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Do you have to pay import duty on laptops shipped to Thailand from the US?

import dutyThailandlaptopsVATvisashippingelectronicsFedExcustomsexemptions
Dec 25, 2023
a year ago
Rob ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
If you buy laptop from US online that ships to Thailand using FedEx, do you have to pay import duty?

It says no import duty on laptops but i want to hear about other people's experiences.
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TLDR : Answer Summary
When purchasing a laptop from the US to be shipped to Thailand, many users report that laptops are generally exempt from import duty, paying only the 7% VAT on the cost including shipping. However, experiences vary, and some have suggested that using courier services like FedEx may trigger unexpected fees. Others recommend using USPS for a better chance of avoiding additional duty. Discussions also highlight the fluctuation in costs based on how items are categorized by customs. Overall, while laptops are duty free according to some sources, others contend that hidden fees or higher assessments may still apply.
Klaus ***********
Buy from Amazon often they ship all cost including
10 months ago
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Colin *********
Just out of curiosity, does anyone if a Thai person were to buy a new PC or Laptop outside of Thailand and had it sent to Thailand via a Postal or Courier service, would they pay these import duties? What about if the PC or Laptop were a used one?

If all goes well, I'll move to Thailand to live in 2025 & will want a computer with decent power (gaming level machine, but not for games). I may upgrade my current PC or get a new one & thinking about asking my close Thai friend that lives close to me to send it to her house in Thailand if my plans go well
a year ago
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Andy ************
Yes just buy in a big box store and done.
a year ago
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Jhon *******
Always had trouble in the past getting laptops in Thailand with only English keys..has that changed ?
a year ago
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Dani *********
Dude. Tons of great and cheap laptops in Bangkok.

You will get FKD for import tax
a year ago
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Rob ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Dani ********
 no import duty on laptops
a year ago
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Dani *********
@Rob *******
 good luck with customs. I paid fees on a old pair of glasses mailed to me
a year ago
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Rob ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Dani ********
do you realize import duty is based on the type of item?
a year ago
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Rob ********
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Steve **********
Haven't stayed up on duty. Friend has shipped a few bottles of CA wines

as holiday gift ( unrequested, or would have refused ).

Is there still a duty ?
a year ago
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Kristaps ********
What about buying from Singapore
a year ago
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Rob ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Kristaps *******
 same thing it's more expensive there and they don't carry high end laptops.
a year ago
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Rob ********
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Ivan ************
I have imported a laptop and paid only 7% VAT, no duty, which is correct, as laptops are duty free. There will be a small handling fee from the courier, FedEx and DHL both charge 200B. Thai Post is 20B.

Many other items do have much larger duty, which is what people are confusing. Duty is item dependent, and it's zero on laptops.
a year ago
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Daniel ************
yes sure
a year ago
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Craig *******
I had to replace my laptop this year while in Thailand. The exact same model was 25% more in Canada (CAD and US pricing is comparable). No shipping cost, no wait, plus I got the vat rebate. No brainer
a year ago
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Klee **************
Why wouldn’t you buy the laptop here, makes way more sense to me
a year ago
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Steve *******
You’ll still have to pay VAT and processing fees
a year ago
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Puggs **********
Remember that the standard voltage in Thailand (220 Volts) much higher than the voltage level of devices in the United States (110 Volts).
a year ago
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Ivan ************
@Puggs *********
 99%+ of laptops support both voltages.
a year ago
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Ivan ************
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Maxim ***********
A lot of good but also factually inaccurate reply. Electronics is 20-30% cheaper overseas compare to Thailand. So when you import electronics, either you will get charge 20-30% for shipping cost (Amazon, Ebay, etc, which will be the import tax equivalent), OR you will pay 20-30% import taxes upon delivery. The delivery man will come to your house to tell you to go to the office to get your package. The high tax is probably to protect Thai companies that sell the same product 20-30% more expensive. If it was so cheap to import electronics, nobody would buy from Thai store.
a year ago
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Daniel **********
@Maxim **********
 again you are giving false information. There is no import duty on notebook computers.
a year ago
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Ivan ************
@Ma***
 it's 7% VAT only, no duty. I have imported a laptop and paid this. A company's shipping fees are their own business, they are not tax to the Thai government. You do pay VAT on shipping fees, but that's the same anywhere.
a year ago
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Maxim ***********
@Ivan ***********
 Which website did you buy the laptop from? Thailand has deals with many websites (including Amazon and Ebay), where they will charge 20-30% for delivery fees which replace the typical import taxes. A lot of people don't notice this upon buying online. So no, a company shipping fee is not only their "own business", it is country specific and based on many things depending on the product.
a year ago
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Ivan ************
@Ma***
 Amazon and eBay can estimate and pre-pay the tax. It's not a shipping fee then, it's tax. Amazon actually refunds you if the actual tax is less than they estimated. I have prepaid the tax with Amazon and they did refund. Shipping can be expensive from the US but that's a separate thing to tax.

Many items do attract duty and it can bex10, 30, 60%, and you have the VAT on top of that. But laptops specifically are duty free. There isn't one rate for everything. If you got charged only 20-30% on clothes for example that would be an undercharge, as they are 30% plus 7% VAT = 39.1% (plus you pay this on the shipping too).
a year ago
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Ivan ************
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John ********
You’ll pay
a year ago
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Michael ********
You pay tax, VAT and tax on the shipping costs. Bit of advice have it shipped to a Thai friend.
a year ago
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Robert *********
different electrical power may cause damage and the plug is different.?
a year ago
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Ivan ************
@Robert ********
 plug is the same here as the US and almost any laptop will come with a multi voltage adapter.
a year ago
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Robert *********
@Ivan ***********
***************************************************
maybe in some places but not all. i was in chiang mia Bangkok koh chang korat never seen western style, just going by my experience and i was there in 2020
a year ago
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Ivan ************
@Rob***
 this is the most common Thai socket, it will take any of type A (North American 2 pin), B (NA 3 pin), C (Euro 2 pin) or E/F (Euro 3 pin- will only be grounded if you add a grounding pin in the hole). It generally works best in practice though with US over euro plugs, they stay in better.

Sometimes you get 2 pin only sockets, but I can't imagine you ever had a socket you couldn't plug a regular North American 2 pin plug into. And you will generally have the third pin on most sockets, so they'll take 3 pin NA plugs.
a year ago
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Ivan ************
@Rob***
 I live here, sockets that take US plugs are the most common. Most sockets are designed to take both US and Euro plugs, which is why they may look different from what you have in the US, but they do actually take US plugs and indeed the US plugs stay in better than the Euro ones. I have a mix of US, euro and UK/HK/Singapore plugs but MOST of my stuff is US plug as that's the plug that works best here.
a year ago
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Ivan ************
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Terary **********
I had a laptop shipped to me by a friend, the insured value $1000. I had to pay 60%, I think. It was significant. It may have been different if my buddy re-wrapped the box so that it wasn't obvious that it was a new laptop.
a year ago
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Daniel **********
@Terary *********
 your friend must have used the wrong HS code. Laptops are duty free.
a year ago
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Daniel **********
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Rob *************
The way I look at it, if you’re willing to spend high end, does it really matter about the tax? Just saying……
a year ago
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Rob ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Nakednomads ***************
 if you spend 8k on something do you like to spend another 4k on it for now reason?
a year ago
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Rob *************
@Rob *******
 just sounded like you were not buying local regardless because they don’t have what you’re looking for…thought that would be the reason since it comes with all the applied taxes…..apologies if I assumed wrong.
a year ago
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Rob *************
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Erwin ********
No import duty on laptops, only 7% vat on the cost of the goods (the real cost, not some made up low figure) including shipping and insurance. If the CIF value is more than 40k Baht you’ll need to register for import, for which your shipper will ask your passport and some additional fees.

Please beware that if the laptop has a sim slot (or can be connected mobile) you need to make sure the same model is already registered in Thailand, otherwise you’ll have to add a few hundred k to get it certified and registered with the nbtc.
a year ago
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Rob ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Erwin *******
 thx for the detailed answer. You mean they will find out the actual price by googling even if the specified price was lower?
a year ago
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Erwin ********
@Rob *******
 yes. Customs will assess the real value and tax accordingly, or they’ll slap you with a fine if your stated value is ridiculously low, or worse you say it’s a gift. And no, sending it back often isn’t an option if you disagree, your only choices to forfeit the goods.

Oh, one tip; do not ship multiple types of goods together without clearly specifying each item separately with its price, or they’ll assess the entire shipment for to total cost on the item which has the highest duty.
a year ago
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Steve **********
@Erwin *******
 yep...have been bitten
a year ago
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Steve **********
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Martin **************
FedEx and Dhl have the highest % of paying duty fees. It’s always a gamble, you never know if they will charge them or not. Depending on where you get the laptop, you can ask to send as a gift which will help. If you can use usps or any other slower methods, you have higher % chance of not paying duty fees.
a year ago
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Rob ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Martin *************
 if they charge import duty, can't you fight this because it's the law that there is no duty for laptops?
a year ago
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Steve **********
@Rob *******
 ' fight it ' in Thailand ?
a year ago
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Maxim ***********
@Rob *******
 You can't fight it, delivery man will come to your house to tell you to go to the office to get your package.
a year ago
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Maxim ***********
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Phil ******
@Rob *******
 7%Vat
a year ago
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Ticha *****************
You cant say no import tax. But duty of electronic appliance is 0%+shipping cost you may have to pay for vat 7% from above
a year ago
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Maxim ***********
@Ticha ****************
 That's absolutely not true. You will pay 25-30% overall taxes combine when you buy electronics overseas to cover the fact that the same electronic will be 25-30% higher in Thailand. Either you pay such taxes when buying the electronics or went receiving it.
a year ago
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Ticha *****************
@Maxim **********
 that is true 0% on electronic appliance. Check HS code and talkk to me later
a year ago
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Maxim ***********
@Ticha ****************
 It's 25-30% taxes, these are facts based on literally everyone who order electronics from overseas 🙂 Ask around how much people pay, they will all say either 25-30% shipping deliveries (pre-tax cover, on Amazon or Ebay for example) or 25-30% upon delivery. The 25-30% is to protect local Thai businesses which sell the same electronic 25-30% more expensive.
a year ago
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Alan *******
@Maxim **********
 Not true, there is no single category for all electronics. Laptops and monitors for example have no import duty.

I brought a large computer monitor into Thailand at BKK airport, had it stopped and checked by customs as they thought it was a TV. When they saw it was a computer monitor they let it go, paid nothing.

VAT and duty on shipping might apply if over the de minimus, but certain product categories have no duty on them.

As for Amazon, I just added a Dell XPS 15 to my cart, put in a Thai shipping address, it qualified for free international expedited shipping, the import duties deposit was 7.62% of the laptop price.

No idea why it was more than 7% VAT but nowhere near 20-30% as you claim.

Also, “shipping costs for taxes” isn’t some agreement with Amazon.

Import duties have always included the cost of the item plus the cost of shipping plus the duty percentage based on the HS code of the item plus VAT.
a year ago
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Ticha *****************
@Maxim **********
 No you are giving fault informstion. People should know that the tax for expecially laptop is only 0%. Not what you said. There are thousands of HS code that you must pay 30%+7% taxes to protect local business. And upon delivery you eill get blue paper to inform about import duty by delivery company. You can also discuss with customs for this. If they must pay 25-30% on electronic appliance drom importing. They should know they dont know how to do business. And contact nearest shipping agent 😅
a year ago
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Maxim ***********
@Ticha ****************
 I am giving accurate and verifiable information. As proof of that, go to Amazon right now and try to buy a Laptop, you will see upon buying that the delivery fee will be 20-30%. So if you buy a 1k USD Laptop, you will get charged $200-300 USD in shipping cost. This is because Thailand have aggreement with such famous website to use shipping cost as taxes. But for websites without such agreement, they will charge you upon delivery. You can try yourself :). This is why electronics is 25-30% more expensive in Thailand.
a year ago
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Daniel **********
@Maxim **********
 you are wrong and Ticha Karen Kelgnoht is correct. Notebooks are exempt from import duty.
a year ago
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Ivan ************
@Ma***
 laptops are duty exempt. I've bought a laptop and only paid the 7% VAT. Ticha is right. You can check this yourself on the Revenue website.
a year ago
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Ivan ************
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Rob ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Ticha ****************
 7 percent is ok. Just hope no import duty.
a year ago
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Rob ********
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Bob **********
Just buy here you can get whatever you want
a year ago
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Bob **********
My friend is an IT guy he’s bought many over here
a year ago
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Richard ********
@Bob *********
 Without Thai characters?
a year ago
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Bob **********
@Richard *******
 not really
a year ago
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Richard ********
@Bob *********
 Maybe it's better now. It's been a while since I've bought one here
a year ago
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Richard ********
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Bob **********
@Richard *******
 of course
a year ago
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Richard ********
@Bob *********
 Harder to find
a year ago
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Richard ********
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Rob ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Bob *********
 not all laptops are available here.
a year ago
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Steve **********
@Rob *******
 then be prepared to pay duty
a year ago
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Rob ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Steve *********
 no duty on laptops..
a year ago
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Rob ********
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Phil ********
37% import tax.
a year ago
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Jack ****************
What city are you in? In Phuket they are pretty aggressive extracting bribes with third party shipping. USPS seemed fairly immune, but I would never order anything else from USA with a non government shipper.
a year ago
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Rob ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Jack ***************
 pattaya
a year ago
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Jack ****************
@Rob *******
 I'd be pretty nervous doing it. But it might be fine. I do think that sort.of thing goes in waves. And some provinces are "cleaner"
a year ago
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Jack ****************
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