Owning Thai Property from Abroad: Rental Income Tax, Resale Tax, Inheritance and the 2024 Remittance Rule
A foreign owner who lives abroad meets Thai tax in three places. Rent earned from the property is taxable in Thailand at the normal personal income tax rates whether or not you are resident there. A sale is taxed through income tax withheld at the Land Office, plus either Specific Business Tax or stamp duty, and for a non-resident that withholding is normally the final tax. Inheritance tax applies only to amounts above THB 100 million received from one person. The small annual Land and Building Tax runs alongside all of this.
A fourth issue appears only if you start spending 180 days or more a year in Thailand. From that point you are tax-resident, and since 2024 foreign income you bring into the country can be taxable when it arrives. Below we go through each of these in turn, as of October 2026. None of it is tax advice, and the figures for your own case should come from a Thai tax adviser.
Rental income: taxable in Thailand wherever you live
Rent from property in Thailand counts as income earned in Thailand. It is taxable there whether or not the owner is tax-resident and wherever the rent is paid. It is taxed on net income at the ordinary personal income tax scale:
- 0% up to THB 150,000
- 5% from 150,001 to 300,000
- 10% to 500,000
- 15% to 750,000
- 20% to 1,000,000
- 25% to 2,000,000
- 30% to 5,000,000
- 35% above 5,000,000
Deductions
For income classified as a lease, you can deduct either a 30% standard deduction or your documented actual expenses. If the arrangement is a service instead, for example where cleaning and laundry are provided and possession is not handed over to the guest, only actual expenses are deductible. A “business similar to a hotel” must also register for 7% VAT once its taxable revenue passes THB 1.8 million a year, while plain leases of immovable property are VAT-exempt.
Withholding and returns
When rent is paid to a non-resident individual, 15% withholding often applies. When a Thai company pays rent to a resident individual, the rate is 5%. Withholding is a credit against the tax, not a final tax. The owner files an annual return (PND 90 or 91), due on 31 March or 8 April if filed electronically, and a mid-year return (PND 94), due on 30 September, for rental income. A Thai tax ID is needed before any of this.
In other words, a tenant or a Thai company deducting 15% does not close your file. You still need to file, and depending on your net income and the deductions you claim, the return may show more to pay or a refund.
The annual Land and Building Tax
Whoever owns the property on 1 January pays the Land and Building Tax for that year to the local authority. For second homes and rented-out units, which is where a typical foreign-owned holiday or rental condominium falls, the rate is 0.02% of the official appraised value up to THB 50 million, rising in steps to 0.1% above THB 100 million. As illustrative arithmetic, a unit appraised at THB 5 million pays about THB 1,000 a year.
A property operated commercially, for example as a hotel, can fall on the commercial scale, which starts at 0.3%. Whether a foreigner listed in a yellow house book (Tor Ror 13) can claim the main-home exemption is not settled, so ask the local authority.
Selling: how the gain is taxed
Thailand has no separate capital-gains tax on an individual’s sale of property. The gain is taxed through the withholding income tax calculated at the Land Office on the transfer day, plus either the 3.3% Specific Business Tax or the 0.5% stamp duty.
Business tax or stamp duty
SBT applies when an individual sells within five years of acquiring the property. It does not apply after five years of ownership, or on the sale of a principal residence where the seller’s name has been in the house registration for at least a year. In those cases the 0.5% stamp duty applies instead. On a resale within five years, the 3.3% falls on the higher of the sale price and the official appraised value.
Withholding income tax
For an individual seller the withholding is computed from the appraised value, reduced by a standard deduction that depends on the years held (92% after one year, falling to 50% after eight years or more), divided by the years held (up to ten), taxed at the personal income tax rates and multiplied back by the years held. The total cannot exceed 20% of the sale price. Under the 2014 bands, a THB 10 million unit carried roughly THB 82,500 to 430,000 depending on the holding period; that shows the method, not a current figure.
Assume the withholding applies to every sale by an individual, however long the property was held, until the Land Office or a tax adviser confirms otherwise. For a non-resident individual the withholding is normally final. A resident individual may instead file and declare the actual gain.
Getting the money out
Keep every FET form and bank credit advice from your purchase, the documents that prove the money came in from abroad. You will need them when you sell.
Inheritance and gifts
Thailand’s Inheritance Tax Act B.E. 2558 has applied since 2016. Heirs pay only on the value received from one deceased person above THB 100 million: 10% on the excess, or 5% for ascendants and descendants. Spouses are exempt. Non-resident foreigners are taxed only on property situated in Thailand.
Gifts from parents, descendants or a spouse are exempt up to THB 20 million a year, with 5% on the excess. A gift of Thai real estate by an individual is also treated as a sale for income-tax purposes, so income tax can arise even when no money changes hands.
Who can inherit what
Tax is only half the question. A condominium unit can pass to a foreign heir only if the heir is personally eligible and the registration keeps the building within its 49% foreign quota. An heir who does not qualify, or whose registration would push the building over the quota, must notify the authorities and dispose of the unit within one year. That guidance dates from 2013, so confirm it with a lawyer when you draft a will.
For a villa lease, Supreme Court Judgment No. 11058/2559 held that a fixed-term lease is not automatically ended by the lessee’s death and can pass to heirs, especially where rent was prepaid or subletting allowed; a lease drafted for the lessee’s lifetime ends on death. The lease has to be drafted with this in mind.
The 2024 rule on remitted foreign income
This applies only if you become Thai tax-resident, which happens when you are in Thailand for 180 days or more in a calendar year. Since 1 January 2024, under Revenue Department Orders Paw. 161/2566 and 162/2566, foreign-sourced income earned from that date by a person who was resident in the year it was earned is taxable when it is brought into Thailand, in that year or any later year. Income earned before 2024 is excluded if you can document it.
A proposed exemption for foreign income remitted in the year it is earned or the following year was announced by the Revenue Department in 2025. As of 19 October 2026 it is not law.
LTR visa holders in the Wealthy Global Citizen, Wealthy Pensioner and Work-from-Thailand categories are exempt on remitted foreign income. For everyone else, the question is how a property purchase interacts with the rule. Money brought into Thailand to buy a condominium is a capital transfer, not income in itself. But if a Thai-resident buyer funds the purchase from foreign income earned since 2024, that money may be taxable when remitted. There is no rule specific to property purchases. If you will spend 180 days or more a year in Thailand, take tax advice before you send the purchase money, not after.
The taxes at a glance
| Event | Tax | Rate or threshold | Notes for a non-resident owner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Letting the property | Personal income tax on net rent | 0% to 35% progressive | 30% standard deduction or actual expenses; 15% withholding often applies; file PND 90/91 and PND 94 |
| Owning on 1 January | Land and Building Tax | 0.02% of appraised value up to THB 50 million (second homes) | Commercial scale from 0.3% if run like a hotel |
| Selling | Withholding income tax, plus SBT 3.3% or stamp duty 0.5% | Progressive method, capped at 20% of the price | Withholding normally final; SBT if sold within 5 years |
| Dying | Inheritance tax on heirs | 10% (5% for ascendants and descendants) above THB 100 million | Spouses exempt; only Thai-situated property for non-residents |
| Giving | Gift tax; income tax as if sold | Family gifts exempt to THB 20 million a year, 5% above | A gift of real estate is treated as a sale for income tax |
| Becoming resident | Tax on remitted foreign income | Ordinary rates | Income earned from 2024; exemption proposal not law |
What to check before you buy
- Whether you will let the property, and whether the arrangement is a lease or a service, which decides your deductions and possibly VAT.
- That you can obtain a Thai tax ID and someone to file the annual and mid-year returns.
- How long you plan to hold: a sale within five years normally attracts 3.3% SBT.
- A safe place for every FET form and bank advice.
- A will that deals with the foreign-quota and eligibility rules for a condominium, or a lease drafted to pass to heirs.
- How many days a year you expect to spend in Thailand, and where the purchase money comes from.
The costs at purchase are in our guide to Thai property taxes and fees, the rental rules in our guide to the Hotel Act, and the LTR visa in our visa guide. Projects are listed on our Thailand properties page.
