Thailand’s Revenue Department has issued two orders establishing criteria and delegated powers for waiving or reducing penalties and surcharges on corporate income tax, VAT and specific business tax, including revised relief thresholds and approval limits for tax officials.
The Thai Revenue Department has issued two new orders, Order No. 369/2569 (2026) and Order No. 370/2569 (2026) on 2 July 2026, which set out the criteria and delegation of authority for waiving or reducing penalties and surcharges related to corporate income tax, value added tax (VAT), and specific business tax (SBT). Both orders are effective from 2 July 2026.
Department Order No. T.P. 369/2569
General conditions for tax relief
Penalty or surcharge relief is generally available where the taxpayer did not intend to evade tax and cooperated with the tax investigation.
Taxpayers normally must submit a written request before an assessment letter is issued. However, voluntary filing and payment of VAT or SBT before receiving a written warning or audit summons is treated as a request for penalty relief.
After an assessment letter has been issued, taxpayers can no longer submit the standard request and must instead appeal to the Appeal Commission.
VAT penalty reductions
For VAT-registered businesses that voluntarily file and pay before receiving a written warning or audit summons, the penalty can be reduced based on the payment timing:
- Within 15 days: 2% of the statutory penalty
- More than 15 but within 30 days: 5%
- More than 30 but within 60 days: 10%
- More than 60 days: 20%
Where a filing notification has been issued, the penalty is reduced to 40% if payment is made within the notified deadline and 50% if payment is made after that deadline.
Where officials have detected and recorded a violation, the reduced penalty is 40% for violations occurring within one year of VAT registration and 50% for violations occurring more than one year after registration.
Relief for Businesses Not Registered for VAT
Businesses that failed to register for VAT may qualify for a full penalty waiver if they apply for registration within 30 days after exceeding the applicable taxable-base threshold and file the required return and pay the VAT.
For voluntary late filing where no written warning has been issued, the penalty can be reduced to 2%, 5%, 10% or 20%, depending on the payment delay.
Where an unregistered VAT operation has been officially detected and recorded by an officer, the penalty is reduced to 40% of the statutory penalty.
Corporate income tax surcharge reductions
For Corporate Income Tax under Section 67 Tri, surcharge reductions are available where the taxpayer had no intention to evade tax and cooperated with the investigation.
A written request is generally required before an assessment letter is issued. Voluntary filing and payment of mid-year Corporate Income Tax before receiving a written warning or audit summons is treated as such a request.
Other cases outside the specified circumstances require approval from the Director-General of the Revenue Department or an authorised representative.
Revenue Department Order No. T.P. 370/2569
Standard authority without monetary limit
Officials may waive or reduce penalties under criteria prescribed by the Director-General without a monetary limit. The authority applies to:
- Director and Senior Tax Auditors of the Central Tax Audit Division.
- Director and Senior Legal Counsel of the Large Business Tax Administration Division.
- Regional Revenue Directors and Senior Revenue Technical Officers.
- Area Revenue Directors.
- District Revenue Directors.
Their authority applies within their respective jurisdictions and, where specified, to designated large businesses.
Authority outside standard criteria
For cases outside the Director-General’s standard criteria where the full statutory penalty applies, delegated authority is subject to monetary limits:
- Up to THB 2 million: Central Tax Audit Division and Large Business Tax Administration Division.
- Up to THB 1 million: Regional Revenue Directors and Senior Revenue Technical Officers.
- Up to THB 500,000: Area Revenue Directors.
Unlimited VAT penalty waivers
Area Revenue Directors and the Director of the Central Tax Audit Division may waive VAT penalties under Section 89 without a monetary limit for specified errors, including:
- Failure to register for VAT because an individual believed the business was exempt.
- Failure to register after unknowingly exceeding the VAT registration threshold.
- Filing P.P.30 returns while mistakenly believing VAT registration had been completed.
- Filing P.T.40 for SBT instead of VAT.
- Unauthorised joint filing for head offices and branches.
- Unauthorised separate filing where joint filing had already been approved.
- Deducting input tax before the relevant tax point, including certain errors involving Customs Department VAT receipts and P.P.36 remittance receipts.
VAT penalty waivers Up to THB 5 million
The Central Tax Audit Division, Large Business Tax Administration Division and Regional Revenue Directors may waive VAT penalties of up to THB 5 million for specified cases.
These include:
- Changing the use of property constructed for a VAT-registered business and subsequently selling, renting or transferring it to a non-VAT business within three years.
- Certain VAT compliance errors during the first year of registration, including incorrect input-tax averaging, deductions relating to non-VAT businesses, restricted input tax, and errors involving debit and credit notes.
- Duplicate tax-return filings caused by a taxpayer mistakenly believing an initial online filing had failed.
Reporting requirements
For waivers under Clause 4 exceeding THB 1 million, the relevant offices must submit quarterly reports to the Director-General by the 15th day of the month following each quarter, together with copies of the relevant petition records.
All decisions under Clause 5 must also be reported to the Director-General quarterly.
Division and Regional Revenue Directors may establish internal criteria and procedures for officials exercising delegated powers under the order.
Transitional provision
Petitions submitted before 2 July 2026 will continue to be considered under the previous orders that were applicable when the petitions were filed.
