Thailand has a reputation for sunshine, street food and surprisingly gentle tax bills. The headline top rate of 35% sounds fierce, but almost nobody pays anything close to it. Here is how the numbers actually work in 2026, from the brackets to the deductions landing in your payslip. Short answer: Thailand taxes net income at eight progressive rates from 0% to 35%. The first 150,000 baht is exempt and the 35% rate starts above 5,000,000 baht.
Thailand income tax rates 2026: the eight brackets
Thai personal income tax is progressive, which means each slice of your income is taxed at its own rate rather than your whole salary being hit by a single figure. Only the portion of income that falls inside a band pays that band's rate. The 2026 bands are unchanged from last year:
| Net income (baht) | Rate | Tax on the full band (baht) |
|---|---|---|
| 0 to 150,000 | 0% | 0 |
| 150,001 to 300,000 | 5% | 7,500 |
| 300,001 to 500,000 | 10% | 20,000 |
| 500,001 to 750,000 | 15% | 37,500 |
| 750,001 to 1,000,000 | 20% | 50,000 |
| 1,000,001 to 2,000,000 | 25% | 250,000 |
| 2,000,001 to 5,000,000 | 30% | 900,000 |
| Over 5,000,000 | 35% | n/a |
The 35% rate only bites on income above 5 million baht, so most people never reach it. Crucially, these bands apply to your net income, not your gross. That distinction is where the deductions come in.
Allowances and deductions that shrink the bill
Before the rate table touches your income, you get to subtract a stack of deductions and allowances. The big ones for a salaried worker are:
• An employment expense deduction of 50% of your income, capped at 100,000 baht.
• A personal allowance of 60,000 baht for every taxpayer.
• A spouse allowance of 60,000 baht if your partner has no income.
• A child allowance of 30,000 baht per child, rising to 60,000 for a second child born from 2018 onward.
• Social security contributions, plus deductions for life insurance, health insurance and provident fund contributions.
• Social security contributions you actually paid. From 1 January 2026 the wage ceiling is 17,500 baht a month, so the most an employee pays is 875 baht a month, or 10,500 baht a year (Social Security Office).
There are more, covering parental care, mortgage interest and approved donations. Stacked together they can lop a serious chunk off your assessable income, which is why the effective rate most expats pay lands in single digits.
How monthly withholding works
You will rarely pay the tax office in one lump sum. Your employer takes tax out of every payslip and sends it to the Revenue Department on form PND 1, due by the 7th of the next month, or the 15th if filing online. The amount is worked out once: take your yearly salary, subtract your deductions, apply the bands, then split the result across twelve months.
At year end you file a short return (PND 91) to check the maths. Paid too much and you get a refund. Paid too little and you top up the difference. Bonuses and raises can shift the monthly figure, so it is normal for it to move about.
Employers usually run this through payroll each month; see payroll services in Thailand or estimate it with the Thailand payroll calculator.
A worked example: 100,000 baht a month
Say you earn 100,000 baht a month, or 1,200,000 a year. Here is the rough shape of your tax.
Start with 1,200,000 gross. Subtract the 100,000 employment deduction, the 60,000 personal allowance and 10,500 in maximum annual social security for 2026. That leaves net income of 1,029,500 baht. Now walk it through the bands: nothing on the first 150,000, then 7,500 at 5%, 20,000 at 10%, 37,500 at 15%, 50,000 at 20% and 7,375 on the slice inside the 25% band. Total annual tax comes to about 122,375 baht, or about 10,198 a month. That is an effective rate of about 10% on a six figure monthly salary.
Add a spouse or children and it drops further. You can estimate your tax in seconds rather than doing the band arithmetic by hand.
Tax residency and the 180 day rule
One number decides how much of your income Thailand can tax: 180 days. Stay in the country for 180 days or more in a calendar year (1 January to 31 December) and you count as a tax resident. The days do not have to be back to back. They simply add up across the year.
Residents pay Thai tax on income earned in Thailand and on foreign income they bring into the country. For foreign income earned from 1 January 2024 onward, a resident pays Thai tax when the money is brought into Thailand, whether that is in the same year or a later one. Foreign income earned before 2024 is not taxed when you bring it in. Stay under 180 days and you are taxed only on income from Thai sources.
FAQs
Do foreigners pay the same rates as Thais?
Yes. Thai personal income tax applies to everyone earning income in Thailand regardless of nationality. The main exception is the Long Term Resident (LTR) visa: Highly-Skilled Professionals working for a company in a targeted industry can have Thai employment income taxed at a 17% withholding rate and then file a PND 95 return.
When is the annual filing deadline?
Personal returns (PND 90 or PND 91) are filed between January and March for the previous year. For tax year 2025 the deadlines were 31 March 2026 on paper and 8 April 2026 online.
Is there a capital gains tax?
Thailand has no separate capital gains tax. Gains are taxed as ordinary income, though profits from selling shares on the Stock Exchange of Thailand are exempt for individual investors.
What are the income tax brackets in Thailand for 2026?
Eight brackets on net income: 0% up to 150,000 baht, then 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25% and 30%, and 35% on income above 5,000,000 baht. The brackets are unchanged for 2026.
Try the tax calculator
Payroll withholding looks trivial until a filing slips and the surcharges start stacking. If you would rather hand the monthly PND 1 filings, social security and payslips to someone else, our payroll services cover the lot. Run your own numbers first with the tax calculator, then book a call with Settlr Global, part of the Wows Global group, to get your payroll running clean from day one.
