 baht of the total rental for the entire term of lease, any fraction of 1,000 counted as 1,000; the lessor bears the duty and the lessee affixes the stamp. Where the contract does not specify the term, it is deemed to be 3 years.

• Stamping is complete only where the duty is paid before or immediately upon execution of the instrument, at not less than the duty due, and the stamp is then cancelled — signed or stamped with the name of the business, or struck through with the date recorded. An uncancelled stamp is treated as incomplete stamping.
• For an instrument executed in Thailand, submitting it to an official within 15 days from the day complete stamps should have been affixed means paying the duty only, with no additional tax. Otherwise additional tax is collected: 2 times the duty, or 4 baht, whichever is greater, up to 90 days overdue, and 5 times, or 10 baht, whichever is greater, beyond 90 days. Where the shortfall is found through inspection or complaint instead, the charge is heavier again.
• A lease that has not been completely stamped and cancelled may not be used as the original, duplicate, counterpart or copy in evidence in a civil case until the stamps have been completed and cancelled, and paying up then does not cancel the separate claim for additional tax. Classifying a particular instrument and its rate has to be confirmed case by case.

Stamp duty and land and building tax for rented property

Land and building tax

This one is not self-assessed. Any person who owns or occupies land or a building on 1 January of a given year is the taxpayer for that year, and where the taxpayer is a juristic person its representative is responsible for payment. The local administrative organization sends a notice of assessment within February, and the tax is paid in full within April.

• Rates go by use and the Act sets ceilings only: agricultural use not exceeding 0.15% of the tax base, residential use not exceeding 0.3%, other use including commercial not exceeding 1.2%, and land or buildings left vacant or not put to proper use not exceeding 1.2%. The rates, brackets and exemption thresholds actually collected are set by royal decree and local ordinances, are usually lower than the ceilings and may be adjusted from year to year. The guides do not say which use category an accommodation building falls into, so we check the notice against your title documents and keep April in your filing calendar.
• Late payment: a penalty of 40% of the tax in arrears, reduced to 10% if you pay before the warning notice is received and 20% if you pay within the period the warning notice specifies, plus a surcharge of 1% a month of the tax in arrears, any fraction of a month counted as a month — 0.5% a month where an extension is approved and you pay within it — counted from the expiry of the payment deadline, not compounded, not exceeding the tax payable and calculated without including the penalty. Those who qualify may apply to pay by installments; missing one forfeits the right to installments and adds 1% a month on the arrears.
• Where arrears run on, the local administrative organization may seize, attach and sell the property at public auction 90 days after the warning notice is served, and while the tax remains unpaid a transfer of ownership or possession rights in that land or building may not be registered.

Stamp duty and land and building tax for rented property

What has to be filed each month and each year

Monthly first, then once a year.

• ภ.พ.30 (PP30) every month whether or not you made any sales that month, with filing and payment completed within the 15th day of the following month unless the Director-General prescribes otherwise.
• Withholding tax and social security run monthly too: we prepare and file ภ.ง.ด.1 (PND1), ภ.ง.ด.3 (PND3) and ภ.ง.ด.53 (PND53) and the social security contribution list for you.
• Registered partnerships and limited companies established under Thai law, foreign juristic persons carrying on business in Thailand and joint ventures all have the duty to prepare accounts, and the accounts and their supporting documents are preserved for not less than 5 years.
• Limited companies: a Thai limited company closes its accounts once every 12 months (Accounting Act s.10), the annual balance-sheet is audited and an opinion expressed by a licensed auditor (CPA), a copy goes to every shareholder at least 3 days before the meeting, and it is submitted to a general meeting of shareholders for adoption within 4 months after its closing date (CCC s.1197) — a property closing on 31 December usually meets by the end of April — after which the directors file a copy with the Registrar, in practice the DBD, within 1 month after adoption (CCC s.1199; Accounting Act s.11), so by the end of May for that year-end. Both periods run from your own closing and adoption dates rather than fixed calendar dates; registered partnerships, foreign juristic persons and joint ventures instead file within 5 months from the date of account closure, the Director-General may grant an extension or postponement where genuine necessity makes timely filing impossible (Accounting Act s.11), and failing to file on time carries a civil fine of up to 50,000 baht (Accounting Act s.30) — the exact amounts are subject to the official rules, and we confirm the position for your entity.
• Corporate income tax is filed with payment within one hundred and fifty days of the end of the accounting period. We prepare the annual return (ภ.ง.ด.50 / PND50) and ภ.ง.ด.51 (PND51), and both dates sit on your client record.
• A late ภ.พ.30 carries a penalty of twice the tax payable for that tax month, which may be reduced or waived under regulations the Director-General prescribes with the Minister's approval. Tax not paid in full within the deadline carries a surcharge of 1.5% a month of the tax, capped at the tax itself, and 0.75% a month where the Director-General has approved an extension and payment is made within it. Those are the VAT figures; for corporate income tax we work the position out on your own numbers.

VAT registration, withholding forms and audits — the general answers

How we work with hotels and guesthouses

A twelve-room guesthouse and a serviced apartment block run the same month on the SLF Management System, the practice platform developed by PandaAI Co., Ltd. We work with SLF Accounting Co., Ltd and follow the same monthly workflow: collect, book and reconcile, check and file, report.

• Send takings summaries, purchase invoices, agent statements, payroll changes, bank statements and your lease, contractor and agent agreements by email, photo or the client portal; PandaAI reads them in.
• Deadlines sit on your client record with reminders, and you receive the monthly report with a copy of every filing.
• Hotel, alcohol and entertainment licences, signboard tax and tourism or municipal fees are outside this page and our service list, as are legal opinions and visa or work permit applications.

Frequently asked questions

General information drawn from the SLF Accounting guides, not advice on your own situation. Rates, thresholds and deadlines can change; check with us before acting.