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On a resale, by custom, the buyer pays half of the transfer fee, which is 2% of the official appraised value. The seller pays the taxes on the sale: Specific Business Tax (SBT) of 3.3% or stamp duty of 0.5%, plus withholding tax. Foreigners do not get the 0.01% rate, which is for Thai individuals only. Every year after buying you pay land and building tax. If the contract is silent, the Civil and Commercial Code splits the costs equally. Rules are as of 6 October 2026.
In short
- The transfer fee is 2% of the official appraised value. On a resale it is customarily split equally, but the contract decides (ThaiLawOnline, 4 October 2026).
- SBT of 3.3% applies to every sale by a company and to a sale by an individual within 5 years of buying, unless the seller has been in the house book for a year or more. Stamp duty of 0.5% applies instead of SBT, never on top of it. Withholding tax is 1% for a company, and the Land Department works it out for an individual.
- The 0.01% rate runs to 30 June 2027 and only for Thai individuals buying at up to THB 7 million (Nation Thailand, 2 July 2026).
- Registering a mortgage costs 1%. We do not cover mortgage terms for foreigners here.
- Land and building tax is due every year: 0.02 to 0.10% for homes, payable by 30 April (AngloSiam Law, 30 April 2026).
- We do not cover first sales by developers: their tax treatment is confirmed from the deal documents.
What taxes and fees come with buying a condo?
The one payment customarily split between buyer and seller is the transfer fee: 2% of the official appraised value. The seller pays the rest, which is SBT or stamp duty plus withholding tax. For those taxes the base is the higher of the sale price and the appraised value (ThaiLawOnline, 4 October 2026).
| Charge | Rate and base | When it applies | Who customarily pays |
|---|---|---|---|
| Transfer fee | 2% of appraised value | Always | Split equally |
| Specific Business Tax (SBT) | 3.3% of the higher of price and appraised value | An individual sells within 5 years of buying and has not been in the house book for at least a year; every sale by a company | Seller |
| Stamp duty | 0.5% of the higher of price and appraised value | When SBT does not apply; never both | Seller |
| Withholding tax | Company: 1% of the higher of price and appraised value. Individual: worked out by the Land Department from appraised value and years held | Always | Seller |
| Mortgage registration | 1% | If you buy with a mortgage | The borrower |
When a company sells, the rates add up to 6.3%: 2%, 3.3% and 1%, provided the appraised value equals the price. That is the total of fees and taxes on the deal, and your share depends on the contract.
What does it cost? A worked example on THB 5 million
Take a condo priced at THB 5,000,000 (roughly USD 143,000 or GBP 106,000 at illustrative rates of 35 and 47 baht) with an appraised value of THB 4,000,000. The rates are real, but the price and appraisal are made up, so your unit will give different numbers.
| Charge | Calculation | Amount, THB | Customarily paid by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Transfer fee | 2% of 4,000,000 | 80,000 | 40,000 each |
| SBT, if it applies | 3.3% of 5,000,000 | 165,000 | Seller |
| Stamp duty, if SBT does not | 0.5% of 5,000,000 | 25,000 | Seller |
| Withholding tax, company seller | 1% of 5,000,000 | 50,000 | Seller |
| Withholding tax, individual seller | Worked out by the Land Department | Cannot be known in advance | Seller |
The government sets the appraised value, and it can differ from the contract price. By custom the buyer pays THB 40,000, which is 0.8% of the price (about USD 1,150 or GBP 850), plus the buyer's own costs: a lawyer's fee, a translation of the contract and charges from the condominium's juristic person at handover. Those are not taxes, and we do not put numbers on them here. A company seller in this example pays THB 40,000 of transfer fee, 165,000 of SBT and 50,000 of withholding tax, a total of THB 255,000 or 5.1% of the price.
If an individual sells, the holding period and the house book decide. Sell after 3 years, without a year in the house book, and SBT is THB 165,000. Sell after 6 years and stamp duty of THB 25,000 replaces SBT. A gap of THB 140,000 can show up in the price, so the buyer is entitled to ask when the seller bought and whether the seller is an individual or a company.
Who pays: by law and by custom
The sale contract decides. If it is silent, section 457 of the Civil and Commercial Code splits the costs of the sale between buyer and seller equally. The custom on the resale market is different: the transfer fee is split equally, and the seller bears SBT, stamp duty and withholding tax (ThaiLawOnline, 4 October 2026).
Custom is not law. The parties can write something else into the reservation or contract, for example that the buyer pays the seller's taxes: the contract allocates the costs. So read the cost clause before you sign and check it against the table above. In a developer's contract the clause on transfer costs can differ from the resale custom, and we confirm the taxes on first sales from the deal documents.
If you are the seller, watch the holding period. An individual selling within 5 years of buying pays SBT (unless the seller has been in the house book for at least a year), and after 5 years stamp duty replaces it. You will face the same bill when you resell, so an investor should factor those 5 years into the return. An individual's withholding tax is progressive, and the Land Department works it out from the appraised value and the years held.
Who gets the 0.01% rate?
Only Thai individuals. On 30 June 2026 the Cabinet extended the 0.01% transfer and mortgage registration fees to 30 June 2027, for homes (condo units in registered buildings included) where price, appraisal and mortgage are all up to THB 7 million. The buyer must be an individual Thai national, and foreigners pay 2% (Nation Thailand, 2 July 2026).
The Interior Ministry's two notifications were published in the Royal Gazette on 1 July 2026, and the cut has applied since that day (Nation Thailand, 2 July 2026). Whether it will continue after 30 June 2027 is undecided.
What does an owner pay after buying?
Every year the owner pays land and building tax. Homes pay 0.02 to 0.10% of the appraised value in practice. Local authorities publish values in January and send bills in February, and payment is due on 30 April, or 30 June in some municipalities. Foreigners pay as Thais do, with no foreigner surcharge (AngloSiam Law, 30 April 2026).
The statutory ceiling for homes is 0.30%. For a unit appraised at THB 4 million, a rate of 0.02 to 0.10% gives THB 800 to 4,000 a year, and the local office names the exact rate. Exemptions for a principal home are tied to the owner being in the house book, and our sources do not confirm whether they apply to a foreigner in your municipality, so budget without an exemption. Late payment brings surcharges whose size differs between sources (ThaiLawOnline; AngloSiam Law), so pay by 30 April.
What could change?
The reduced fee ends on 30 June 2027, and no one has decided on an extension. Appraised values may also rise: according to Libothai (26 December 2025) and Nation Thailand (29 June 2026), the 2027 to 2030 cycle starts on 1 January 2027, and official appraisals are expected to rise by 10 to 20% on average.
The Treasury Department revises appraisals every four years. Developers have asked for a delay, and these reports do not say whether the government has decided. If appraisals rise, the transfer fee and the seller's taxes rise with them at the same rates. No new rates for land and building tax appeared in 2025 or 2026 (AngloSiam Law, 30 April 2026).
If you live in the UK, US or Australia
Selling a Thai condo can create tax at home too. US citizens stay taxable in the US on worldwide income and claim a credit for Thai tax: the US-Thailand treaty has been in force since 15 December 1997 and has a savings clause (HLB Thailand, 4 October 2020).
HLB reads the treaty as leaving a gain on property open to tax in both countries, with relief by credit. Thailand also has treaties with the UK and Australia (PwC, 24 August 2026), but their entry-into-force dates and the articles on property gains are not confirmed in our sources. So we read the treaty text for your case, and you should take advice from a tax adviser at home before you sell.
What next
Send us the contract or the reservation, and within 48 hours you get a free written express review with questions for the developer. We read the cost clause separately. See how we run a purchase on Buy a condo in Phuket, and for taxes once you live here, see Thai taxes for foreigners.
The remaining pre-deposit checks are in the Phuket condo buyer's checklist, and The 49% foreign quota in Thai condos explains how to check the quota. For what happens when the quota runs out at the last moment, see the typical situation The 49% quota ran out a week before closing.
Rules checked as of 6 October 2026.
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