Question 1

How should room, food-and-beverage, and service revenue be split in the accounts?

Accepted Answer

Room revenue, food-and-beverage revenue, and ancillary income such as spa or shuttle services are all subject to the standard VAT rate alike, but should carry separate revenue account codes by department from the outset, since cost structure and margin differ sharply between them. Lumping everything into one total distorts performance analysis and makes it harder to respond when the Revenue Department asks for the source breakdown of each revenue type.

Question 2

When must a hotel or guesthouse register for VAT?

Accepted Answer

The law sets the bar at 1.8 million baht a year in combined room and related-service revenue for a lodging business. The moment cumulative income crosses that line, the operator has a 30-day window to file for a VAT registration number with the Revenue Department. A smaller hotel or guesthouse that hasn't yet reached that level can still register ahead of time if it wants to recover input tax spent on building or renovating, though that choice comes bundled with monthly filing duties and the obligation to issue proper tax documents going forward.

Question 3

How is tax handled on commission paid to foreign booking platforms?

Accepted Answer

Commission paid to a foreign booking platform with no permanent establishment in Thailand is treated as a service received from abroad. The paying hotel must remit VAT on behalf of the foreign provider using Form Por.Por.36 at 7%, and may then claim that remitted amount as its own input VAT in the following month. Where commission is calculated on VAT-inclusive room revenue, care is needed not to double-count the tax base.

Question 4

Must withholding tax also be deducted on foreign OTA commission?

Accepted Answer

In principle, service fees paid to a foreign juristic entity with no permanent establishment in Thailand require withholding tax under Section 70 at 15%. If the platform is registered in a country with a double-tax treaty with Thailand and the payment qualifies as business profit without a Thai permanent establishment, the hotel may be exempt from withholding, but it must keep the platform's tax-residency certificate on file as evidence. Without it, the Revenue Department will treat the hotel as liable and assess the withholding tax against the hotel itself.

Question 5

What withholding rate applies to building rent a hotel pays a landlord?

Accepted Answer

When a hotel rents a building or land from someone else to run its operations, the rules require 5% to be withheld from the rent at every payment, regardless of whether the landlord operates as a company or as an individual, and remitted to the Revenue Department before the seventh of the next month using either Por.Ngor.Dor.3 or 53 depending on who receives the payment. A rental deposit that gets refunded at the end of the lease doesn't count as rent, so no withholding applies there, but it needs to be kept apart in the records from any deposit meant to be applied against the final rent instalment.

Question 6

Which land-and-building-tax bracket covers a hotel property?

Accepted Answer

A hotel building and its land used to run the business count as commercial use, so land and building tax applies at the higher rate for other land and buildings rather than the residential rate, calculated on the appraised value the Treasury Department sets under a value-based sliding scale. A small guesthouse where the owner lives in part of the building and rents out the rest should report the usage split to the local government office so tax is calculated proportionally rather than applying the commercial rate to the whole structure.

Question 7

Must a hotel licence be obtained before opening?

Accepted Answer

Once a business starts charging guests by the day or night for a place to stay, it falls squarely under the Hotel Act's definition and the owner needs a licence from the registrar before welcoming the first guest. Getting there means passing inspection of the building layout, fire-detection and suppression systems, and confirming the site doesn't conflict with local town-planning rules. Running the place without that licence exposes the owner to both jail time and fines, and it also weakens the credibility of the business's accounting records when they're later used for a loan application or a tax filing.

Question 8

Is a small guesthouse exempt from the hotel-licence requirement?

Accepted Answer

A ministerial exception carves out very small lodgings — four rooms or fewer, hosting no more than 20 guests at once, run personally by the owner as side income, and sited where zoning rules don't object. Places meeting all of that can operate without a full hotel licence, though they still have to notify the local authority and follow baseline safety standards. What doesn't change is that income earned this way still gets folded into ordinary income tax calculations, licence or no licence.

Question 9

How do guest registers and TM.30 notifications tie into accounting?

Accepted Answer

Hotels must keep a guest register on Form Ror.Ror.4 recording each guest's name, nationality, and passport or ID number, and the owner or manager must notify Immigration of any foreign guest within 24 hours on Form TM.30. Though not a tax document itself, the guest register is the evidence used to cross-check actual room-nights against revenue recorded in the books; if recognised revenue is materially lower than the room-nights on the register, this is commonly flagged as grounds for a further assessment.

Question 10

How do buildings, furniture, and linens differ in depreciation treatment?

Accepted Answer

A permanent building is depreciated at up to 5% a year over a 20-year life under the Revenue Code, while furniture and long-life room fittings can be depreciated at up to 20% a year. Bed linens, towels, and other fast-wearing consumables are usually not capitalised as fixed assets at all but expensed as supplies when issued for use. Misclassifying assets between these categories distorts the tax depreciation calculation and is a common adjustment point in an audit.

Question 11

How are daily-wage staff and service charges recorded in the accounts?

Accepted Answer

Daily-wage staff pay counts as Section 40(1) income just like a salary, requiring withholding once accumulated annual income exceeds the taxable threshold, and the worker must be registered for social security like a regular employee if the engagement is continuous. A service charge added on top of room or food prices is the hotel's own revenue subject to VAT the same as the underlying sale. When the hotel later distributes that charge to staff under a service-charge-sharing policy, the payout is the employee's taxable income requiring normal withholding, not money that passes through the books tax-free.

Question 12

Must a small hotel with only a few staff still register for social security?

Accepted Answer

The moment even a single staff member is on payroll, the owner must get both employer and worker enrolled with the Social Security Office within 30 days of the hire date — a small guesthouse gets no pass on this just because it's small. Both sides then contribute 5% of wages against the prescribed wage base every month, due by the 15th of the month that follows. Missing the registration or the deadline draws a 2% monthly surcharge on whatever is outstanding, and an on-the-job injury before registration leaves the employer footing the bill the fund was meant to cover.

Question 13

How should minibar stock and in-room amenities be controlled in the accounts?

Accepted Answer

Minibar goods should have their own inventory account separate from the main bar or restaurant stock, since consumption is spread across rooms and harder to count. Daily issue and replenishment slips should be signed off by housekeeping alongside the sales billed to guests. Any gap between stock issued and actual sales caused by unbilled consumption or loss should be recorded as a separate shrinkage expense rather than blended into normal cost of sales, so the loss rate can be tracked accurately and used for real internal control.

Question 14

How should deposits and advance booking payments be recorded?

Accepted Answer

A guest's upfront transfer to hold a room isn't counted as revenue for either the books or tax until check-in actually happens or some other condition makes the payment non-refundable to the property. Until then it sits as a deferred-revenue liability. That said, if the hotel issues a tax invoice or receipt when the deposit lands, VAT becomes due right then, dated to that document, because the trigger for VAT liability is receiving payment ahead of delivering the service — regardless of whether the accounting side has recognised any revenue yet.

Question 15

Do cancellation fees and no-show charges count as VAT-taxable revenue?

Accepted Answer

A deposit forfeited when a guest cancels or fails to show up under a policy disclosed in advance is treated as consideration for the room service reserved, not a purely civil damages payment, so it remains VAT-taxable the same as ordinary room revenue and requires a tax invoice once recognised. This differs from a pure contractual penalty unrelated to any service, which falls outside the VAT base. Misclassifying between the two is a common adjustment point on audit.

Question 16

How are credit-card acquiring fees treated in the accounts and for tax?

Accepted Answer

Fees the bank or payment processor deducts from card sales before crediting the hotel's account are an operating expense, so full revenue at the sale price must be recorded first, with the fee recorded separately as an expense, not netted so that only the amount actually received is booked as revenue, since this affects the VAT base and the consistency between reported sales and tax invoices issued to guests. If the processor is a Thai provider, the fee is also subject to withholding tax at the standard service rate.

Question 17

Do pool, spa, and in-house restaurant operations need separate sub-ledgers?

Accepted Answer

Even under the same juristic entity and hotel licence, each unit should keep its own sub-ledger for cost and revenue because cost structures differ substantially — spa staff, for example, may be paid commission separate from salary, while the restaurant must control fast-perishing raw-material stock. If outside walk-in customers use these facilities without staying at the hotel, that revenue still falls into the same entity's VAT base. Separate sub-ledgers let management decide more precisely whether to scale back or expand any one department.

Question 18

How does a hotel operator with multiple properties file its taxes?

Accepted Answer

Suppose every branch or property sits under one and the same juristic entity — Revenue Department rules then call for filing VAT separately per place of business, unless head office gets prior approval to consolidate the filings instead. It pays to build a distinct code for each property into the chart of accounts right from day one, so property-by-property profit figures come out on demand rather than needing to be untangled later. And where a property has instead been spun off as its own legal entity purely to ring-fence risk, watch intercompany dealings such as management fees closely — they need a contract and a market-rate price tag, not profit quietly shuffled around without any commercial rationale.

Question 19

For how many years can a hotel's early-year losses be carried forward?

Accepted Answer

A company's net tax loss can be carried forward to offset net profit in future years for up to five accounting periods from the loss year, which suits hotels that often invest heavily in construction or renovation early on and run at a loss before turning a profit. Returns must be filed every year even in a loss year with no tax due, because the right to carry the loss forward is tied to filing correctly and on time; missing a filing for any one year can forfeit the right to use that year's loss entirely.

Question 20

What corporate income tax rate applies to a small hotel registered as a company?

Accepted Answer

A small hotel qualifies for SME corporate-tax treatment as long as paid-up capital does not exceed 5 million baht and annual room or service revenue stays under 30 million baht, which brings a tiered rate: nothing is owed on the first 300,000 baht of net profit, the next portion up to 3 million baht is charged at fifteen percent, and any remainder above 3 million baht is charged at twenty percent. Once either ceiling is crossed, the hotel loses that tiered treatment and instead pays a flat twenty percent on its whole net profit, just like a standard company.

Question 21

How should seasonal hotel revenue be handled differently in the accounts?

Accepted Answer

Revenue that swings with the tourist season does not change the accrual-basis recording principle, but the mid-year corporate tax estimate should track the actual revenue pattern closely, because the half-year filing under Section 67 bis requires a reasonably accurate estimate of full-year net profit. If the estimate falls short of the actual net profit by more than 25% without reasonable cause, a 20% surcharge applies on the tax underpaid for that half-year period.

Question 22

Do hotels pay different electricity and water tariffs than a residence?

Accepted Answer

A registered hotel or guesthouse business must be billed under the medium or large business electricity and water tariff classes the utility providers set, which carry a different time-of-use rate structure from residential tariffs. While this is not a direct tax matter, running on a residential meter while actually operating a business breaches the utility's terms and can trigger a backdated bill plus penalty, which becomes a lump-sum expense hitting the profit-and-loss statement in the year it is charged.

Question 23

How is the sale or scrapping of old hotel assets like beds or air conditioners recorded?

Accepted Answer

The sale or scrap value must be compared with the net book value after accumulated depreciation, and the resulting gain or loss on disposal is taxable income or deductible expense in the year of disposal. If sold to the public while the business is VAT-registered, a tax invoice must be issued and VAT charged on the sale price even though the asset is not the hotel's core product. Assets scrapped with no recoverable value need documentation, such as photos or a destruction record, to support writing them off as an expense.

Question 24

Can marketing costs like hosting a fam trip for travel agents be claimed as a tax expense?

Accepted Answer

Hosting cost for travel agents or media for promotional purposes, such as complimentary rooms and meals, is a revenue-generating expense and deductible under general principles, but it must be backed by evidence that a genuine business activity took place, such as attendee lists, an itinerary, and photographs. The Revenue Department typically checks whether it falls under the entertainment-expense rule, capped at 0.3% of revenue or paid-up capital, whichever is higher, but not exceeding 10 million baht per accounting period.

Question 25

Can room repair and refurbishment costs be expensed immediately, or must they be capitalised?

Accepted Answer

Repairs that simply maintain an asset in its original working condition, such as repainting a wall, replacing light bulbs, or fixing a pipe, are deductible as expense in the year incurred. Renovation that improves the asset beyond its original condition or materially extends its useful life, such as rebuilding an entire bathroom or adding floor space, must be capitalised and depreciated over the remaining useful life instead. Misclassifying between the two is a frequent audit point when repair costs spike unusually in a single year.

Question 26

When can a newly constructed hotel claim a VAT refund on input tax?

Accepted Answer

A VAT-registered business can offset input VAT on construction, materials, and related services for building the hotel against output VAT, or claim a cash refund, in the tax month the expense occurs, even before the hotel opens and earns any revenue. The purchase tax invoices must correctly show the name and address as registered for VAT. If a cash refund is requested, the Revenue Department has the right to review supporting documents before paying out, which can take several months, so carrying the credit forward to offset future output VAT may be preferable if cash flow allows.

Question 27

What are the accounting and tax implications when an owner or family stays free at their own hotel?

Accepted Answer

If the business is a company, letting the owner or a director stay free is treated as a benefit to a shareholder or director, and the Revenue Department may deem the business to have earned market-rate revenue that must be recorded and subject to VAT as if sold to an outsider. The value received may also count as the director's own income to be included in personal income tax. A written policy with a clear cap on free room-nights for staff or family helps limit the risk of a reassessment.

Question 28

Should a small hotel keep its books in-house or use an outside accounting firm?

Accepted Answer

Every company by law must have a bookkeeper qualified under the Accounting Act responsible for maintaining the accounts, whether an in-house staff member or an outsourced accounting firm. The key challenge in hotel accounting is the daily volume of documents across multiple departments and the complexity of cross-border OTA taxation, both of which call for a bookkeeper familiar with this specific industry. Whichever route is chosen, the business itself always remains responsible for the accuracy of its financial statements and tax filings.

บัญชีโรงแรมและเกสต์เฮาส์ ต้องวางระบบอย่างไรให้ถูกต้อง

ลัดไปยังคำถามในหมวดนี้

แปลเอกสารและรับรองคำแปล

คำแปล NAATI สำหรับออสเตรเลีย

รับรองเอกสารโดยทนาย Notary Public

รับรองนิติกรณ์กรมการกงสุลและสถานทูต

Apostille ตามอนุสัญญาเฮก 1961

วีซ่าและใบอนุญาตทำงาน

หนังสือรับรองความประพฤติและตรวจประวัติอาชญากรรม

จดทะเบียนสมรสและเอกสารครอบครัว

บัญชี ภาษี และงบการเงินสำหรับธุรกิจในไทย

จดทะเบียนบริษัทและการถือหุ้นของชาวต่างชาติ

บัตรเดินทางนักธุรกิจเอเปค (APEC Business Travel Card)

นิติกรณ์เอกสารรายประเทศปลายทาง

เอกสารการศึกษาและใบรับรองวิชาชีพ

ทะเบียนราษฎร หย่า และรับบุตรบุญธรรม

งานแปลเฉพาะทาง สัญญา การแพทย์ และเอกสารคดี

บริการล่ามในงานราชการ ศาล และการเจรจาธุรกิจ

ที่ดิน คอนโด และสัญญาเช่าสำหรับผู้ซื้อชาวต่างชาติ

พันธสัญญา มรดก และการจัดการทรัพย์สินข้ามประเทศ

สัญญาจ้าง เลิกจ้าง และคดีแรงงาน

ส่งเสริมการลงทุน BOI และใบอนุญาตประกอบธุรกิจต่างชาติ

ภาษีบุคคลธรรมดาของชาวต่างชาติและการแลกเปลี่ยนข้อมูลบัญชี

ประกันสังคม กองทุนเงินทดแทน และสิทธิของลูกจ้างต่างชาติ

เครื่องหมายการค้า ลิขสิทธิ์ และทรัพย์สินทางปัญญา

ร่างและตรวจสัญญาธุรกิจ

บังคับคดีและสืบทรัพย์

คดีอาญาและการประกันตัว

ใบอนุญาตประกอบกิจการและ อย.

PDPA และการคุ้มครองข้อมูลส่วนบุคคล

ภาษีที่ดิน สิ่งปลูกสร้าง และค่าโอน

ล้มละลายและฟื้นฟูกิจการ

อุบัติเหตุ ประกันภัย และการเรียกค่าเสียหาย

e-Tax Invoice และระบบภาษีดิจิทัล

พิธีการศุลกากร นำเข้า-ส่งออก

แฟรนไชส์ ไลเซนส์ และตัวแทนจำหน่าย

อนุญาโตตุลาการและการไกล่เกลี่ย

ขายออนไลน์และธุรกิจดิจิทัล

ครอบครัวข้ามชาติ หย่า และอำนาจปกครองบุตร

หน้าที่รายงานตัวและการรักษาสถานะคนต่างชาติ

โอนเงินเข้าออกประเทศและหลักฐานแหล่งเงิน

สัญญาก่อสร้างและงานรับเหมา

สมาคม มูลนิธิ และองค์กรไม่แสวงหากำไร

ขอ อย. อาหาร เครื่องสำอาง และผลิตภัณฑ์สมุนไพร

วีซ่าพำนักระยะยาวในไทย

ใบอนุญาตทำงานและหน้าที่ของนายจ้าง

ภาษีรายได้ดิจิทัลและสินทรัพย์ดิจิทัล

ใบอนุญาตขนส่งและโลจิสติกส์

ใบอนุญาตโรงแรม สถานบริการ และสุรา

ภาษีมูลค่าเพิ่มและใบกำกับภาษี

ใบอนุญาตโรงงานและนิคมอุตสาหกรรม

ใบอนุญาตฟินเทค การชำระเงินและสินทรัพย์ดิจิทัล

ใบอนุญาตคลินิก สปาและธุรกิจสุขภาพ

การเปิดบัญชีธนาคารและการเข้าถึงสินเชื่อของชาวต่างชาติ

ใบขับขี่ การจดทะเบียนรถและการนำรถเข้าประเทศ

ใบสำคัญถิ่นที่อยู่ถาวรและการแปลงสัญชาติ

ใบอนุญาตธุรกิจนำเที่ยวและบัตรมัคคุเทศก์

นิติบุคคลอาคารชุดและหมู่บ้านจัดสรร

การไปทำงานต่างประเทศของแรงงานไทย

ใบอนุญาตโรงเรียนเอกชนและสถาบันกวดวิชา

ที่ดินเกษตรกรรมและเอกสารสิทธิ์แต่ละชั้น

ติดตั้งโซลาร์และใบอนุญาตด้านพลังงาน

งานเงินเดือน สลิปพนักงาน และภาษีหัก ณ ที่จ่ายรายเดือน

ขั้นตอนคดีแพ่งในศาลไทย ตั้งแต่ยื่นฟ้องถึงชั้นฎีกา

หมิ่นประมาท ข้อความออนไลน์ และความผิดทางคอมพิวเตอร์

ถูกสรรพากรตรวจสอบภาษี การประเมิน และการอุทธรณ์

งบการเงิน การสอบบัญชี และการรายงานให้บริษัทแม่

ภาษีหัก ณ ที่จ่าย ใช้อัตราไหน ยื่นแบบใด และแก้ผิดพลาดอย่างไร

ราคาโอนระหว่างบริษัทในเครือ เอกสารที่ต้องมีและวิธีตั้งราคา

ไกล่เกลี่ยและทำสัญญาประนีประนอม ทางจบคดีที่เร็วกว่าการสืบพยาน

ฟ้องหน่วยงานรัฐในศาลปกครอง เงื่อนไข ระยะเวลา และสิ่งที่ขอได้

ข้อพิพาทผู้ถือหุ้นและกรรมการ แก้ทางไหนได้ก่อนถึงศาล

คดีผู้บริโภค ฟ้องร้านหรือถูกลูกค้าฟ้อง ต้องเตรียมอะไร

ภาษีเงินได้นิติบุคคล ยื่นครึ่งปีและปลายปีให้ไม่ถูกปรับ

ย้ายสำนักงานบัญชีหรือเปลี่ยนระบบกลางปี ทำอย่างไรไม่ให้ข้อมูลหาย

งานเลขานุการบริษัท ทะเบียนกรรมการ ประชุมผู้ถือหุ้น และการนำส่งงบ

อากรแสตมป์ ตราสารที่ต้องติด อัตรา และผลเมื่อไม่ปิดอากร

สินค้าคงเหลือและต้นทุน ตรวจนับสต๊อก วิธีคิดต้นทุน และผลต่างที่อธิบายได้

หนังสือมอบอำนาจ เขียนให้ใช้ได้จริงกับที่ดิน ธนาคาร ศาล และหน่วยราชการ

ปิดงบย้อนหลังและงบค้างส่ง ทำให้กลับมาสะอาดได้อย่างไร