(8/2007)
On 26 December 2006 the Notification of the Director-General of the Revenue Department No. 162 was promulgated pursuant to the Ministerial Regulation No. 263. The regulations provide that:
1. Taxpayers are entitled to personal income tax exemption of up to Baht 15,000 on the part of income paid for health insurance premiums paid on policies taken out from 2006 onwards for their parents or their spouse’s parents, subject to the conditions below:
a) The parents have insufficient income for living, i.e. not exceeding Baht 30,000 per person per year.
b) The health insurance policies are issued by life insurance companies or casualty insurance
companies operating in Thailand.
c) Health insurance under this Notification includes:
(i) Insurance that provides coverage for medical expenses arising from illness and
injury, compensation for disability and loss of organ due to illness or injury
(ii) Personal accident insurance that provides coverage only for medical expenses,
disability, loss of organ and bone fracture
(iii) Insurance for critical illnesses
(iv) Insurance for long-term care
d) Tax exemption must be supported by a proper receipt or a letter issued by the insurance company, i.e. taxpayers must prepare the same type of documents as that for the claim for tax exemption for their own insurance.
2. A premium paid by employers for group insurance policies with a term of up to one year is exempt from personal income tax, subject to the condition that the insurance covers hospital care in Thailand for employees and their spouse or children and also hospital care overseas only in the case where employees occasionally perform their duty abroad. Therefore, employers are not required to withhold tax on this amount of the insurance premium.
3. Tax exemption under these regulations is allowable for the income earned from 1 January 2006 onwards.
