In brief
Thai Customs' new five-year voluntary disclosure program provides businesses with an opportunity to proactively address historical duty and tax underpayments while potentially obtaining protection from criminal prosecution and reduced duty surcharges. However, a voluntary disclosure should not be treated merely as a settlement mechanism. In practice, Customs may scrutinize additional information submitted during the process and expand its review to related compliance issues or broader post-clearance audits. Businesses should therefore carefully assess potential exposures, define the scope of disclosure, verify supporting data and documentation, and establish a strategy for responding to information requests. A well-managed disclosure can help mitigate enforcement risks, while inadequate preparation may create unintended compliance consequences.
In more detail
The Thai Customs Department has introduced a renewed Voluntary Disclosure Program ("Program"), effective from 1 October 2026 to 30 September 2031. The Program replaces the previous five-year scheme and provides qualifying importers and exporters with an opportunity to disclose underpaid customs duty and related taxes before the matter becomes subject to an audit, investigation, or enforcement action.
The renewed Program remains a valuable compliance mechanism. While the core eligibility criteria and cooperation requirements appear broadly consistent with those of the previous program, the disclosure process continues to require a detailed explanation of the relevant facts, the reasons for the underpayment, and supporting documentation.
In practice, the key consideration is often not simply whether a taxpayer is eligible to apply, but how the disclosure is scoped, presented, and managed once the Customs Department begins its review.
What is covered?
The application form expressly contemplates disclosures involving:
- Incorrect tariff classifications
- Incorrect customs value declarations
- Other customs declaration errors resulting in underpaid duty or taxes
Who may participate?
The applicant must satisfy the prescribed conditions, including the following:
- The case involves customs duty that was not fully paid and falls within Section 202 of the Customs Act, B.E. 2560 (2017), i.e., a false declaration offense only, not a duty evasion offense
- The goods were imported through the proper customs formalities, and the case does not involve importation without customs clearance, i.e., smuggling
- There is no clear evidence of an intent to evade or an attempt to evade duty
- The goods are not prohibited, restricted or intellectual property-infringing goods
- The applicant is not already subject to a post-clearance audit, search, investigation, or customs-related prosecution by the Customs Department or any specified enforcement agencies, such as the Department of Special Investigation
Benefits
- Settle the relevant customs duty and other applicable taxes with the Post-Clearance Audit Division without having to repeat customs clearance formalities at multiple ports of entry or locations
- Obtain a waiver of criminal prosecution and criminal fines
- Receive a reduction of the duty surcharge in accordance with the applicable ministerial regulation
Practical observation: unmanaged information requests may expand the scope of review
Why careful scoping and active management matter
The voluntary disclosure process requires applicants to cooperate with the Customs Department by providing relevant documents and supporting evidence, as well as paying any outstanding customs duty and taxes. The application form further states that the submission of false information, or information suggesting dishonest intent, may result in a post-clearance audit and additional enforcement action under the Customs Act and other applicable laws.
In addition, where an applicant fails to cooperate, submits insufficient supporting documentation, or does not take the required action within 10 days of notification, the Customs Department may proceed with a post-clearance audit at the applicant's premises.
Our practical experience
Based on our experience, Customs officers may request documents and information that extend beyond the specific issue intended to be disclosed by the applicant. Such requests may lead the authorities to examine ancillary issues, related transactions, or additional periods, and may ultimately provide grounds for expanding the review or initiating a broader post-clearance audit.
Accordingly, without a clearly defined disclosure scope and a disciplined process for managing information requests and responses, the review may extend beyond the matters originally intended to be covered by the voluntary disclosure.
Experienced, real-time management is therefore critical to striking an appropriate balance between the applicant's obligation to cooperate and provide complete and accurate information, on the one hand, and the need to mitigate the risk of an unnecessary expansion of the review, on the other.
How can we help?
We can support businesses throughout the voluntary disclosure lifecycle, including:
- Conducting a confidential customs health check and assessing eligibility for voluntary disclosure
- Assessing the potential customs and tax exposure and defining an appropriate disclosure scope
- Reviewing tariff classification, customs valuation, and related tax issues
- Validating calculations and reconciling customs, tax, finance, and commercial records
- Preparing the voluntary disclosure application and supporting documentation package
- Managing communications, meetings, and follow-up requests from the Customs Department
- Monitoring document requests, safeguarding the intended scope of the disclosure, and managing any attempts to expand the review to ancillary issues or a broader post-clearance audit
- Designing remediation measures and future compliance controls to strengthen customs governance and mitigate recurring risks
* * * * *
Kanyapak Thongpae, Associate, has contributed to this legal update.