The annual obligations of a limited company are not items that can be done separately at will, but rather a chain in which each step is a condition for the next. Closing the accounts late causes the auditor to audit late; the audit being late causes the shareholders' meeting to be held late; the meeting being late causes the financial statements to be filed late — and fines can arise at more than one point along the same chain.
Steps to Take
1. Close the books and prepare financial statements according to the company's accounting period.
2. A certified public accountant audits and expresses an opinion This step is not optional for limited companies, and the auditor must be a different person from the bookkeeper.
3. Hold an annual general meeting of shareholders to approve the financial statements within the prescribed period from the end of the accounting period, together with issuing a notice of meeting in the manner required by law and the company's articles of association.
4. Submit the shareholder register to the registrar within the prescribed period from the date of the meeting.
5. Submit the financial statements to the Department of Business Development within the prescribed period from the date the meeting approved them.
6. File the annual corporate income tax return together with the audited financial statements within the prescribed period from the end of the accounting period.
In addition to the annual period, there is also the half-accounting-period corporate income tax return that must be filed during the year. Underestimating it too low may result in additional surcharges, so it is not just a matter of filling in figures to barely pass.
The exact deadlines for each step and the penalty rates are updated periodically. You should check with the Department of Business Development and the Revenue Department before actually planning your work. This article gives the sequence and relationship of the steps, not a ready-made table of dates.
Monthly duties that run alongside throughout the year
- Remit withholding tax on salary payments, payments to individuals, and payments to juristic entities.
- File value-added tax returns for registered businesses. Even if there are no transactions in that month, you must still file.
- Remit social security contributions for employees.
The most commonly missed point is that even in a month with no transactions, you must still file. Not filing does not mean there is nothing to report—it counts as a failure to file a return.
The Real Failure Points in Practice
Companies that have not yet started operations unknowingly accumulate outstanding financial statements, because they assume that having no revenue means having no obligation.
They hire an accounting firm but never check whether filings were actually made. No one in the company has ever once seen a filing acknowledgment receipt.
No meeting minutes — only financial statements signed by directors, which immediately becomes a problem when shareholders are in conflict or an inspection takes place.
They appoint the auditor too late, leaving only a few weeks, turning what is truly a bookkeeping problem into an observation in the auditor's report.
Registered information no longer matches reality — the address, directors, or directors' authority have changed, but the changes were never registered, causing official documents to be undelivered and resulting in a failure to receive notice.
What a company should have, no matter how small
- A single calendar that combines all monthly, semi-annual, and annual tasks together
- A clearly named person responsible for each item, not just "the accounting office handles it"
- Seeing proof of filing every month, not assuming that silence means everything is in order
- Engaging an auditor in advance, with an agreement on what documents will be submitted and when
- Checking registered data once a year to see that it matches reality
Read more
- Closing a Company and Dissolving a Business
- Business Contract Checklist
- Company Registration Guide for Thai Shareholders
📌 See more: Business Law · Tax Law
If your company has several years of outstanding financial statements and you want to settle everything once and for all, consult a lawyer for free. Call 092-254-2045
This article provides general information and is not legal advice for any specific case. Deadlines and penalty rates may be updated. You should check with the relevant authorities.