Estimate the government fees and taxes on a Thai property transfer — and the portion a buyer typically pays. Enter a price to see the breakdown.
Illustrative estimate using standard statutory rates. Specific business tax and withholding tax are legally the seller's responsibility; the transfer fee is negotiable and often split. Withholding tax for individual sellers is calculated on a progressive scale and will differ from the 1% shown. Reduced-rate transfer measures have been introduced periodically in Thailand and have in recent years been restricted by nationality and by a property value cap — check whether one is in force on your own transfer date. On off-plan and new-build purchases the developer often covers or splits costs differently. Always confirm the exact figures with your conveyancing lawyer.
The single thing that surprises most overseas buyers is the base. Thai transfer charges are not levied on the price you agreed with the seller. They are levied on the government appraised value — a figure set by the Treasury Department and held on file at the Land Office for every registered plot and unit. It is revised on a multi-year cycle, it lags the open market, and it is very often materially lower than what you actually paid. Punch your contract price into this calculator and you will usually get a number higher than the one the Land Office writes on the receipt.
Four separate charges can arise on a single transfer, and they do not all behave the same way. Two are fixed percentages, one is mutually exclusive with another, and one changes shape entirely depending on whether the seller is a person or a company.
| Charge | Rate | Base | Who it legally falls on |
|---|---|---|---|
| Transfer fee | 2% | Appraised value | Not fixed by statute — negotiated, commonly split 50/50 |
| Specific business tax only if seller held it under 5 years | 3.3% | Higher of appraised or declared value | Seller |
| Stamp duty only if business tax does not apply | 0.5% | Higher of appraised or declared value | Seller |
| Withholding tax | 1% (company seller) | Higher of appraised or declared value | Seller |
| Withholding tax | progressive | Appraised value, less a deduction that scales with years of ownership | Seller (individual) |
The exclusivity between business tax and stamp duty is the part worth internalising. A seller pays one or the other, never both. Cross the five-year ownership threshold and the seller's bill drops from 3.3% to 0.5% — a swing that is frequently the reason a seller will not complete before a particular date, and occasionally the reason a price becomes negotiable just after it.
Take a resale condominium with an appraised value of THB 10,000,000. The seller is an individual who has owned it for seven years. Buyer and seller have agreed to split the transfer fee down the middle, which is the most common arrangement.
Transfer fee: 2% of 10,000,000 = THB 200,000. Split 50/50, so the buyer contributes THB 100,000.
Specific business tax: not charged. Seven years of ownership is past the five-year threshold.
Stamp duty: 0.5% of 10,000,000 = THB 50,000, payable by the seller.
Withholding tax: shown here at the 1% company rate, THB 100,000. For this individual seller the real figure comes from a progressive computation and would differ.
Total collected at the Land Office: THB 350,000. Of that, the buyer's own outlay is THB 100,000 — under a third of the headline total, and 1% of the appraised value.
Now change one fact and nothing else. Suppose the seller had owned it for three years instead of seven. Specific business tax at 3.3% now applies — THB 330,000 — and stamp duty falls away. The total collected jumps to THB 630,000, an 80% increase. But the buyer's share is still THB 100,000, because everything that moved sat on the seller's side of the ledger.
That is the whole lesson of this calculator. The total and your total are different numbers, and it is entirely possible to look at an alarming aggregate figure that costs you nothing extra. Figures are illustrative, rounded, and assume no reduced-rate measure is in force. They are not a quotation and not a projection of any return.
Enter the appraised value if you know it — your lawyer can obtain it from the Land Office before completion, and on a resale it is worth asking early. If you do not have it, enter the purchase price and read the result as a ceiling rather than an estimate. The true bill will normally come in under it. The field is currency-agnostic: put in baht and you get baht, put in pounds and you get pounds, because every charge here is a straight percentage.
Thai law does not assign the transfer fee to either party. It is a commercial term, and it is settled in the sale agreement. The 50/50 default reflects the most common resale outcome, but on new-build and off-plan stock developers frequently absorb it in full or fold it into an incentive package — so on a primary purchase, ask before assuming. Setting this to "seller pays it all" returns a buyer share of zero, which is a legitimate outcome and a legitimate thing to negotiate for.
This switches the calculator between the 3.3% business tax and the 0.5% stamp duty. It changes the total substantially and your own share not at all. It is included because sellers price their side of the deal with it in mind, and knowing which side of the threshold they sit on tells you something about their flexibility.
It covers the charges registered at the Land Office on the day of transfer. It does not cover the rest of the cost of buying. Legal fees for independent representation, the sinking-fund contribution a condominium building will levy on a new owner, the first year of common-area maintenance charges usually payable up front, utility meter transfers and connection deposits, the cost of moving money internationally and the spread you lose converting it — none of that appears here, and together it is not a trivial sum.
It also assumes a clean condominium freehold transfer. Leasehold registration is charged differently, transfers into a Thai company structure carry their own treatment, and inherited or gifted property follows separate rules entirely. And it is a snapshot: rates and reduced-rate measures are set by government and change. Treat the output as a planning figure and get a written completion statement from your lawyer before you move money.
No. Unlike business tax, stamp duty and withholding tax — which statute places on the seller — the 2% transfer fee has no statutory owner. It is allocated by contract. That is precisely why it is negotiable, and why the split belongs in the sale agreement in writing rather than in an email.
Because it is an administrative valuation revised on a cycle rather than a market price observed in real time. It exists to give the Land Office a consistent, non-negotiable tax base. In a market that has moved since the last revision, the gap can be considerable — which works in your favour on the tax bill.
Buying does not itself create a UK charge; there is no UK stamp duty land tax on property situated outside the UK. What follows ownership can create UK obligations — rental income and eventual disposal both need considering, and UK residents are generally taxed on worldwide income and gains. The mechanics and the current rates are on GOV.UK, and rates move at each Budget, so check there rather than relying on any figure printed elsewhere. Take advice from someone qualified in both jurisdictions.
Sometimes, wholly or partly, and it is a standard component of an incentive package. It is never safe to assume. Get the allocation of every charge written into the sale and purchase agreement before you sign, because a verbal understanding about who covers the transfer fee has a habit of evaporating on completion day.
Want the all-in costs for a specific Phuket development?
See if you qualify →A calculator only answers the question you ask it. See the full set of one-off and recurring costs of a Phuket purchase.