The Customs Department is preparing to impose import duties on goods valued less than 1,500 baht (the de minimis value) starting Jan 1 next year to create fair competition for domestic businesses.
According to Phantong Loykulnanta, director-general of the Customs Department, this initiative is part of the department’s policy under the government’s “Quick Big Win” framework.
The measure is expected to generate about 3 billion baht in additional customs revenue, based on import values of items priced less than 1,500 baht that were previously exempt from value-added tax (VAT) and import duties.
In July last year, the department began collecting VAT on imported goods valued less than 1,500 baht, which helped increase its VAT revenue by 2 billion baht, while import duties were exempt.
According to the department, commencing Jan 1, 2026 import duties will also be collected on de minimis value goods with import values starting from 1 baht to ensure an equal playing field for domestic producers and foreign importers.
Mr Phantong said the department will meet on Friday with major online sales platforms Shopee and Lazada, which are among the largest importers of low-value goods, to discuss operational procedures for implementing the import duty collection.
To ensure the feasibility of collecting duties on low-value goods, of which hundreds of millions are imported each year, the department plans to require online platforms that import these goods to declare the import value and tariff classification of each item, enabling customs to assess the applicable import duties.
If online platforms fail to provide this information to the department, customs clearance for their goods may be delayed, he said.
In the long term, the department plans to amend relevant laws to make the collection of import duties on low-value goods more convenient by introducing a flat-rate system, under which each parcel will be taxed at a predetermined rate, said Mr Phantong.
“Based on our assessment, imports valued less than 1,500 baht totalled around 30 billion baht last year. With an average import duty rate of 10%, this measure could increase revenue by about 3 billion baht,” he said.
Several countries including the US have begun collecting import duties on low-value goods, with online platforms responsible for remitting taxes to customs authorities, said Mr Phantong.
In addition, the Customs Department unveiled two other measures known as “Trade Enabler” and “Social Protector”.
The Trade Enabler measure includes: upgrading the Lat Krabang Customs House, which currently functions as an import checkpoint or inland container depot, to also serve as an export checkpoint; allowing transshipment of goods at Laem Chabang Port without requiring a new customs declaration by authorising a director-general announcement permitting automatic processing based on the ship’s manifest; and expediting tax refunds for exporters.
Under the Social Protector measure, the department plans to sign memorandums of understanding with online platforms that import goods to monitor and restrict the sale of illegal goods, or those requiring import licences.
Regarding the Thailand-US trade agreement, which requires Thailand to abolish reward payments to customs officers for seizing smuggled goods to prevent distortions in customs operations, Mr Phantong said this provision in the Customs Act of 1926 would require a legislative amendment.
However, as a short-term measure he said he would issue a regulation stipulating that executives at Level 8 and above are ineligible to receive financial rewards from tax evasion seizures in order to prevent conflicts of interest.