Thai Landlord Law: Leases, TM.30, Deposits and Taxes

At a glance

Thai law lets landlords lease residential property freely, but a lease longer than three years must be registered with the Land Office to be enforceable beyond that three-year term under the Civil and Commercial Code (CCC) [6]. Landlords who rent to foreign nationals carry an extra duty: notifying Immigration within 24 hours under TM.30 [1], and helping long-stay foreign tenants file the 90-day report (TM.47) [2]. Landlords operating at scale — three or more rental units, or otherwise running a residential-rental business — fall under the Office of the Consumer Protection Board's (OCPB) Notification B.E. 2568, which caps deposits, standardises contract terms and requires photographic condition reports at handover [5]. Rental income is assessable income subject to Thai personal income tax at progressive rates, and property that changes hands is taxed separately on transfer [4].

Rules and requirements

• Lease registration. Under the CCC, a residential or commercial lease exceeding three years (or for the life of the lessor or lessee) must be registered at the Land Office to be enforceable for its full term; an unregistered lease over three years is only enforceable for the first three years [6].
• Deposits and advance rent. OCPB Notification B.E. 2568, in force since 4 September 2025, applies to landlords who let three or more units or otherwise operate a rental business professionally. It caps the combined deposit plus advance rent at three months' rent, requires itemised, justified deductions from the deposit, and mandates a condition report with photographs at handover — building on the earlier 2018 notification that covered landlords with five or more units [5].
• Standard contract terms. The same notification sets out standard, consumer-protective contract terms that covered landlords must use — this is separate from, and in addition to, the CCC's general lease rules [5].
• Repair duty. Under the CCC, the landlord is responsible for keeping the structure of the property in a condition fit for the purpose of the lease; tenants are generally responsible for minor, day-to-day upkeep [6].
• TM.30 foreign-guest notification. Any landlord (or hotel or host) who has a foreign national residing at the property must notify the Immigration Section 38 portal within 24 hours of the foreigner taking up residence. Filing is done online. Penalties for failing to notify run up to THB 10,000, though fines actually issued in practice have typically been reported in the THB 800–2,000 range [1].
• 90-day reporting (TM.47). Foreign tenants who remain in Thailand for more than 90 days must file a 90-day report, which can also be filed online; landlords commonly assist tenants with this, though the filing duty itself sits with the foreign national [2].

Costs, taxes and timelines

• Rental income tax. Rental income is assessable income under the Revenue Code and is subject to Thai personal income tax at progressive rates for individual landlords; corporate landlords are taxed under corporate income tax rules instead [4].
• Selling instead of renting. If a landlord sells rather than lets, the transfer is taxed separately: withholding income tax (progressive for individual sellers, a flat 1% for corporate sellers), plus specific business tax of 3.3% if the property was held for less than five years, or stamp duty of 0.5% if held five years or more [4].
• Reduced transfer and mortgage fees. For houses, townhouses, shophouses and condominiums where the price, the assessed value and any mortgage loan are each no more than THB 7 million, and the buyer is a Thai individual, the transfer fee is cut from the normal 2% to 0.01% and the mortgage registration fee from 1% to 0.01%. The cabinet extended this through 30 June 2027, per a resolution dated 30 June 2026, published in the Royal Gazette 1 July 2026 [3][7].
• Land & Building Tax. Annual Land & Building Tax is capped at 0.15% for agricultural land, 0.3% for residential property and 1.2% for other or vacant land, with principal-residence exemptions of up to THB 50 million for house and land, or THB 10 million for building only. As of January 2026, no across-the-board Royal Decree reduction is in effect for the 2026 (B.E. 2569) tax year — treat 2026 as a full-rate year. Industry groups proposed a 50% cut for 2026 and the new government was reported to be considering it, but this remains a proposal, not law, until a decree is published [9][8].
• Deposit return. Under OCPB rules for covered landlords, deposit deductions must be itemised and justified against the documented condition of the unit; undocumented or blanket deductions are not permitted [5].
• Agent commissions. Market convention (not a legal requirement) runs roughly 3% of the sale price for a sale, negotiable, and one month's rent for a standard 12-month rental lease [10].

Step by step

1. Draft the lease and decide the term; if it will run longer than three years, plan to register it at the Land Office so it remains enforceable for its full duration [6].
2. If the tenancy falls under the three-or-more-unit or rental-business threshold, use OCPB-compliant standard contract terms and cap the combined deposit and advance rent at three months' rent [5].
3. Complete a condition report with photographs at move-in and keep it on file to support any future deposit deductions [5].
4. If the tenant is a foreign national, file the TM.30 notification with Immigration within 24 hours of them taking up residence, via the Section 38 online portal [1].
5. If the foreign tenant stays beyond 90 days, make sure the 90-day report (TM.47) is filed, online where available [2].
6. Report rental income on the landlord's personal or corporate income tax return each year [4].
7. If the property is later sold rather than re-let, budget for withholding tax, specific business tax or stamp duty, and check whether the reduced transfer and mortgage fee bracket applies [3][4][7].

Common pitfalls

• Treating a long lease as automatically enforceable for its full stated term without registering it — an unregistered lease over three years reverts to being enforceable for only three years [6].
• Missing the 24-hour TM.30 window for a new foreign tenant; even though fines are often modest in practice, the notification duty applies regardless of the lease length [1].
• Assuming the OCPB deposit cap and standard-contract rules only apply to large developers — they apply to any landlord letting three or more units or otherwise operating a rental business, not just corporate landlords [5].
• Deducting from a deposit without an itemised, documented justification tied to the condition report [5].
• Assuming the 2026 Land & Building Tax will automatically be discounted like in some prior years — as of this writing no reduction decree has been issued for 2026, so budget at full rates unless a decree is published [9][8].
• Overlooking that the reduced 0.01% transfer and mortgage fee bracket only applies when price, assessed value and loan are each within the THB 7 million ceiling and the buyer is a Thai individual [3].

What changed recently

The OCPB's Notification B.E. 2568 took effect on 4 September 2025, extending consumer-protection coverage — deposit caps, itemised deductions, condition reports, standard contract terms — from the earlier 2018 notification's five-or-more-unit threshold down to landlords with three or more units [5]. Separately, the cabinet extended the reduced 0.01% transfer and mortgage-registration fee bracket for lower-priced homes through 30 June 2027 [3][7]. On tax, the 2026 Land & Building Tax year is running at full statutory rates with no across-the-board Royal Decree cut in force, even though a 50% reduction has been proposed by industry groups and was reported to be under consideration by the new government — landlords should not budget for that cut until it is confirmed in a published decree [9][8].