What Does It Cost to Sell a Property in Phuket?

An owner selling property in Phuket pays three things at the Land Department on transfer day: a share of the 2 percent transfer fee, either Specific Business Tax at 3.3 percent or stamp duty at 0.5 percent (never both), and withholding tax. Outside the Land Department there is the commission and your own legal fees. The biggest variable is how long you have owned the property, and whether you hold it personally or through a company.

What do I pay at the Land Department?

Three lines, all settled on the day of transfer.

The transfer fee is 2 percent of the official appraised value. By custom it is split equally between buyer and seller, but that is custom and not law. The sale agreement decides, so your share is whatever you signed.

Then either Specific Business Tax or stamp duty, and then withholding tax. These are the seller’s by default. They are also negotiable on paper, and a well-advised buyer will read that clause as closely as you do.

Will I pay Specific Business Tax or stamp duty?

One or the other. Specific Business Tax is 3.3 percent, charged on the higher of the appraised value and the contract price. For an individual it applies if you sell within five years of acquiring the property. The main exemption is having lived in it as your principal residence, with your name on the house registration for at least a year.

A company seller pays Specific Business Tax whatever the holding period.

If Specific Business Tax does not apply, you pay stamp duty instead: 0.5 percent on the same higher-of basis. On a ฿20 million sale that is the difference between ฿660,000 and ฿100,000, so the fifth anniversary of your purchase is a date worth knowing before you set a timetable.

How is withholding tax worked out?

For a company seller it is a flat 1 percent of the higher of the appraised value and the contract price.

For an individual the Land Office works it out on the appraised value, not your sale price and not your actual gain. It takes a standard deduction set by how many years you have owned, spreads what is left across those years, applies the personal income tax rates, and multiplies back up. The result depends heavily on the value of the property and how long you have held it, so there is no rule of thumb worth printing. Ask your lawyer to run the exact figure before you agree a price.

What if I inherited the property?

Two things change. Specific Business Tax does not apply to a property acquired by inheritance, whenever you sell. And withholding tax uses a flat 50 percent deduction rather than the sliding one. If the property came to you through an estate, I covered the leasehold side of that in what happens to a Phuket leasehold when the owner dies.

Which value are these based on?

Two numbers are in play. The appraised value is the government’s figure for the property and it usually sits below the market price. The contract price is what your buyer is paying. The transfer fee and an individual’s withholding tax use the appraised value. Specific Business Tax, stamp duty and a company’s withholding tax use whichever is higher.

What about commission?

Commission is agreed between you and whoever represents the property, as a percentage of the sale price, payable on success. The only rule that matters: it goes in a written agreement before any work starts. I set out how I handle it in how listing with me works.

What else should I budget for?

Your own lawyer, to review the sale agreement and attend the transfer. For a condominium, the juristic office must issue a letter confirming your common fees are paid up, so any arrears are cleared first. Utility accounts are settled to the transfer date.

If the villa is held in a Thai company, stop before you list. Selling the property out of the company and selling the company’s shares are two different transactions with different costs and different risks for your buyer, and 2026 enforcement has changed how buyers and their lawyers look at company-held villas.

Can I take the money home afterwards?

Yes, but the bank will want paperwork: evidence of the sale, and for a foreign-owned condominium the foreign exchange documents from when you brought the funds in to buy. Find those before you list, not after you accept an offer. Your home country may also tax the gain. Australian and UK residents are generally taxed at home on overseas property gains, so speak to your tax adviser before you sign.

The short version

How long you have held, whether you hold personally or through a company, and what the contract says about the split decide most of your bill. All three can be known before the property goes on the market, and the owners who know them negotiate from a net figure rather than a hopeful one.

I am not a lawyer or a tax adviser and this is general information, not advice; the figures at the Land Department are calculated on the day by the officials, and your lawyer should confirm them for your property. Selling in Phuket and want a straight read on price and process? Message me on WhatsApp: +66 93 760 8561

Sources: Revenue Code, Sections 48, 49 Bis and 50; Royal Decree No. 342 (B.E. 2541), Section 4.