Purchase costs and taxes in Phuket
The price on the price list is not the amount you will spend. Between that figure and the keys there are several more lines, and the only genuinely unpleasant one is the line nobody mentioned. So here is the complete list, in the order it arrives, with nothing left for later.
Buying from a developer
- Transfer and registration fee at the Land Department. Calculated on the assessed value and normally shared between the parties, though the split is negotiable and belongs in the contract in writing.
- Sinking fund. A one-off contribution to the building's capital fund, calculated on the floor area of your unit and paid on handover. The benchmark in Phuket is around 1,000 THB per square metre.
- Common area fees for the first period. Developers frequently ask for twelve months in advance at handover. At a typical 80 THB per square metre per month, a 50 m2 apartment is around 48,000 THB for the year.
- Meter connection and utility deposits. Small, standard, and always there.
- Furniture and appliances, where the unit is delivered bare or part-furnished. This is the most underestimated line on the entire list.
- Legal fees for contract review and transfer, plus a power of attorney with translation and legalisation if you are buying without travelling.
One line that is not on the list, and surprises people pleasantly: my commission is paid by the developer, not by you. The price you pay is the developer's own price list, and the advisory work costs you nothing. On a resale the commission is 5-10% and is normally settled by the seller.
Buying on the resale market
Everything above still applies, and one additional question becomes the important one: does the apartment carry any debt. Outstanding common area charges in Thailand follow the property rather than the seller. Until the arrears are cleared, the Land Department will not register the transfer.
So before any deposit moves, we request a certificate from the building's management confirming there are no arrears. This is an entirely routine request that every honest seller expects. A seller who finds reasons to avoid it has answered the question.
The same stage covers the rest of the file: title, encumbrances, the unit's quota status and the building's accounts. The full sequence is in the condominium due diligence checklist.
Could you send me the full cost of entry for the unit I am considering, as one table with every fee included?.
Message me on WhatsApp →How the payments are actually staged
Off-plan purchases are almost never paid in one transfer. The common structure is around 30% on signing and then equal instalments every six months across roughly two years of construction, interest free. Some developers use a 35/25/25/10/5 schedule instead. Either way, there is no interest charged on the construction-period instalments.
A bank mortgage is effectively unavailable to a foreign buyer in Thailand: the narrow exception is a work permit and a year or two of local employment, and the alternatives marketed as mortgages are secured loans against property you already own, at around 8-12%. What does exist is developer credit after handover, typically two to five years at 3.5-5%, with the title remaining with the developer until the final payment is made. That is a real instrument, used regularly, and it is set out properly in developer payment plans in Thailand.
Getting the money into the country
For a freehold registration the purchase funds must arrive in Thailand from abroad in foreign currency and be converted into baht inside the country. The bank issues the document confirming the inbound transfer, and without it the Land Department will not register your title.
The practical cost here is the exchange rate and the transfer fees, which on a purchase of several million baht are not a rounding error. Plan the route before the first payment date rather than in the week it falls due.
Taxes when you sell
On a resale there are three or four items: the transfer registration fee, withholding tax on the income, and either specific business tax or stamp duty depending on how long you have owned the property. Selling in the first few years after purchase carries the higher burden.
Rates and the way they are applied change from time to time, and temporary reductions have applied to certain categories in recent years. So the specific percentages should be confirmed by a Thai lawyer on the date of your transaction rather than taken from an article written a year ago, including this one. I am an investment strategist; the tax calculation at transfer belongs to the professionals who do it every week.
The other number to have in your head is time. Resale exposure in Phuket runs from several months to a year, which is why the exit belongs in the plan at the point of purchase. I go through both exit routes in selling property in Thailand.
What you pay every year
- Common area fees, charged by floor area every month
- Land and building tax, at a low rate for residential property but payable annually
- Insurance on the interior and contents
- The management company's share if the apartment is let, normally 20-30% of revenue
- Company maintenance costs, if the property is held through a Thai company
These are modest, predictable and knowable in advance. I set them out line by line in the cost of owning property in Thailand, because they are what separates a gross yield from a net one.
How to make sure nothing surprises you
Ask the seller or the agent for a written full cost of entry: price, plus every fee, plus furniture, as one total. Not a conversation, a document.
If that document does not arrive, it is not because anyone is busy. It is because the total is less attractive than the headline. Every figure in it is known before the deposit, which is exactly why it can be put on paper.
This list looks long the first time you read it, and then it settles into what it really is: a handful of predictable lines, most of them small, all of them known before you commit. Thailand is not an expensive place to transact in compared with most of Europe, and none of these costs arrive unannounced unless somebody chose not to mention them. I put the full entry cost in the first calculation I send, before we discuss any particular unit, so that when the deposit date comes there is nothing on the invoice you are seeing for the first time.
- Yield calculator — run your own numbers in a minute
- Investment property selection — net yield calculated on specific units
Legal, visa and tax work is not mine — it belongs to partners I use constantly
I am an investment strategist: I select the property, calculate the net return, check the developer and run the transaction. Anything that needs a legal, immigration or tax qualification goes to specialists I have worked with for years.
- Thai lawyers — document and contract review, land title, registration at the Land Office, wills, powers of attorney, corporate questions
- Visa partners — choosing and filing the right route for your situation: investment-based, LTR, Thailand Privilege, retirement, DTV
- Tax specialists — reporting in your country of tax residence, treaty credit for Thai tax, declarations on foreign assets
- Company formation in Thailand — when a structure is genuinely needed and lawful
- Rental management and concierge — letting the property, transfers, yachts, events
I introduce partners personally, matched to your actual question, so that you speak to the specialist who handles it rather than to a general inbox. Message me and I will make the introduction.
Frequently asked
What do I pay beyond the price of a Phuket apartment?
Do unpaid charges transfer to the buyer?
Is there an annual property tax in Thailand?
Lyubov Fortunova
Investment strategist and founder of Fortunova Capital Group. I have lived on Phuket for more than five years and run every deal myself: I select the property, calculate the net return, check the developer and hold the process together until the keys are handed over. Lawyers, visa and tax specialists come from my own circle.
“I count net, not dreams”
Could you send me the full cost of entry for the unit I am considering, as one table with every fee included?
I answer personally, within the working day, in any time zone. No calls unless you want them. A question about the article is free and commits you to nothing.
