Rental income tax in Thailand for landlords: what you actually owe, and how to file it.

Why your rent is taxable in Thailand at all

Thailand taxes income on two grounds: residence and source. You become a Thai tax resident if you spend 180 days or more in the country in a calendar year, but you don’t need to be a resident to be taxed on rent. Income from the letting of property situated in Thailand is Thai-source income, and Thai-source income is taxable here regardless of where the owner lives or where the rent is deposited.

That’s the point foreign owners most often miss. A landlord sitting in London or Singapore, collecting Bangkok rent into an overseas account, still has a Thai filing obligation on that rent. Your home country may also want to tax the same income, but most countries with a double-taxation agreement with Thailand give you a credit for the Thai tax paid, so you’re not taxed twice on the same baht. See double-taxation agreements in Thailand for how that relief works, and tax residency rules for the 180-day test in detail.

What kind of income rent is — Section 40(5)

Thailand’s Revenue Code sorts assessable income into eight categories. Rent from property falls under Section 40(5) — income from the letting of property. This category matters for two practical reasons: it sets which deduction rules you can use, and it triggers the half-year filing (PND 94) that salary-only taxpayers never have to think about.

Rental income is not taxed in isolation. It is added to your other assessable income for the year — salary, freelance fees, interest and so on — and the progressive rates apply to the combined net total. So a resident expat with a Thai salary plus condo rent stacks the rent on top of the salary; a non-resident with only Thai rent is taxed on the rent alone. Either way the mechanism is the same: net the rent down with a deduction, add the allowances, then run it through the brackets.

The two ways to deduct expenses

Before the rates apply, you reduce the gross rent by an expense deduction. For Section 40(5) rental of buildings you pick one of two methods — whichever leaves you better off:

After the expense deduction you still get the ordinary personal allowances — the 60,000 baht personal allowance, plus spouse, child, parent, insurance and other reliefs you qualify for — which come off before the brackets. The standard percentages and allowance amounts are set by regulation and change over time, so confirm the current figures (or have an accountant confirm them) before you file. For the wider expat tax picture, see tax for expats and personal income tax for foreigners.

The progressive PIT brackets

The net figure — gross rent, minus your deduction, minus allowances — is taxed at Thailand’s progressive personal income tax rates. The bands are:

The rates are marginal — each slice of income is taxed at its own band’s rate, not your top rate across the whole amount. Because the rent is taxed net and the first 150,000 baht is free, a single condo producing, say, 360,000 baht of rent a year is taxed on a much smaller figure once the 30% deduction and allowances are applied — often landing in the 5% band or close to nil. The numbers only get serious when you hold several units or high-value property.

The 5% your corporate tenant withholds

If your tenant is a juristic person — a Thai company renting your condo as staff housing, an office, or a corporate lease — the law requires them to withhold tax when they pay you. For rent, the withholding rate is 5%. The company deducts it from each rent payment, remits it to the Revenue Department (on form PND 3), and gives you a withholding tax certificate.

• It’s a prepayment, not extra tax. The 5% already paid is credited against your final income tax when you file. If your real liability is lower, you claim the balance back as a refund.
• Keep every certificate. You need them to claim the credit — treat them like cash.
• Individual tenants don’t withhold. An ordinary person renting your condo to live in pays the full rent; there’s no 5% deduction, and you account for all the tax yourself at filing.

This is why a corporate lease can feel like you’re “losing” 5% each month — you’re not; you’re pre-paying your own bill. For how corporate and relocation tenants fit into running a unit, see renting out your condo as a landlord.

How it sits next to the Land & Building Tax

Landlords routinely confuse the income tax on rent with the annual property tax. They are completely separate, and you can owe both:

• Rental income tax (this guide): personal income tax on the profit from letting, filed by you each year.
• Land & Building Tax: a small annual tax on ownership charged by the local authority on the property’s appraised value, owed whether or not it’s rented. See Land & Building Tax explained.
• One-time transfer taxes: the fees paid at the Land Office when you bought — a separate event again. See property transfer fees.

One more interaction worth noting: a normal residential long lease is outside VAT, so you don’t add 7% to the rent. If you ever run a unit as a serviced/short-stay operation, the tax and licensing picture shifts — check short-term rental laws before going down that road.

A worked example

Take a Bangkok condo let to a company at THB 30,000 a month — 360,000 baht of gross rent for the year — owned by an individual with no other Thai income, using the standard deduction:

The figures are illustrative — your real number depends on other income, the allowances you qualify for, and the current rules — but the shape is typical: on an ordinary single condo, the actual income tax is modest, and where a company tenant has withheld 5%, landlords frequently end up owed a refund rather than facing a bill. The catch is that you only get that refund by filing. Skip the return and the withheld tax simply stays with the Revenue Department.

Filing, deadlines and getting a TIN

To file you need a Thai Tax Identification Number (TIN). Then two returns can apply:

• PND 90 — annual return. The full-year personal income tax return for anyone with income beyond simple employment (rental included), filed by 31 March of the following year, with a short extension for online filing.
• PND 94 — half-year return. Because rent is Section 40(5) income, you may owe a mid-year return covering January–June rent, filed by the end of September. Tax paid on the PND 94 is credited against the PND 90.
• Penalties: late filing and late payment attract fines and monthly surcharges, so diarise both dates even if you expect a refund.

Most owners with a single unit handle this with a local accountant for a small annual fee, which also keeps the actual-vs-standard deduction choice and the withholding credits clean. To set up the basics, see getting a Thai tax ID (TIN). If you’re weighing whether letting is worth it after tax and costs, run the numbers against rental yield & ROI on Thai condos.

Frequently asked

Sources & References

• The Revenue Department, Thailand
• Department of Lands, Thailand
• Thailand International Payments Withholding Tax Rates — SHERRINGS
• Thai Revenue Department Proposes Tax Exemption for Foreign-Sourced Income Remittances — Nishimura & Asahi

Primary and official sources are cited above. Government rules, fees and procedures in Thailand change over time and vary by office; always confirm current requirements with the relevant authority before relying on them. BAANLYY never takes paid placement in editorial content.