Withholding tax is a role many fuel station owners do not realize they are playing: they act as the collector on behalf of the Revenue Department. Every time the station pays freight, rent, or service fees to another juristic person, tax must be withheld before the money is sent, then remitted by the deadline. This article gathers the cases stations actually meet, with a rate table and the filing deadlines.
The short version of the principle: when a juristic person pays certain types of assessable income to another juristic person, it must withhold tax at the prescribed rate first and pay only the remainder to the recipient. The tax withheld is the recipient's money; the payer merely collects and remits it on their behalf. If you fail to withhold or remit late, the payer bears the liability plus surcharges — so make withholding a routine step in the station's payments, not something saved for the moment you close the books.
1. A rate table for the expenses fuel stations meet most often
The table below collects the cases most common in station work. The rates follow the Revenue Department's general announcements; some items carry special conditions or activity-specific rates, so have your accountant confirm before applying them every time.
| Typical station expenses | Withholding rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Fuel freight (land transport of goods) | 1% | When the transport provider is a juristic person |
| Advertising, e.g. making a billboard | 2% | Renting the space where the signboard stands is rated separately under the rent rules |
| Rent of land or buildings, e.g. shop space at the station | 5% | Paid to a juristic person → file Por Ngor Dor 53 (ภ.ง.ด.53); paid to an individual → file Por Ngor Dor 3 (ภ.ง.ด.3) |
| Rental of dispensers, machinery or equipment | 5% | Includes equipment rented monthly from other companies |
| Meter inspection, tank inspection, maintenance services | 3% | General services — the service income category 40(6) |
| General freight, e.g. store goods | 1% | Same rate as fuel freight |
| Buying fuel products from the supplier company | No withholding | It is a purchase of goods, not assessable income |
2. Which form, to whom, and when
Paid to a juristic person or a registered partnership → you file ภ.ง.ด.53. Paid to an individual or an unregistered ordinary partnership → you file ภ.ง.ด.3. The filing and remittance deadline is within the 7th of the following month, every month. Electronic filing earns a little extra time in many cases — check with your accountant. The safest approach is an internal rule that the withholding work must be finished by the 3rd-4th of every month, leaving the accountant time to review before submission.
3. What does the recipient get back?
The payer's duty does not end at remitting. You must also issue a withholding tax certificate to the recipient — for example Por Ngor Dor 50 half-year form (แบบ 50 ทวิ) or Por Ngor Dor 2 (ภ.ง.ด.2), depending on the case. This document is the evidence the recipient uses to credit against tax due or to claim a refund. A station that receives services from others must likewise keep the certificates where it was withheld, because they are the station's tax credit when the annual return goes in.
4. Year end — attach the certificates to your Por Ngor Dor 50 (ภ.ง.ด.50) filing
The station is not only a withholder — it also gets withheld from by others. Pay freight to a logistics company and 1% is withheld. That tax is the station's credit: keep every certificate for the whole year, then attach them to the corporate income tax return when filing ภ.ง.ด.50 within 150 days after the books close, to deduct from the tax payable. If a certificate goes missing, reclaiming it is far more painful than filing things properly from the start.
5. If you don't withhold and don't remit — what happens?
The Revenue Department has the right to demand the tax that should have been withheld from the payer, plus surcharges and penalties, and that expense may even be disallowed when net profit is computed. The damage therefore has two layers — the fines and the extra tax owed. The case seen most often: service fees paid to another company by transferring the full amount without withholding, only discovered during an audit years later.
6. Make it a system, not a memory test
Set up a checklist before paying every bill: check that the invoice shows the correct tax ID and name, assess which type of assessable income it is, calculate the withholding before transferring, and record it in the withholding log immediately. A station system that keeps payee details and payments in categories helps the accountant file faster and drop nothing. To organize the tax documents of customers on the sales side as well, continue with Receipts and tax invoices at fuel stations
Withholding is not an extra cost — it is a duty to collect tax on behalf of the Revenue Department, and done correctly it simply passes through. The rates stations meet most often: 1% freight, 2% advertising, 3% services, and 5% rent. File within the 7th of the following month, and keep the certificates complete on both sides. Have your accountant confirm all figures against the actual tax year. If you want a system that keeps payments and documents ready to hand over, see fuel station software and the annual overview in What taxes a fuel station pays
Want a system that handles this for your station?
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