Questions?
We reply within 24 hours, free of charge.
Thailand has no separate gift tax. A gift is taxed as personal income under the Revenue Code, a rule that has applied since 1 February 2016. Gifts from parents, children, grandparents, grandchildren or a registered spouse are exempt up to THB 20 million in a tax year. Inheritance tax is a different law: it applies only to the amount above THB 100 million received from one deceased person. That law does not add lifetime gifts back into the estate, so a gift made years before someone's death is still tested only under the income-tax rules above.
In short
- A gift is taxed as income, not under a separate gift tax.
- Gifts from close family are exempt up to THB 20 million a year, combined.
- A parent who gives land or a house to a legitimate child gets the same THB 20 million allowance for each child; the parent pays any tax on the excess.
- Inheritance tax applies only above THB 100 million from one deceased person, at 5% or 10%; a surviving spouse pays nothing.
- Before gifting land or a condo, check the written-form and registration requirements under the Civil and Commercial Code with the Land Office.
Gift tax: who pays and above what amount
For money and other movable property, the recipient pays the tax, not the giver. Gifts from parents, grandparents, children, grandchildren or a registered spouse are exempt up to a combined THB 20 million in a tax year. Above that, the recipient can either add the excess to their regular income or pay a flat 5% on it instead — usually the better option once income tax rates climb past that level.
Gifts from anyone else sit under a narrower rule: support given out of moral duty, or a gift received at a wedding, New Year or another customary occasion, is exempt only up to THB 10 million a year. This is easy to misread as "any gift from a friend is tax-free up to THB 10 million." It isn't. The exemption only covers support and ceremonial gifts; an ordinary cash gift outside those circumstances may not qualify at all, and its tax treatment needs checking on its own.
One more point worth knowing: an unregistered partner is not treated as a spouse for this exemption, under a 2023 Revenue Department ruling. If you and your partner do not have a legally registered marriage recognised under Thai law, gifts between you fall under the general rules, not the family allowance.
Inheritance tax: the THB 100 million threshold
The Inheritance Tax Act B.E. 2558 taxes only the amount above THB 100 million received from one deceased person: 5% for ascendants and descendants, 10% for everyone else. A surviving spouse is outside the Act entirely and pays nothing. The tax is due within 150 days of receiving the inheritance. Crucially, this threshold is tested only against what passes through the estate — gifts made while the person was alive are not added back to it. We cover the threshold itself, the valuation of shares and property, and how it is paid in a separate guide.
Gifting property: transfer fee and taxes
A parent who gives land or a house to a legitimate child is exempt up to THB 20 million per child, per year. Above that, the parent — not the child — pays 5% on the excess, and the Land Office withholds it at the moment the transfer is registered. This allowance does not extend to an adopted child.
Here is the maths on a simple example. Say a parent gives land worth THB 22 million to a legitimate child. The first THB 20 million is exempt. The parent pays 5% on the remaining THB 2 million — THB 100,000 — withheld by the Land Office when the deed is transferred.
Gifts of land to anyone else are taxed as if the property had been sold: the Land Office withholds tax on the transfer in the same way it would for a sale. On top of any income tax, a registration fee applies to every transfer: 0.5% between ascendants, descendants and spouses, and 2% in every other case.
A condominium unit counts as immovable property for this rule too, so the same THB 20 million allowance per child applies to a gift of a condo as it does to land or a house (Revenue Code, s. 42(26)).
| Lifetime gift | Inheritance | |
|---|---|---|
| Who pays | The recipient, for money and other movable property; the donor, for a gift of land, a house or a condo (withheld at the Land Office) | The heir or legatee |
| Threshold | THB 20 million a year from close family; THB 10 million for others, and only for moral-duty or ceremonial gifts | THB 100 million from one deceased person |
| Rate | Progressive income tax, or a flat 5% on the excess | 5% for ascendants and descendants, 10% for other taxable recipients; a spouse is exempt |
| When and where paid | For taxable gift income received in January–June, with the half-year PND 94 return by the end of September; the year's taxable gift income is also reported on the annual PND 90 by the end of March the following year, or withheld at the Land Office when land or a condo is transferred | Within 150 days of receiving the inheritance |
| Land Office registration fee | 0.5% between ascendants, descendants and spouses; 2% otherwise | Not set out in the Act |
Lifetime gift or inheritance: what to weigh
We won't suggest a scheme for avoiding tax, because there isn't a safe one. What the law actually gives you is a choice between two separate sets of rules, each with its own threshold, rate and timing — not a way to make tax disappear.
A few points of Thai civil law matter here, as Thai legal sources summarise them. A gift of land or a condo is only valid once it is made in writing and registered at the Land Office — check this before relying on an unregistered promise to gift property. A gift meant to take effect only on the giver's death is treated as a will, not a gift, and has to follow the formalities for a will instead. And a completed gift can be undone only for serious ingratitude by the recipient — within six months of the giver learning of it, and no later than ten years after the act of ingratitude itself, not the date of the gift; the exact wording of this rule still needs checking against the Civil and Commercial Code.
We suggest deciding on a gift together with a will rather than in isolation. Looking at both at once makes it easier to see what will actually remain in the estate, and whether the THB 100 million threshold is ever likely to come into play.
Foreigners as donors or recipients
As a rule, a foreigner cannot own land in Thailand, and a gift does not create an exception on its own — the statutory exceptions, such as inherited land with the Interior Minister's permission, are narrow and need separate checking. A condominium unit is different: a foreigner can hold one outright, as long as they qualify as a buyer under the Condominium Act and the building's 49% foreign-ownership quota still has room for the unit.
Two narrower points here are genuinely open: how a gift received abroad and later brought into Thailand is treated under the 2024 remittance rule, and how to tell whether a gift to someone who is not a Thai tax resident counts as Thai-source income at all. Ask us to check your specific situation rather than assume either way. If you live outside Thailand, the rules of the country where you are tax resident may also apply alongside Thai law.
What to do next
A gift and a will usually work best as one plan rather than two separate decisions made at different times. Tell us what you want to give, and to whom. Our team will reply within 24 hours, explain whether a gift now, a will, or a mix of both suits your situation, and give you the cost in advance — our package covers a will together with an estate plan. Documents come in both languages you need, and we stay reachable once the paperwork is done.
