On 24 August 2021, with the objective of mitigating impacts of the pandemic and increasing taxpayer liquidity, the Ministry of Finance announced several relief measures to help support affected taxpayers. These measures include an extension of the deadline for filing tax returns, allowing the Revenue Department to waive or reduce specific penalties and fines and an extension on the reduction of value added tax (VAT).
Extension of Reduced VAT Rate of 7%
The Thai Cabinet has approved the proposal of the Ministry of Finance to extend the 7% standard VAT rate for another two years from 1 October 2021- 30 September 2023. The 7% was initially reduced from a 10% rate and was due to expire on 30 September 2021.
The reduced rate will apply to all local taxes and VAT liabilities incurred from the sale of goods, service provisions and important transactions for the applicable period.
Waiver or Reduction of Penalties
In the circumstance a person or business files VAT or Specific Business Tax returns after the extended due date, the Revenue Department has announced it will waive the late filing penalty if the taxpayer pays the taxes and surcharges in full.
Where the tax return is required to be filed between September and December 2021, and the returns are filed within three months after the extended tax filing deadline, the penalty for the late filing will be reduced to 2% if the tax paid is not less than 25% of the total tax payable.
The Thai Revenue Department has also reduced the fines to the lowest rate for value added tax and specific business tax to the following amounts:
✓ Criminal fines not exceeding 2,000 THB to be reduced to THB 1; and
✓ Criminal fines not exceeding 5,000 THB to be reduced to THB 2.
Deadline Extension for Electronic Filing of Tax Returns
The following table outlines the normal deadlines for the filing of certain tax returns and their subsequent extended deadlines for electronic filing. Note that the extensions apply only to electronic filing, not hard copy filing of tax returns.
