The classic Thai freelance moment: you invoice THB 53,500, THB 52,000 lands in your account, and your records still say the client owes you THB 1,500 — even though they paid in full.
That gap is withholding tax. Handle it wrong at the start and your receivables are distorted for the rest of the year. Here's the whole flow, from calculation to filing.
Step 1: Know who is required to withhold
Juristic persons — companies, partnerships — must withhold tax when they pay you and remit it to the Revenue Department in your name.
Individuals hiring you have no withholding obligation. So if your client is a shop owner who hasn't incorporated, invoice the full amount as normal.
Common rates:
| Income type | Rate |
|---|---|
| Services / hire of work | 3% |
| Liberal professions | 3% |
| Property rental | 5% |
| Advertising | 2% |
| Transport | 1% |
Step 2: Calculate on the right base
The most common mistake: withholding is calculated on the pre-VAT amount, not the total.
A THB 50,000 design job for a VAT-registered freelancer:
- Service fee: 50,000
- VAT 7%: 3,500
- Invoice total: 53,500
- Withholding 3% of 50,000: 1,500
- Client actually transfers: 52,000
Not VAT-registered? Drop the VAT line: 50,000 less 3% = 1,500 withheld, 48,500 received.
That THB 1,500 isn't lost. It's your tax, already paid to the Revenue Department on your behalf.
Step 3: Let the system do the arithmetic
In MANA:
- Open the client record and mark it as a juristic person, with the 13-digit tax ID and registered address. That data flows onto every document — you type it once.
- When creating the invoice, switch on withholding tax and pick the rate.
- The document then shows three lines the client can't misread: total, withholding amount, and amount to transfer.
That third line matters more than it looks. The client's accounts team doesn't have to compute anything, so you don't get short-paid by a different number than expected — one of the most common causes of awkward follow-up conversations.
Step 4: Reconcile when the money lands
When THB 52,000 arrives, record the payment against that invoice. The system already knows the missing THB 1,500 is withheld tax rather than an unpaid balance, so it closes the invoice as fully settled and books the 1,500 separately as tax paid in advance.
This is exactly where spreadsheets fall apart. People record 52,000 received and leave a 1,500 balance hanging, month after month, then wonder in December why receivables look inflated when every job was actually paid.
Step 5: Collect every 50 Tavi certificate
The withholding tax certificate — the 50 Tavi — is the evidence that turns that THB 1,500 into a usable tax credit. No certificate means you effectively pay that tax twice.
What works:
- Ask for it the moment you confirm the payment arrived. Don't wait for year-end; by then the person who handles it may have left.
- Attach the file to that invoice in MANA as soon as it comes in, so you're never excavating your inbox.
- If it hasn't arrived, set a follow-up task on that client and let the reminder do the remembering.
- If the client uses e-Withholding Tax through their bank, no paper certificate is issued at all. Check your running total in the Revenue Department's My Tax Account / D-MyTax instead, and note on the job that it went through that channel.
Step 6: Use it at filing time
Accumulated withholding tax is credited against tax payable — both on the half-year return (PND 94, if your income category requires it) and the annual return (PND 90).
Plenty of freelancers get 3% withheld on every job all year, then find their actual liability is lower than the total withheld. That's a refund — but only if you file. Not filing simply leaves your own money sitting with the Revenue Department.
In MANA, open financial reports, filter the date range, and read the total withholding for the period. No opening invoices one by one to add them up.
The five mistakes that show up most
- Withholding on the VAT-inclusive total — overstates by THB 105 per 50,000 and won't match what the client remits.
- Withholding on individual clients who have no such obligation, so you're short-paid with no certificate to show for it.
- Recording the gross amount as received, leaving your records permanently out of step with your bank.
- Not collecting the 50 Tavi, which donates tax you already paid.
- Not telling the client the transfer amount up front, then chasing the difference afterwards — wasted time on both sides.
Set this up properly once and next filing season takes ten minutes instead of a weekend. Try it on your next corporate invoice in MANA and see the numbers come out right on the first document.