How to pay property taxes if outside Thailand

[papayabob]

Hi

If my thai wife owns land and property in Thailand, can she still pay the yearly land/property taxes if she is staying outside Thailand? I'm thinking money transfer, or paying in advance would be nice.

[Lefty]

As far as I know there are no annual real estate taxes due. Only upon resale.

Lefty

[Langsuan Man]

Lefty is incorrect

There are property taxes but usually so small that most municipalities don't make a big deal about collecting them

As far as the OP is concerned, the easiest way would be for one of your wife's relatives to pay it for you and then reimburse them by bank transfer

[papayabob]

One of my friends told me, that property/land taxes are only paid to the government every 4 years. Can someone confirm this?

[Pib]

Now there are land/property taxes if you are renting/leasing the land/property out. See this webpage for more info.

But if you are not renting out there are practically no land/property taxes. I say practically because supposedly there is some very low tax of a few baht per year but the land office don't collect that until some transaction occurs with the land. The Thai wife and I have lived in our Bangkok home now for over 7 years and owned it for almost 8...never a tax bill...nothing to pay...same for all our neighbors.

You may have heard about the govt trying to implement a land/property tax even when not being rented/leased out which is typical in many countries, but it keeps getting pushed down the road for more study...the govt has been trying to implement such a tax for over a decade.

Edited November 11, 2015 by Pib

[Langsuan Man]

And the reason they don't have the gumption to pass a land use tax is because the Hi so's don't want to pay taxes on unused land. They would prefer for the rest of the taxpayers pay for the services (police, fire, administration, etc.) which increases in value of their land, without any cost to the owners. Just look at the astronomical prices of plots along Sukumvit, valuable because of the government built highway

Most civilized countries don't let land lie fallow, they tax it so that there is an incentive to utilize it, a concept unknown in Thailand

[Pib]

Most civilized countries don't let land lie fallow, they tax it so that there is an incentive to utilize it, a concept unknown in Thailand

Naw, it's just to raise more tax revenue to pay bills or fund a new populist program.

[kamalabob2]

In 2005 I paid four years in advance on land tax in a small amphur in Buriram province. I was told the rates might go up every 5 years, so I could not pay for more than 4 years in 2005. I go every year to a local office and pay land taxes for a plot of land in an amphur and to a different office building to pay for land taxes of a larger plot of land in a nearby village. Proper receipts each time. The cost is very modest. Makes it easier if I bring the previous year's receipt. For the OP, a relative could pay the land tax and they will get a receipt and they could "line" the receipt for the reimbursement. It could cost less than a large iced coffee at the Buriram Starbucks Cafe. There is no tax due on the building as no work is done at that residence and no rental income. It was made clear the tax rate changed if a business or profession was done at the residential building. You could pay 4 years in advance in my observation, maybe even 5 years, depending on the year you paid. In Buriram they send the tax notice via registered or certified mail to the land owner. You can go in earlier to pay the land tax.