Sumet Mingmongkolmitr (Senior Partner)
In today’s global economy, commercial transactions increasingly cross geographic boundaries. For Thai or multinational companies operating in Thailand, importing goods, products, or raw materials from abroad for business use or trade has become standard practice.
The rising and increasing volume of import transactions naturally heightens the risk of facing legal and customs -related issues. One such example occurs when imported goods are found to contain defects. Instead of returning or exchanging these items, which may not be cost-effective, the supplier might offer a discount on a future order as compensation. This situation raises an important question in the import process in Thailand: What product price should be declared in the import declaration at Customs when such discounts are involved?
Under the Thai Customs Procedures, importers must declare the transaction value in their import declaration, which customs duties are then calculated and paid. In practice, some importers declare a value after deducting supplier-provided discounts, and Thai customs officials usually accept these declarations without issues. However, in other cases, customs officials may request the importers to use the original product price (before discount) as the transaction value, on the basis that the type of discount does not criteria under the relevant Thai customs regulations.
Therefore, importers need to carefully consider discounts when submitting import declarations. Not all discounts are eligible for deduction, as eligibility depends on factors such as the nature of the discount, the type of goods, and the value or quantity of the involved products.