Tax & Customs Lawyers in Thailand
Most assessments are not arguments about the law — they are arguments about what your records can prove
Most assessments are not arguments about the law — they are arguments about what your records can prove
By the time a business is facing an assessment or a post-clearance audit, the question is rarely whether it understood the rule. It is whether the documents support the position it took. That is why tax work in practice is mostly about what was recorded at the time, and why the useful moment to involve a lawyer is before the filing rather than after the letter arrives. We advise Thai and foreign-owned companies on their recurring filing obligations, on the structure of cross-border payments, and on responding when the Revenue Department or Customs opens an examination.
Service Scope
The filing calendar does not pause when the business does
A registered company files monthly, at the half-year and annually, whether or not it traded. Assuming that no revenue means nothing to file is one of the most common and most avoidable sources of penalties, and it compounds because each missed period has to be dealt with separately. Directors carry obligations here that do not sit with the bookkeeper. Mapping the calendar once, at the start, is a small piece of work that prevents a recurring one.
Cross-border payments are where positions get tested
Payments to a related party abroad — management fees, royalties, interest, dividends — attract attention because they move profit across a border. What determines the outcome is whether the arrangement is documented as something with commercial substance and whether the withholding treatment matches it. Treaty relief, where available, depends on formalities being satisfied in advance. Positions taken without that groundwork are difficult to defend once an examination is under way.
When an assessment or audit arrives
An assessment is not the end of the process. There are stages for objecting and appealing, each with its own deadline, and the response drafted at the first stage frames everything that follows. The most useful thing at that point is a clear account of what the records show, prepared before anything is submitted. We work with the company's accountants rather than around them, because the answer usually depends on documents they already hold.
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Frequently asked questions about Taxation & Customs Law
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Further reading
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