E-Invoicing in Thailand
The Thai tax office recently enacted a law that allows VAT-liable parties to send electronic invoices and receipts to their customers on a voluntary basis. This applies to the sale of goods or the provision of services. This eliminates the need to print and deliver these documents in paper form.
The process to be allowed to issue electronic invoices and receipts involves the application by the taxable party. In order to do so, the applying party must meet certain criteria and be a limited liability company or joint stock company with a fully paid-up registered capital of at least 10. million baht, or a government agency. There must also be a track record of performing business activities over a period of time and a sound internal control system.
Once approved by the tax office, the prescribed rules and conditions for the preparation and storage of electronic tax invoices and receipts must be followed. These rules also include certain controls at the IT level regarding the security of the data.
Furthermore, e-invoices and e-receipts must contain two digital signatures created by the prescribed means and supported by a certificate and the signatory’s certificate number. This number is issued by the approved certification body of the tax authority.
Electronic invoices, credit and debit notes, and receipts must necessarily contain the following data: the name and address of the customer, the price of the goods or services, and the amount of VAT. Every month, this data must be exported and transmitted to the Thai tax authority.
This is a significant step towards making taxation more efficient for businesses in Thailand. Although there are currently no exact conditions planned for the monitoring and evaluation of the measures by the tax authority, these could still be added in the future and encourage more companies to switch to e-invoicing.
Thailand has also adopted a number of aid programs to boost the economy. These aid programs are intended to reduce the national value-added tax rate and social security contribution rates.
This is because a standard VAT rate of 10% is prescribed by law in Thailand, although it can be lowered by royal decree. For this reason, the rate from October 2019 – September 2020 was 7% due to Royal Decree No.684.
During a cabinet meeting in August 2020, the Thai government passed another decree that keeps this rate until September 30, 2021. Thus, this 7% VAT rate will apply to the sale of goods and services within Thailand and to the import of goods and services into Thailand.
The economic forecast for the country last year looked less promising. It was expected that the pandemic would cause economic losses of 7-9%. To counteract this, the following economic stimulus measures were initiated:
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Muzaffer Havcarci
INPOSIA e-Invoicing-Specialist
