H&P would like to share the following legal updates for July 2022 in Thailand as follows:
TAX EXEMPTIONS FOR FOREIGN FILMMAKERS, ACTORS AND HOTELS
On 21 June 2022, the Cabinet approved a tax exemption for foreign filmmakers and actors in 5 years since the last Cabinet resolution for a tax exemption was terminated in 2015. The purpose of this exemption is to promote and add an incentive for a foreigner to film their movies in the Kingdom of Thailand.
the government believes this resolution will attract more tourists and foreign investment to the Kingdom of Thailand.
Since the last tax exemption in 2015, the Thai Government has increased revenue by 158.01 percent. In 2021, the filmmaker business in Thailand can bring revenue to the Kingdom around 5,007 Million Thai Baht.
The qualifications of filmmakers and actors, which are exempted from the tax, are below.
- Must be an individual person whose domicile is outside the Kingdom of Thailand.
- Perform acting by the making of juristic person that issued by the act of the foreign law.
- Have approval for the filmmaking of the revenue department law.
Not only the tax exemption for the foreign actors and filmmakers, but the Cabinet also assigned the government agency to have a resolution for the hotel business by exempting the fee of the hotel business to support the travel business and help the hotel business entrepreneur from the pandemic of Covid–19 in 2019 for two years from starting of 1 July 2022 – 30 June 2024.
(An entrepreneur, who has already paid fees, can ask for a refund at the Department of Administration or The Office of the District, which the hotel is located.)
LONG TERM VISA IN THAILAND
Lastly, the Cabinet has a new resolution, for the Long-term Visa for the high potential foreigner, by reducing the fee for LTR VISA Application to only a one-time fee of 50,000 Thai Baht from 100,000 Thai Baht, not only for the applicant but also including the spouse and descendants. By proposing the four target persons as follow:
- Wealthy global citizens.
- Pensioners from abroad.
- Work-from-Thailand professionals or
- Highly-skilled professionals.
The most recent update to the LTR visa law was published in the Government Gazette on May 25, 2022. As a result, the visa will be eligible and effective 90 days after the date on the Government Gazette, which is August 24, 2022. However, the visa will be available for application after September 1, 2022.
With all these Cabinet Resolutions, the government believes that it will attract more investment and revenue to the Kingdom of Thailand by providing more convenience to tourists and investors.
