Land and Building Tax Exemption: Thailand 2026 Rules

ปรับปรุงล่าสุดเมื่อ 21 กันยายน 2569

เดอะ land and building tax exemption is the largest single relief available to a residential owner in Thailand, and it is also the one most often lost on a technicality. A Supreme Court decision published this month, Dika 144/2569, shows exactly how it happens. A man who had owned a condominium unit for nearly a decade was assessed for tax on it, and he lost, because the name written in the house registration book for that unit was his wife’s and not his own.

The ruling is short but the rule it states is hard-edged, and it applies to every owner of a home or a condominium unit in the country. Liability for each tax year is fixed on 1 January, so the time to fix a mismatch between the title deed and the blue book is now, not when the assessment notice arrives. Below is what the exemption covers, what the court actually decided, and what to check on your own property.

What the land and building tax exemption actually covers

Land and building tax replaced the old house and land tax and the local development tax when the พระราชบัญญัติภาษีที่ดินและอาคาร พ.ศ. 2562 (2019) came into force. Under section 9 of the Act, the taxpayer is the person who owns or possesses the land or building on 1 January of the tax year. Ownership on that date is what counts; selling in March does not move the liability off the person who held the property on New Year’s Day.

Section 41 then carves out the residential relief. An individual who owns both the land and the building used as their home, and whose name appears in the house registration for that property, is exempt on the first 50 million baht of the tax base. Where the individual owns only the building and not the land underneath it, the exemption is 10 million baht. Both limbs of the test have to be satisfied by the same person.

Situation on 1 January	Exemption under section 41
Individual owns land and building, own name in the house registration	First 50 million baht of the tax base
Individual owns the building only, own name in the house registration	First 10 million baht of the tax base
Individual owns the property but is ไม่ in the house registration	No section 41 exemption: tax from the first baht
Company or juristic person owns the property	No residential exemption at all
Second or additional home, owner not registered there	No section 41 exemption on that unit

Everything above the exemption threshold is taxed on the appraised value at the residential rate band set for the year, which is far below the commercial and vacant-land bands. That is why the difference between being inside and outside section 41 is usually the difference between paying nothing and paying something. Our overview of ภาษีที่ดินและสิ่งปลูกสร้างในประเทศไทย sets the annual tax alongside the transfer taxes you meet at the Land Office.

Dika 144/2569: the condominium owner who lost the exemption

ข้อเท็จจริง

The owner bought a condominium unit in Prachuap Khiri Khan province in August 2013 and registered it in his sole name. He had been married since 1975, and his wife’s name had been entered in the house registration for that unit well before 1 January 2020. His own name was not. In May 2022 the local authority assessed land and building tax on the unit (a modest 1,757.99 baht) and he objected, arguing that the unit was the family home and that his wife’s registration should carry the exemption for both of them.

The Tax Court agreed with him and ordered a refund with interest. The Court of Appeal reversed and dismissed his claim. He took the point to the Supreme Court.

สิ่งที่ศาลสูงสุดวินิจฉัย

The Supreme Court dismissed the cassation and confirmed the assessment. The taxpayer under section 9 is the person shown as owner in the ownership register: for a condominium, the certificate of unit ownership. The section 41 exemption attaches to that same person, and it requires that person’s own name in the house registration. A spouse’s entry in the blue book, even in a long marriage, and even where the property is arguably marital property, does not transfer the relief.

The court gave a policy reason worth quoting in substance: tax exemptions are read strictly, and allowing a claim to rest on the registration of someone who does not appear on the title would undermine the certainty, clarity and fairness the Act is meant to deliver. The full Thai text of the decision is on the community Dika database.

Why the house registration decides everything

Two separate registers are in play, and Thai households routinely get them out of step. The title register (the chanote for land, or the unit ownership certificate for a condominium) records who owns the property. The house registration, the ตะเบียน บาอัน, records who lives there. Nothing in Thai law forces the two to match, and in practice they very often do not.

• A husband buys in his own name; the wife and children go into the blue book because they hold Thai nationality and he does not.
• A parent buys a unit for a child at university and never registers themselves at the address.
• An owner moves, keeps the condominium, and lets the household registration follow them to the new address.
• A property is bought through a company, which can never be in a house registration at all.

Each of those is ordinary, sensible household behaviour. Each of them, on the reasoning in Dika 144/2569, also costs the residential exemption. The fix is administrative rather than legal: put the owner’s name into the house registration for the property before the year turns, and keep evidence of the entry date.

What this means for foreign owners

Foreign owners sit in the sharpest version of this problem. A foreigner can own a condominium unit outright within the 49 per cent foreign quota under the Condominium Act, so the ownership limb of section 41 is satisfied without difficulty. The registration limb is the awkward one, because a foreigner cannot be entered in an ordinary blue house registration book.

What a foreign owner can obtain is the yellow book, the ตะเบียน บาอัน for non-Thai residents issued by the district office. Our guide to the Thai yellow house book explains the documents the amphoe asks for and how long it takes. Where the yellow book is issued for the unit the owner actually lives in, the owner has a house registration entry in their own name for that address, which is the factual position section 41 is looking for.

Owners who hold a unit as a rental investment, a holiday flat or a second home are in a different position: the exemption is for a residence, and a property the owner does not live in and is not registered at will be taxed. If you are still choosing the ownership structure, read our guide to buying a condominium in Thailand and the wider คู่มืออสังหาริมทรัพย์สำหรับชาวต่างชาติ before you sign.

The 2026 tax year: dates that matter

The 2026 (B.E. 2569) round has been stretched out. The government extended collection for the year and allowed payment in three equal instalments running through July, August and September, to ease the cash-flow burden on households and businesses. Owners who took the instalment option are reaching the last of the three now.

1. 1 January: the date that fixes who is liable and whether the section 41 conditions are met.
2. February: local authorities publish the list of taxable property in the area.
3. Assessment notice: sent by the local authority with the appraised value and the amount due.
4. Within 30 days of the notice: the window to file an objection with the local executive if you think the assessment is wrong.
5. Payment: as stated on the notice, with surcharge and penalty for late payment.

Dika 144/2569 is a reminder that the objection route is real but narrow. The taxpayer there objected, won at first instance, and still lost at the end, because the facts on 1 January were against him. No amount of argument later repairs a registration that was wrong on the day the liability crystallised.

A checklist before 1 January

• Pull the title document and confirm exactly whose name is on it: sole, joint, or a company.
• Pull the house registration for the same address and compare the names line by line.
• If the owner is missing from the house registration, apply to the district office to be added, or apply for a yellow book if the owner is a foreigner.
• Keep the dated receipt or the updated book as evidence that the entry existed before 1 January.
• Check whether the property is your registered residence or a second property, because only the first can carry the section 41 relief.
• If the property is held by a company, price the tax in: there is no residential exemption for a juristic person.

None of these steps requires litigation, and all of them are cheaper than the tax. If the ownership is shared, inherited, or wrapped in a structure, or if you have already received an assessment you think is wrong, our condominium and property lawyers can review the two registers together and tell you which one needs to change. A short definition of the tax itself is in our legal glossary.

คำถามที่พบบ่อย

This article was written and reviewed by Sebastien H. Brousseau, LL.B., B.Sc., who has been based in Thailand since 2004 and has run ThaiLawOnline since 2006. If you would like this checked against your own documents, ติดต่อ ThaiLawOnline and we will tell you where you stand before it becomes a problem.

This article is general information about Thai law and is not legal advice. Thai statutes, regulations and administrative practice change, and the outcome of any case depends on its own facts and evidence. Please take advice on your own situation before acting.