Import Alcohol in Thailand
How to register and import Alcohol in Thailand: wine, liquors, distilled, and alcoholic beverages.
Import of Alcohol in Thailand is regulated by the Thai Excise Department. Labels must be registered before import.
Import and sale of alcoholic beverages in Thailand is regulated by the Liquor Act of 1950 and the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act of 2008.
Spirit or liquor are material or mixture that contains alcohol and is consumable or becomes consumable after mixing with water or other liquids.
They are subdivided into two groups:
- Undistllled spirits – or mixtures of fermented spirits with distilled spirits (e.g. wines, champagnes, and low-degree liquors)
- Distilled spirits – or mixtures of distilled spirits with fermented spirits with alcohol volume more than 15 degrees (e.g. whiskey, brandy, rum, vodka, gin, etc.)
The Excise Department is responsible to collect the excise tax on alcohol, but not only: they are also the regulatory agency for alcohol import and distribution (in accordance with the Liquor Act B.E. 2493). The licensing system of the Excise Department obliges the importer to sell the alcoholic beverages in respect of Thai regulation.
Wiselink Group offers Regulatory services to register labels for wine and liquors and can import the products for third parties through its partner Easy Wine in Bangkok. See also our page on Importer of Records.
Wiselink Group services
Tax system for Alcohol Import in Thailand: Duties, excise, local taxes, VAT. How to calculate the cost
Alcohol Duties in Thailand
Duties applied to Alcohol import in Thailand depends on the Country of origin and the product. For examples, wine form Countries without a special agreement (France, Italy, USA) pays 54% duty, that is reduced to half if Origin is Australia, Chile, New Zealand etc. See below to have full picture of alcohol taxation method in Thailand
Excise on Wine and Spirits
Excise has a complicated way of calculation, that makes the system quite dangerous in case of mistakes. Basically, Excise is based on two factors: 1) selling price, that has an added tax if exceeding a given quota (ad-valorem tax); 2) based on alcoholic content and volume of the bottle. Click here to check the formula to calculate as example the Excise Tax for Wine in Thailand
Additional tax and VAT
Alcoholic beverages are generally charged by additional tax that are globally the 17,5% of the total Excise calculated in the paragraph before. After this additional tax is applied, VAT must be calculated on the full value based on (CIF price + Duty + Excise + Additional Tax) x 7%.
Globally, Alcohol Import in Thailand is charged with around 300% taxes
General Guidelines on taxation on Import Alcohol in Thailand
Update: On January 4th, 2024 a note from Government announced that Duties from all Countries on Wine shall be levied, together with a substantial change in Excise Tax calculation. Please read this update HERE
Duties are levied on imported Alcoholic Beverages before they are released from the Customs:
Import duties are imposed at a specific rate, based on price declared in purchase invoice.
Most of the imported alcoholic beverages are subject to import duties between 5 and 60%, but this percentage may be reduced or also eliminated under a Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
For what concerns wine and beer of an alcoholic strength by volume not exceeding 15% or, exceeding 15% but not exceeding 23% (fermented liquors):
| EXPORTING COUNTRY | AD VALOREM RATE (%) |
|---|---|
| Countries with no FTA | 60 |
| ASEAN – Australia – New Zealand | 20 |
| ASEAN – China Free Trade Agreement | Exempted |
| ASEAN – JAPAN | 32.7 |
| ASEAN – KOREA | Exempted |
| ATIGA | Exempted |
| FTA Thai – Australia | 12 |
| Exemption and Reduction of Customs Duty for the Goods Originating in Japan | 27.27 |
| FTA Thai – New Zealand | 9 |
| Thai – Peru | 24 |