Thailand tax:
Guidance issued on interest withholding obligations

The Thai tax authorities have issued guidelines on the criteria for withholding tax on the payment of interest to individuals (Director-General Notification No. 181).

Interest income derived by individuals from savings accounts in commercial banks operating in Thailand that does not exceed THB 20,000 per annum is exempt from personal income tax. Nonetheless, the Thai Revenue Department requires banks to withhold tax at a rate of 15% on such interest payments because many individuals maintain multiple saving accounts. This results in an additional tax burden for some taxpayers in that they must request a tax refund at the time the annual personal income tax return is filed.

The new guidelines provide as follows:
- Where an individual derives interest income from multiple accounts with more than THB 20,000 in the aggregate, the individual must inform the banks paying the interest to withhold tax at the 15% rate; and
- A bank paying more than THB 20,000 in interest to an individual taxpayer is required to withhold tax at the 15% rate at the time the interest is paid.

This notification is effective as from 1 January 2009.