Thailand backs duties of up to 30% on online imports

Thailand’s Cabinet on November 10 backed a Finance Ministry proposal to revise import duties for goods bought through overseas online platforms, with a ceiling of 30%. Purchases arriving by express delivery or international post will fall under the rules.

Phantong Loykulnanta, director-general of the Customs Department, put the expected implementation date at around January 1, 2027. The timing is not yet fixed: enforcement will begin one day after the rules appear in the Royal Gazette.

The applicable duty will vary by customs category. Plastic goods and exercise equipment could see rates move from 10% to 30%; jewellery from 0% to 30%; and bags from 20% to 30%. Clothing would retain its existing 30% rate.

The government says it wants to address competition from overseas sellers, particularly for Thai small and medium-sized enterprises. Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Ekniti Nitithanprapas said local businesses shoulder tax, employment and product-standard compliance costs that foreign sellers may not face equally. Another aim is to discourage cheap imports that may fall short of Thailand’s safety and quality requirements.

Customs said inaccurate declarations remain a challenge and it has too few officers to check more than 241 million parcels coming from abroad. It projects an increase of approximately ฿6.3 billion in import duty receipts, taking revenue from ฿4.8 billion to around ฿11 billion, without value-added tax.

The Trade Policy and Strategy Office anticipates a limited inflation impact, saying the affected goods make up around 0.70% of the consumer price index basket. Businesses could absorb part of the added costs, it said. Phantong also said platforms should be able to handle the additional costs without significantly raising prices.

Ahead of implementation, the ministry and Customs will coordinate with e-commerce platforms on improving declarations and readying their systems.