Thai withholding tax certificates (50 Tawi): what they are, when to issue them and which forms to file

Whenever a Thai company pays for services, rent or contracted work above the threshold set by law, the payer must withhold part of the payment as tax, remit it to the Revenue Department, and give the payee a certificate. That document is the "withholding tax certificate", usually called a 50 Tawi (50 ทวิ).

This article explains what a 50 Tawi is, when you need to issue one, and what to do after withholding the tax.

What is a 50 Tawi

A 50 Tawi is proof that the payer has withheld tax from the payee and will remit it on their behalf. The name comes from Section 50 bis (50 Tawi) of the Thai Revenue Code.

• The payer keeps it as supporting evidence for the withholding tax return
• The payee keeps it to credit the withheld tax against the tax they owe at year end. Without the certificate, claiming that credit is difficult

When to withhold, and how much

In general, when a company pays an individual or a juristic person 1,000 baht or more in a single payment, for a type of income covered by the rules, it must withhold tax at the set rate. Common examples:

• Services and contracted work: 3%
• Rent: 5%
• Advertising: 2%
• Transport: 1%

The actual rate depends on the type of income and the status of the payee. Check with your accountant or the Revenue Department's announcements before paying, because withholding at the wrong rate means correcting both the certificate and the return.

Which return to file after withholding

Withheld tax is remitted with a return that depends on who received the payment:

• PND 3 (ภ.ง.ด.3) when the payee is an individual
• PND 53 (ภ.ง.ด.53) when the payee is a juristic person
• PND 1 (ภ.ง.ด.1) for employee salaries and wages

The deadline is within 7 days of the following month for paper filing. Filing online gives you 8 extra days. Late or incomplete remittance carries penalties and surcharges under the law, so a monthly reminder is worth setting up.

Common mistakes

1. Forgetting to issue the 50 Tawi after withholding, so the payee has to chase it later
2. Wrong taxpayer ID, which stops the payee from using the tax credit
3. Amounts on the 50 Tawi that do not match the return, because the figures were typed in twice
4. Missing the filing deadline, because payments were not collected in time at month end

Mistakes 3 and 4 go away when the system takes the figures from one set of real payment records instead of re-entering them in several files.

Let your accounting system prepare it

In PERPOS Books, when you record a payment with withholding tax, the system issues the 50 Tawi and prepares the figures for PND 3 and PND 53 from the same data. It prints onto the Revenue Department's actual forms and sends filing reminders to your LINE group ahead of the deadline. The filing itself still has to be done on the Revenue Department's own system.

Learn more about PERPOS Books or contact our team if you would like an accountant to look at this for you.