Phuket Revenue Office Visiting Rental Agents

Posted: 24 Dec 2010 | 6:00 am

Further to our recent story about the Revenue Department targeting online villa, condo and apartment rentals, there are now visits be made to some of the island's agents asking for supporting documentation.

We communicated with Allan Mossop yesterday who operates such an agency and he comments as follows:

"A visit by the Revenue Department to Phuket Island Property Services yesterday reveals that this is moving ahead.

Representatives delivered documents requesting information relating to rental and management contracts for individual homes translated into Thai.

Details of the individual villas renting their homes for holiday rentals and room rates for each.

Also required are details of the number of check in's in December and a summary of deposits paid for occupation in January 2011.

One glaring omission on the part of the Revenue Department's request is that it does not cover those homes that are listed with an real estate or rental agent on an agent referral basis where the agent only provides the source of the enquiry but provides no other services such as check in or housekeeping.

Considering the number of owners who operate in this way, it can only be a matter of time before the Revenue Department tighten the loopholes for those having rental income deposited off-shore to avoid paying income tax in Thailand.

Tightening up on controls will not only bring significant benefits to the Revenue Departments but provide a level of service and transparency to the industry marred by opportunistic operators who do not have the same long term community commitment to our industry."

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