Thai Property Fees & Taxes

The four charges

Every sale registered at a Thai Land Office involves up to four government charges, computed against the official appraised value (the Treasury Department's valuation) or the declared sale price — for most charges, whichever is higher. Rates below are as of mid-2026; they change by cabinet resolution, so verify at the Land Office or with counsel when you transact.

The closing-cost table (as of mid-2026)

Charge	Standard rate	When it applies	Who conventionally pays
Transfer fee	2% of appraised value	Every transfer	Negotiable — very commonly split 50/50 buyer/seller
Specific business tax (SBT)	3.3% (3% + 10% municipal surcharge) of the higher of appraised value or price	Seller has owned the property less than 5 years — with exemptions (see below)	Seller
Stamp duty	0.5% of the higher of appraised value or price	Only when SBT does not apply — never both	Seller
Withholding tax	Company seller: 1% of the higher of appraised value or price. Individual seller: progressive calculation on the appraised value, reduced by a deduction that grows with years of ownership	Every sale (it's a prepayment of the seller's income tax)	Seller

Everything on this table is negotiable between the parties except who the Land Office bills — allocate the costs explicitly in the sale contract.

The exemptions that matter

SBT falls away at five years: hold the property five years or more and the sale pays 0.5% stamp duty instead of 3.3% SBT — a 2.8-point swing that makes the ownership clock genuinely valuable.
The one-year residence exemption: an individual seller whose name has been in the property's house registration book (tabien baan) for at least one year is exempt from SBT even inside the five-year window — a rule that rewards sellers who actually lived in the home.
Inheritance and family transfers have their own reduced regimes; take advice.

The 2026–27 stimulus reduction

To support the housing market, the government has been running a deep temporary cut: for qualifying purchases, the transfer fee drops from 2% to 0.01% and the mortgage registration fee from 1% to 0.01%. On 30 June 2026 the cabinet extended the measure for another year — it now runs 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027. The conditions matter: it applies to homes and condos priced at 7 million baht or less (with the mortgage also within 7 million), and it is available to individual buyers of Thai nationality only — foreign buyers pay the standard rates. If you're a Thai buyer in that bracket, the saving approaches 2% of the price, plus nearly 1% on a registered mortgage.

A worked example

A condo sells for 5,000,000 baht; appraised value 4,500,000; the individual Thai seller has owned it 3 years and never lived in it; costs split by the common convention.

Transfer fee: 2% × 4,500,000 = 90,000 baht (or just 450 baht if the Thai buyer qualifies for the 2026–27 stimulus rate) — split 45,000/45,000 by convention.
SBT: 3.3% × 5,000,000 (price is higher) = 165,000 baht — seller pays; would be 0.5% stamp duty (25,000) if held 5+ years or registered in the tabien baan 1+ year.
Withholding tax: computed on the 4,500,000 appraised value under the progressive individual formula — commonly lands in the tens of thousands of baht at this size; the Land Office computes it on the spot.

The all-in government take on a typical transfer runs roughly 2.5% to 6.3% of value depending on the seller's tax position — which is why the SBT/stamp-duty distinction and the who-pays clause deserve a line in every offer.

Costs beyond the Land Office

Agent commission: conventionally seller-paid, typically 3% (Bangkok) to ~5% (resort markets) — see how commissions and co-broke splits work.
Legal fees: commonly in the tens of thousands of baht for due diligence and contract work on a typical purchase — money well spent, particularly for foreign buyers.
Ongoing: the annual Land and Building Tax (modest rates on residential use), condo common-area fees (CAM) billed per square metre monthly, and a sinking fund on new buildings.

Tax questions

Do foreigners pay higher transfer taxes?

No — the rates are the same. The difference is eligibility for stimulus measures: the 0.01% reduced fees running to 30 June 2027 apply only to Thai-national individual buyers, so foreign buyers pay the standard 2% transfer fee.

Is there capital gains tax in Thailand?

Not as a separate tax — the withholding tax at transfer functions as the (usually final) income-tax settlement on an individual's sale, computed on appraised value with ownership-length deductions rather than on actual gain.

Can the buyer and seller just declare a lower price?

Under-declaration to shave taxes is illegal and increasingly pointless — key charges are computed on the official appraised value regardless, and a falsely low declared price creates future tax exposure for the buyer. Don't.

Where do these numbers come from?

The Land Code and Revenue Code rates as summarised by Thai law firms and the finance-ministry announcements of the 2026 stimulus extension, current as of mid-2026. Rates change by cabinet resolution — verify before you close.

What closing actually costs