Crypto Tax Law in Thailand - Do You Owe the Taxman Your Hard Earned Gains?

Nothing in life is certain except taxes and death.  So goes the old adage, and it is difficult to argue against its truth.  In this brief article we will look at cryptocurrency taxes in Thailand.  Bear in mind that this is an ever changing landscape, and what is written here is only current for May 2022.

According to Reuters  Thailand’s tax rules ..’ will allow traders to offset annual losses against gains for taxes due on cryptocurrency investments, and exempt a value-added-tax of 7% for cryptocurrency trading on authorized exchanges, Finance Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith told a news conference.’

Cryptocurrencies are considered as digital assets under Thai law. Moreover, under Thai law, all transactions using digital assets are subject to value added tax (VAT). Any Profits which are gained from are also subject to capital gains tax. 

To clarify: The Thailand Revenue Department issued a press release on 28 January 2022, and established the following:

Crypto Tax Rules for Thailand:

1. Cryptocurrency can only be traded through an exchange which has been licenced and regulated by the Thai Securities Exchange Commission (SEC). All trading platforms must comply with the SEC for tracking trades for capital gain.
2. Trading with an exchange regulated by the SEC is exempt from withholding tax
3. Trading on a non SEC regulated exchange (exchanges outside of Thailand) will be subject to withholding tax, income tax & VAT.
4. Trading on an SEC regulated exchange is exempt from VAT
5. Amendments may be made to the rules in the future, so stay up to date

This would seem to be a fairly rational, reasoned and pragmatic approach by Thai authorities as they look to understand and regulate digital currency. Initially, there were rumblings of a 15% withholding tax on each transaction, but thankfully this idea seems to have been dropped (for now at least).While Thailand is making its tax rules friendlier for both investors and the crypto industry the government of India has just proposed taxing cryptocurrency transactions at 30% which would be the highest tax band in the country.

 To summarize, at the moment, you can trade cryptocurrencies on approved exchanges and are only liable for capital gains taxes at the end of the financial year.  If you have made losses on some of your trading you can offset these against your gains.

Reuter’s article on Tax

https://www.reuters.com/markets/funds/thailand-approves-relaxed-tax-rules-digital-assets-2022-03-08/#:~:text=The%20rules%2C%20in%20line%20with,Termpittayapaisith%20told%20a%20news%20conference.

Blockworks article

https://blockworks.co/thailand-drops-plans-to-impose-15-crypto-withholding-tax/

Good luck, and remember these laws can change, so be sure to keep up to date.