Inheritance Tax In Thailand For Foreigners: What Every Expat Needs To Know

By Lawyer Pook (Kanokpich Ukritdutsadee) — Lawyers for Expats Thailand

For most expats living in Thailand, inheritance tax is not the biggest problem. The bigger problem is that Thai law tells you what a foreigner is allowed to own, and inheritance does not change that answer. So before we talk about tax at all, we need to talk about ownership.

In this article, I want to walk you through three issues that come up in almost every expat estate I work on:

1. Can land be inherited by a foreigner?

2. The 12-month rule.

3. The taxes and fees payable at the Land Office when property passes on death.

I will also cover the actual inheritance tax under the Inheritance Tax Act B.E. 2558 (2015) and where it fits in.

1. CAN A FOREIGNER INHERIT LAND IN THAILAND?

The short answer that clients do not want to hear: a foreigner can inherit land, but a foreigner cannot keep it.

Under Section 93 of the Land Code, a foreigner who inherits land as a statutory heir (for example, the foreign spouse or child of a deceased Thai) may acquire the land, but only with permission from the Minister of Interior. That permission is tied to old treaty-based ownership rights under Section 86, and since the last such treaty was terminated in 1970, in practice the Minister has no legal basis to grant approval. I have never seen it granted.

A few important consequences follow:

- A foreign heir under a will alone is not a statutory heir. The Land Code exception is limited to statutory heirs under Section 1629 of the Civil and Commercial Code (descendants, parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts and uncles) and the surviving spouse under Section 1635. If you write a will leaving your Thai land to a foreign friend, partner, or step-child who is not a legitimate statutory heir, the Land Office will refuse to register ownership.

- A foreign spouse of a Thai landowner can inherit the land — but only in the sense of receiving the right, not registering ownership.

- The foreign heir must dispose of the land within one year of acquisition. That is the "12-month rule" I explain below.

- A superficies right, on the other hand, is inheritable and registrable. Because superficies is a transferable real right, it can pass to heirs and be maintained on the title — a usufruct, by contrast, ends automatically on the holder's death.

WHAT ABOUT CONDOMINIUM UNITS?

Condos are treated differently and this is where I spend most of my time with expat clients.

Under Section 19/5 and Section 19/7 of the Condominium Act, a foreign heir may register ownership of an inherited condo unit only if:

1. The heir personally qualifies under Section 19 of the Condominium Act (for example, they hold a permitted long-term visa, or they can evidence a foreign currency remittance into Thailand equivalent to the purchase price); and

2. Registering the unit in the foreign heir's name will not push the building over the 49% foreign ownership quota.

If either condition fails — the heir does not qualify under Section 19, or the quota is already full — the heir cannot register ownership. In practice, most foreign heirs I deal with fall into this "ineligible" category, and the same 12-month clock applies.

2. THE 12-MONTH RULE

This is the single most important deadline in Thai property inheritance, and the one expats most often miss.

FOR INHERITED LAND (Section 94, Land Code):

- The foreign heir must dispose of the land within one year from the date of acquisition by inheritance.

- If they do not, the Director-General of the Land Department is authorised to sell the land on the heir's behalf and to retain a 5% fee of the sale price before any deductions or taxes.

- "Dispose of" in practice means selling to a Thai national or a qualifying juristic person. It can also mean transferring to another statutory heir who can register ownership (typically a Thai family member).

FOR INHERITED CONDOMINIUM UNITS (Section 19/7, Condominium Act):

- Within 60 days of acquiring ownership, the ineligible foreign heir must notify the local Land Office in writing of the inheritance.

- The heir must then dispose of the condo unit within one year from the date of acquisition.

- Failure to comply gives the Director-General of the Land Department the power to sell the unit under Section 19 quinque, with the state retaining a 5% fee.

WHEN DOES THE 12-MONTH CLOCK ACTUALLY START?

This is the practical trap. The one-year period starts from the date of acquisition by inheritance — which, at the Land Office, means the date the title or juristic person register is transferred into the heir's name after probate. Probate in Thailand takes several months (typically 6–12 months) once you appoint an estate administrator through the court. So the sequence is usually:

1. Death of owner.

2. Court application to appoint an estate administrator (executor). Nothing transfers at the Land Office without this.

3. Court order.

4. Land Office transfer to the heir → 12-month clock starts here.

The clock does not start on the date of death, but do not wait around either. If you are a foreign heir, you should be looking at your disposal options before the transfer is completed.

3. LAND OFFICE TAXES AND FEES ON INHERITANCE

Inheritance tax under the Inheritance Tax Act is a separate matter from what you actually pay at the Land Office to register the transfer. They are two different regimes, and both need to be handled.

AT THE LAND OFFICE

The Department of Lands charges a registration fee for inheritance transfers based on the government appraised value (not market price). The rate depends on the relationship between the deceased and the heir.

- Inheritance transfer between ascendants and descendants, or between spouses: 0.5% of appraised value.

- Inheritance transfer to any other heir (e.g. siblings, more distant relatives, non-statutory legatees under a will): 2% of appraised value.

- Application fee: 5 THB per plot.

- Inheritance announcement fee: 10 THB per plot.

- Estate administrator registration fee: 50 THB per plot.

A few points expats often get wrong:

- Inheritance transfers are exempt from Specific Business Tax (SBT). SBT (3.3%) does not apply to a transfer by way of succession — this is a genuine benefit compared to a lifetime sale.

- Stamp duty of 0.5% does not apply to inheritance transfers to statutory heirs. It can appear in some non-heir transfer scenarios, but for the ordinary succession case it is not charged.

- No withholding income tax on succession transfers to statutory heirs. For non-heir transfers directed by a will, withholding tax may be assessed on a sliding scale over the appraised value.

- Land and Building Tax arrears must be cleared before the transfer can be registered — do not overlook this on estates that have been dormant for years.

- The temporary reduced 0.01% transfer fee that ran for qualifying Thai residential transfers ended on 30 June 2026 and, in any event, did not apply to foreign buyers.

INHERITANCE TAX UNDER THE INHERITANCE TAX ACT B.E. 2558 (2015)

This is the tax that most expat clients worry about, and for most estates it is not payable. The Act applies to registered assets — immovable property, Thai-listed securities, deposits and similar claims, registered vehicles, and other financial assets prescribed by Royal Decree.

- Threshold: THB 100 million per deceased person (net of liabilities assumed with the inheritance).

- Rate: 5% on the portion above THB 100M if the heir is an ascendant or descendant of the deceased; 10% for all other heirs.

- Spouse: Fully exempt, regardless of value.

- Non-resident foreigners are taxed only on assets situated in Thailand.

- Thai nationals and foreigners domiciled in Thailand under the immigration law are taxed on inherited assets worldwide.

- Valuation of immovable property uses the government appraised value at the date of receipt — not market price.

- Filing deadline: the heir must file Form Phor.Mor.60 and pay within 150 days of receiving an inheritance that exceeds THB 100M.

Exemptions also extend to inheritances left for religious, educational, or public-benefit purposes, and to estates of persons who died before 1 February 2016.

For the vast majority of expat estates the THB 100M threshold means no tax is due — but the Land Office fees above always apply.

4. STRUCTURES THAT ACTUALLY PASS TO YOUR HEIRS: LEASE WITH SPECIAL CONDITIONS AND SAP ING SITH

If a foreigner cannot keep inherited land, and if a condo may fall foul of the 49% quota, the honest planning question is: what structure survives your death and reaches your intended heir?

Two tools I use often at Lawyers for Expats Thailand are the registered 30-year lease with special conditions, and Sap Ing Sith. Both can carry a right of succession — but they work very differently, and you need to understand which one fits your situation.

THE REGISTERED 30-YEAR LEASE WITH SPECIAL CONDITIONS

A lease of immovable property in Thailand is governed by Sections 537–571 of the Civil and Commercial Code. The maximum term is 30 years (Section 540), and any lease of more than three years must be registered at the Land Office to be enforceable for its full term.

Here is the point most expats do not realise: a lease is a personal contract, not a real right. Under Thai law, the lessee is the essence of the agreement. When the lessee dies, the default position — confirmed by the Supreme Court in Judgment No. 1108/2537 (1994) — is that the lease terminates automatically and the right of possession does not transfer to the heirs.

This is why an ordinary registered lease, without more, is a poor inheritance vehicle. To fix this we insert special conditions into the lease and register them together with the lease at the Land Office. The key ones are:

- Succession clause. The lease expressly provides that on the death of the lessee, the remaining term passes to the lessee's named heirs or nominated successor. To be effective against the landowner and future owners, this clause must be registered with the lease at the Land Office — not just written into a private agreement. A merely private succession clause binds only the original lessor and can be defeated by a sale or by non-cooperation of the lessor's heirs.

- Right of assignment / transfer. The lessee has the express right to assign or transfer the lease during the term, with pre-agreed conditions. This is important both for lifetime planning and for the heir who may want to sell the remaining term rather than keep it.

- Right to sublease. Otherwise prohibited by default under Section 544.

- Pre-paid rent and improvements on the land. Where the lessee has made a substantial investment on the property (typically the house built on the leased land) and the improvements will accrue to the landowner at the end of the term, Thai case law treats this as a reciprocity contract — a further ground on which the lease is not automatically terminated on the lessee's death.

- Option or right of first refusal on future dealings. Not a renewal right (pre-agreed renewals of a Thai lease are void and unenforceable against third parties and heirs and cannot be registered at the Land Office), but a properly drafted right of first refusal on any future disposal by the owner is a legitimate contractual protection.

Even with all of these, a lease remains a personal, contractual right. Its enforceability against the original lessor's heirs and successors depends on the clauses being properly drafted and registered on the back of the title deed. That is why the choice of lawyer at the drafting stage matters more here than at almost any other point in a Thai property transaction.

SAP ING SITH — THE STRONGEST RIGHT OF SUCCESSION AVAILABLE TO A FOREIGNER

Sap Ing Sith (ทรัพย์อิงสิทธิ) — literally "Right-Based Property" — was created by the Sap-Ing-Sith Act B.E. 2562 (2019) precisely to fix the weaknesses of the ordinary lease. It is a registrable real right (a right in rem) over immovable property, and it is registered directly on the title deed at the Land Department.

That single feature — that Sap Ing Sith is a right in rem, not a personal contract — is what makes it so much stronger than a lease for inheritance planning. Because the right attaches to the property itself, it survives the death, sale, or bankruptcy of the landowner and the death of the holder.

Key features relevant to succession:

- Maximum term of 30 years, fixed and registered on the title.

- Inheritable by operation of law. The Sap Ing Sith right passes automatically to the holder's statutory heirs (or under a will) — no separate succession clause is required, and no cooperation from the landowner is needed. This is a fundamental difference from a lease.

- Freely transferable. The holder can sell, assign, or gift the right during their lifetime without the landowner's consent.

- Mortgageable. Can be used as security for financing.

- Right to make alterations and additions to the property without the landowner's consent.

- Applies to Chanote-titled land, buildings, and condominium units — including, importantly, condo units where the 49% foreign quota is already full, because Sap Ing Sith is not "ownership" for the purpose of the Condominium Act's quota.

- Binding on all future owners, heirs, and creditors of the landowner.

For a foreign heir, this changes the picture completely. Instead of fighting the 12-month clock on inherited land or trying to squeeze into the foreign quota on a condo, the heir simply inherits the Sap Ing Sith right — the same way a Thai heir would inherit any other real property right — and the Land Department registers the succession without the Ministerial permission problem under Section 93 of the Land Code.

A Sap Ing Sith right can, of course, itself be a taxable asset under the Inheritance Tax Act if the estate is large enough to cross the THB 100 million threshold. But in the ordinary expat estate, it is a clean, registrable, inheritable right — and, in my view, the closest thing to real long-term security that Thai law currently offers a foreigner in respect of land.

LEASE WITH SPECIAL CONDITIONS VS. SAP ING SITH — QUICK COMPARISON

Legal nature

- Lease: Personal contract (right in personam).

- Sap Ing Sith: Registrable real right (right in rem).

Maximum term

- Lease: 30 years.

- Sap Ing Sith: 30 years.

Passes to heirs?

- Lease: Only if a valid, registered succession clause is included — otherwise terminates on death of lessee.

- Sap Ing Sith: Yes, automatically by law.

Enforceable against a new landowner?

- Lease: Yes, if registered — but succession rights depend on drafting.

- Sap Ing Sith: Yes, absolutely — attaches to the title.

Transferable during lifetime?

- Lease: Only if the lease expressly allows and the lessor cooperates.

- Sap Ing Sith: Yes, freely and without landowner consent.

Mortgageable?

- Lease: No (in practice).

- Sap Ing Sith: Yes.

Right to alter the property?

- Lease: Only if the lease expressly allows.

- Sap Ing Sith: Yes, without landowner consent.

Registration

- Lease: On the back of the title deed.

- Sap Ing Sith: Directly on the title deed under a dedicated Sap Ing Sith certificate.

Best for

- Lease: Modest arrangements, family land within a Thai family, tenants who value simplicity.

- Sap Ing Sith: Serious long-term foreign investment; anyone who wants the right to survive death, sale, or bankruptcy of the landowner.

PRACTICAL TAKEAWAYS FOR EXPATS

1. A foreign heir can inherit land in Thailand, but cannot keep it. Plan the exit before death, not after.

2. The 12-month rule is real, and the state will sell for you if you miss it — with a 5% Director-General's fee off the top.

3. A condo is not automatic either. Both the heir's own Section 19 qualification and the building's 49% foreign quota must be checked.

4. A single 30-year registered lease, a superficies, a habitation, or a Sap Ing Sith can be more suitable long-term structures than land ownership, and each has its own inheritance profile.

5. A properly drafted Thai will identifying an estate administrator and dealing separately with Thai-situs assets removes months of delay and prevents the 12-month clock from being wasted on probate.

6. Inheritance tax itself rarely bites — but the Land Office fees always do, and getting the relationship documentation right (marriage certificate, birth certificate, family registration) is what secures the 0.5% rate instead of 2%.

If you own property in Thailand and you have foreign heirs, the time to structure this is now, not when the estate is already in probate. At Lawyers for Expats Thailand, we help expat clients plan the whole chain — the will, the probate, the Land Office transfer, and the inheritance tax filing where it applies — so that the family is not fighting the 12-month clock and the Land Department at the same time.

TALK TO US — ESTATE PLANNING IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT

Estate planning is not something to postpone. The 12-month clock, the 49% condo quota, and the Land Office rules will not wait for your family to grieve. Estate planning is extremely important — a properly structured plan is the single most valuable gift you can leave the people you love.

If you own property, run a business, or have family in Thailand, let us help you get this right the first time.

Lawyers for Expats Thailand

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