Two tax stories landed in Thailand between late July and early August 2026. One made every front page: the cabinet extended the reduced 7% VAT rate for another year. The other barely got coverage, but it has a real deadline sitting a few weeks away for a lot of freelancers — the half-year personal income tax return, PND 94.
Here is what actually affects you, and what to do before the window closes.
The news, briefly
- 27 July 2026 — The cabinet approved in principle a draft royal decree keeping VAT at 6.3% excluding local tax, or 7% including it, for another year: 1 October 2026 through 30 September 2027, covering sales of goods, provision of services and imports.
- 2 August 2026 — The Revenue Department issued press release 19/2569 confirming the 7% rate stays, and that essential goods such as rice, meat, fresh vegetables and fruit, fresh seafood and eggs remain VAT-exempt.
- Right now — The PND 94 filing window is open for income earned between 1 January and 30 June 2026. Paper filing closes 30 September 2026; online filing through the Revenue Department's e-Filing system runs to 8 October 2026.
What PND 94 is, and why many freelancers don't realise it applies to them
PND 94 is the half-year personal income tax return. It is not a second tax. It is a prepayment: you settle part of the year's liability now, and the final reconciliation happens when you file the annual PND 90 early next year. Anything you overpay comes back or offsets the annual bill.
The part people get wrong is that it does not apply to all freelance income. PND 94 only covers income categories 40(5) through 40(8):
- 40(5) — rental income, such as leasing out a condo or renting out camera gear
- 40(6) — liberal professions: law, accounting, engineering, architecture, fine arts, healing arts
- 40(7) — contracting work where the contractor supplies the essential materials
- 40(8) — business and commercial income not covered above: online selling, event production, content work where you carry your own crew and costs
If your freelance income is 40(2) — hire of service where you mainly supply your own skill and time, such as copywriting, graphic design, translation or hourly consulting — that income is not reported on PND 94. It goes into the annual return only.
The threshold: if your combined 40(5)–(8) income for the first half of the year exceeds THB 60,000 (single) or THB 120,000 (married), you must file.
How deductions differ from the annual return
The rule of thumb: business expense deductions follow the normal rate for that income category, but personal allowances are halved.
- Personal allowance: THB 30,000 (half of the annual 60,000)
- Spouse with no income: THB 30,000
- Each qualifying child: THB 15,000
- Each qualifying parent: THB 15,000
- Life insurance and social security contributions: only what you actually paid between January and June
- Home loan interest: only what you actually paid in the first half, and the half-year ceiling is not the same as the annual one — check the figure printed on this year's PND 94 form before you enter it
What you cannot use on the half-year form: provident fund, GPF, and the private school teachers' welfare fund, since those attach to salaried employment. Most retirement and investment-fund allowances are claimed on the annual return instead. If you are unsure, save the allowance for the annual filing — the final number gets reconciled on PND 90 regardless.
One detail worth knowing: life insurance premiums are optional here. You can claim them now or hold them for the annual return, whichever suits your cash flow.
The 3% withholding tax you already paid counts here
This is why a lot of freelancers file PND 94 and owe nothing — or get money back.
Every time a company client pays you, they are required to withhold 3% and remit it to the Revenue Department in your name. That is tax you have already paid. When you file the half-year return, total the withholding that occurred between January and June and credit it against the calculated tax.
What you need is proof: a withholding tax certificate (the 50 Tavi) from every corporate client. If a client uses e-Withholding Tax through their bank, no paper certificate is issued — check your running total in the Revenue Department's My Tax Account / D-MyTax instead. This week is the right time to chase missing certificates, because requesting them at the deadline is always slow.
What late filing costs
If you miss the deadline and tax is payable, a surcharge of 1.5% per month accrues on the amount due from the day after the deadline, plus a criminal fine for failing to file on time. Individually small, jointly pointless. And even if the calculation shows nothing payable, filing on time keeps your record continuous — which matters the day you apply for a loan or a mortgage.
What the VAT extension means for a freelancer
If you are not VAT-registered, the news means nothing changes, which is genuinely useful. A quote you send today for work you'll bill in Q4 or early next year still sits on a 7% base. You don't need a rate-change clause in your terms.
If you are approaching THB 1.8 million in annual revenue — the point at which VAT registration becomes mandatory within 30 days — a full year of rate certainty makes 2027 pricing easier to plan. Open your year-to-date revenue now. If the first half already cleared THB 900,000, the full year will probably hit the threshold, and that is a conversation to have with an accountant now rather than when a single invoice tips you over.
A checklist for this week
- Split your first-half income into 40(2) versus 40(5)–(8), and check whether the second group exceeds THB 60,000.
- Collect every 50 Tavi certificate and reconcile the total against My Tax Account.
- Total your receipted expenses, in case actual-cost deduction beats the standard rate.
- Do a dry run in e-Filing so you know the number and have time to arrange cash.
- Put 30 September and 8 October 2026 in your calendar.
If answering any of this means scrolling through chat history to find how many invoices you issued, who withheld what, and which email holds the 50 Tavi, the problem isn't tax — it's document storage. In MANA, invoices, withholding amounts and certificate files hang off the same client and project, and the half-year total is one screen away. When filing season arrives, you're copying numbers, not hunting for them.