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Yes, Thailand has an inheritance tax, but it applies only to the part of an inheritance above THB 100 million that one heir receives from one person who has died. Children, grandchildren and parents pay 5% on that excess, other heirs pay 10%, and a surviving spouse pays nothing. The heir must pay within 150 days (Inheritance Tax Act B.E. 2558). For many foreign families in Phuket the threshold is far above what they own, so their real work is the Thai court order and the transfer at the Land Office, not the tax.
Does Thailand have an inheritance tax?
It does. The Inheritance Tax Act B.E. 2558 charges tax on what a person receives as an heir. The tax falls on the heir, not on the estate as a whole. Some countries tax the estate as a whole instead, so check your home country's rules if you expect to inherit there too.
We found no recent changes to the Act and no pending amendments. The rules below are the ones that apply today.
The tax is one part of the wider tax picture for foreigners who live in Thailand or own property here. Income tax, tax residence and the rules on money brought in from abroad are covered on our page on Thai taxes for foreigners.
How the THB 100 million threshold works
The threshold applies to each heir separately, and to what that heir receives from one deceased person. Two consequences follow. First, an estate can be worth well over THB 100 million without anyone paying tax, as long as no single heir's share exceeds THB 100 million. Second, only the part above THB 100 million is taxed: an heir who receives THB 130 million pays on THB 30 million, not on the full amount.
The table shows four heirs who each inherit from the same person. The figures are an illustration, not a client's case.
| Heir | Received | Above the threshold | Rate | Tax |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Child | THB 80 million | None | 5% | None |
| Child | THB 130 million | THB 30 million | 5% | THB 1.5 million |
| Nephew | THB 130 million | THB 30 million | 10% | THB 3 million |
| Spouse | THB 130 million | THB 30 million | Exempt | None |
Two children who each receive THB 60 million pay nothing, although together they inherit THB 120 million. One child who receives the same THB 120 million alone pays 5% on THB 20 million, which is THB 1 million.
The Act sets the threshold and the rates. How each asset is valued for the calculation, and whether debts of the deceased reduce the amount, depends on the detailed rules, which we apply to your list of assets. Our lawyers value the estate item by item and work out each heir's share against the threshold.
Rates for close family and other heirs
The rate depends on how the heir is related to the deceased.
| Heir | Rate on the part above THB 100 million |
|---|---|
| Surviving spouse | Exempt |
| Descendants: children, grandchildren | 5% |
| Ascendants: parents, grandparents | 5% |
| Everyone else: brothers and sisters, nephews and nieces, friends | 10% |
The spouse exemption is the one people most often misread. It covers a spouse. If you live with a partner but are not married, do not assume the exemption applies to you. We look at what your status means both for the tax and for the will, before anyone relies on it.
The order in which relatives inherit when there is no will is a separate question. It is set by the Civil and Commercial Code (s. 1629), and a surviving spouse takes a share alongside the other heirs. A will lets you choose who receives what, which also decides which rate applies to each of them.
Do foreign heirs pay on Thai assets?
The threshold and the 5% and 10% rates are set by the Act. How the tax applies to a foreign heir, to an heir living abroad or to assets outside Thailand has no official explanation yet, so we check where each asset sits and where the heir lives before anyone files anything.
For most foreign heirs of a Phuket property, the tax is not the hard part. A foreigner can inherit a condo and keeps it if the building stays within the 49% foreign quota; Thai law firms report that some other heirs, for example permanent residents, may also keep it, and we check this for each case. Otherwise the heir notifies the Land Office within 60 days and sells the unit within one year (Condominium Act ss. 19/5 and 19/7). Land can be inherited by a foreigner only with the permission of the Minister of the Interior; if permission is refused, the land must be sold within one year (Land Code s. 93). How this plays out step by step is set out in our article on inheriting a condo as a foreigner, and a typical situation assembled from practice is in the case A foreign heir inherits a condo.
If you own a villa on a leasehold, whether the lease passes to your heirs depends on the lease agreement: sources disagree on what happens when the contract does not name heirs, so we read the terms as part of the estate plan.
Filing deadline and payment
The heir pays the tax within 150 days (Inheritance Tax Act B.E. 2558). Where the tax applies, it sits inside a longer process, and the order of steps matters.
- Obtain the Thai court order. Thailand does not issue an English-style grant of probate. A Thai court appoints an administrator, and banks and the Land Office act on that order. A UK grant of probate or US letters testamentary has no force in Thailand.
- List the assets and their value. Property, bank accounts, shares in Thai companies and other assets in Thailand.
- Work out each heir's share and whether any share exceeds THB 100 million.
- Pay within 150 days if any heir is above the threshold; we confirm the filing route separately.
- Transfer the assets at the Land Office and the banks on the strength of the court order.
Foreign documents for the court, such as the death certificate and proof of relationship, need legalisation and a certified Thai translation. The general route through the court is described on our page on probate in Thailand.
The Act sets the 150-day period, but the date it runs from, the place where the return is filed and the penalties for late payment have to be confirmed for each case. Our team confirms the filing date and the form with the Thai tax authorities for your case, so the deadline does not depend on guesswork.
Gift tax during your lifetime
This article covers inheritances only. Lifetime gifts follow separate rules, which we check for your plan before you give anything. Some families consider giving property to children during their lifetime to reduce what passes on death, and a gift of Thai property raises its own registration questions. We give you the figures for gifts after we have looked at what you plan to give and to whom.
What we do and what to check yourself
Our lawyers are licensed by the Lawyers Council of Thailand. For a family planning ahead, we prepare a Thai will for your Thai assets alongside your home-country will, so the two do not conflict; how the two fit together is explained in our article on a Thai will and a home-country will. For heirs, we run the court case, check whether any heir crosses the threshold and handle the transfer at the Land Office.
Check yourself:
- The total value of what each heir will receive from one person, not the size of the whole estate.
- Who is a spouse, a descendant or an ascendant, and who falls into the 10% group.
- Whether a condo will stay with a foreign heir or has to be sold within a year.
- Whether your home country taxes the inheritance.
The "Will + inheritance plan" package costs [price], and we fix the price before any work starts. If you are already dealing with an estate, send us the list of assets and the documents you have. Our team will tell you whether inheritance tax arises and what to file with the court and the Land Office. We reply within 24 hours, and we prepare documents in both Thai and English.
