BANGKOK, THAILAND – Thailand’s cabinet approved a one‑month extension of 2026 property tax deadlines, as the country prepared to collect full land and building tax rates for the first time since the COVID-era discounts.
Land and building tax deadlines pushed back
Deputy government spokeswoman Lalida Periswiwattana announced on 24 April 2026 that all deadlines for the 2026 land and building tax were postponed. The move formally shifted the schedule for assessments and payments nationwide.
Tax assessment notices for the Land and Building Tax were now set to be sent out in May 2026, instead of by the end of April. Taxpayers received time until the end of July 2026 to settle their bills, moving the previous June deadline back by one month.
The option to pay in three instalments remained available under the Land and Building Tax Act B.E. 2562 and was not removed. Late-payment surcharges would only be imposed from August onward, once the new deadline had passed.
Impact on foreign condo owners
The law did not distinguish between Thai and foreign nationals, but only between different types of ownership. Anyone listed as the owner in the land registry on 1 January of a tax year was liable for land and building tax, including foreigners who had legally purchased a condominium.
The cabinet’s deadline extension therefore applied equally to foreign condo owners. They were treated in the same way as Thai nationals for the purposes of the land and building tax.
For an owner-occupied condo worth 5 million baht, the applicable tax rate of 0.02 percent translated into about 1,000 baht per year, or under 30 euros. A 50 million baht exemption threshold applied only if the owner was registered in the house registration document (Tabien Baan), while for leasehold buildings without land ownership, the threshold was 10 million baht.
The year 2026 marked the first time the land and building tax was charged at the full rate without COVID‑era reductions. Between 2020 and 2024, discounts of up to 90 percent had been granted, meaning many owners who had paid very little in recent years now needed to recalculate their liabilities.
Who had to file an income tax return?
Land and building tax and personal income tax were treated as two separate obligations in Thailand. Property tax was due from those who owned real estate and was collected automatically by local authorities, without the need to file a tax return.
Income tax followed the so‑called 180‑day rule. Anyone staying in Thailand for 180 days or more in a year was considered tax resident and had to declare taxable income, which was subject to progressive rates ranging from 5 to 35 percent.
Since 1 January 2024, foreign‑source income transferred into Thailand had been taxable, regardless of when it was originally earned. Retirees or other residents who brought German pensions, rental income or investment returns into Thailand and spent more than 180 days in the country had to declare these amounts to the Revenue Department.
Allowances could substantially reduce the effective burden, including a personal allowance of 60,000 baht and an additional 190,000 baht allowance for those aged 65 and over. These thresholds meant that many long‑term residents faced lower tax bills than they might initially have expected.
How to obtain a TIN and file in Thailand
Anyone required to file a tax return first needed a Tax Identification Number (TIN). This could be obtained in person at the local tax office responsible for the taxpayer’s place of residence, by presenting a passport, visa entry stamp, proof of address and form L.P. 10.1.
Those with taxable income had to apply for a TIN within 60 days of becoming liable. Without a TIN, it was not possible to submit an income tax return to the authorities.
Tax returns were filed using form P.N.D. 90 for mixed income or P.N.D. 91 for employment income. Paper returns had to be submitted by 31 March of the following year, while electronic filing via the Revenue Department’s online portal, which was partly available in English, was possible until early April.
For taxpayers with complex financial situations, local tax advisers could be engaged at fees typically ranging from 3,000 to 10,000 baht. Anyone legally required to file a return had to do so even if, after deductions and allowances, no tax was ultimately payable.
Debate among expats: to register or not?
Taxation in Thailand remained a recurring point of contention among expatriates. Media outlets presented the arguments of both sides without taking a position, stressing that the best course of action depended on individual circumstances and personal convictions.
Supporters of registering and filing returns pointed to legal certainty. The Revenue Department had the right to review tax assessments retroactively for up to ten years, meaning unregistered residents who should have filed faced a growing compliance risk over time.
They also argued that actual tax amounts were often lower than feared, especially for retirees benefiting from allowances and careful planning. Thailand’s participation in the OECD CRS automatic exchange of information meant that banks were reporting account data across borders, weakening assumptions that foreign accounts would remain invisible to Thai authorities.
Critics of the current system highlighted gaps in enforcement. A 2024 survey by the English‑language portal Thai Examiner found that 58 percent of foreign respondents said they did not intend to file a return for 2024, and data from the Revenue Department and immigration authorities were not yet systematically shared.
Holders of retirement visas were not required to present tax documents when renewing their permits, leaving practice lagging behind the written law. Many expats also viewed the revised remittance rules, in force since 1 January 2024, as new and confusing.
Savings accumulated before 2024 were explicitly excluded from the new rules, and loans were not treated as income. However, the boundary between taxable transfers and tax‑free remittances could be difficult to determine in individual cases.
Practical steps for residents in Thailand
Owners of condominiums in Thailand gained extra time until the end of July 2026 to pay their land and building tax under the cabinet’s extension. Assessment notices were scheduled to arrive in May, giving taxpayers several months to prepare their payments or arrange instalments.
Those planning to buy a condo were advised to familiarise themselves with the applicable tax rates and exemption thresholds before signing a contract. The end of the COVID‑era discount in 2026 meant that long‑term ownership costs would be higher than in the preceding years.
Long‑stay residents who transferred money from abroad and did not yet have a TIN were encouraged to apply before problems arose. Specialist advisers on visas, tax registration and local bureaucracy were available to assist foreigners navigating the Thai system.
The question of whether, and how much, tax an individual ultimately owed in Thailand generally could only be answered reliably after a consultation with a local tax professional. The article’s authors emphasised that their information did not constitute legal or tax advice and that Thai tax law and its interpretation were subject to frequent change.