Collect Import Duties and Taxes

The fourth stage is payment of applicable taxes and/or depositing guarantee. There are currently four means for payment of import duties and taxes:

1. Payment at the Customs Department: Importers make payment at the Cashier Division at the port of entry. The Customs then issue them a payment receipt to be used for cargo inspection and release at relevant warehouses. Payment could be made either in cash or cheque. In case of cheque payment, it must be:
   
   • Cheque issued by the Bank of Thailand (BOT);
   • Cashier cheque;
   • Cheque with banks’ surety bond; or
   • Draft or Bill of Exchange.
2. Electronic Fund Transfer via the BOT’s BAHTNET: Importers have been allowed to instruct their commercial banks to transfer payment, through the BAHTNET system, to the Customs Department since January 1, 1998.
   
3. Electronic Payment at Krung Thai Bank (Teller Payment System): The Customs Department and Krung Thai Bank have been interfaced since September 1, 2000. The importers who want to use this service are required to:
• Complete a Duty Payment Form as attached to the Customs Notification No 77/2543 with one duplicate;
• Submit the Form with payment at any branch of Krung Thai Bank to the Customs Department’s account, Customs Branch. The Bank then returns the duplicate with payment confirmation number back to importers. The bank fee for each transaction is Baht 30.
• Fill in the payment confirmation number on the 1st page of the Import Declaration and submit such Declaration Form to Customs cashiers so as to get payment receipt used for cargo inspection and release.
4. Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT) via EDI: Under this automated system, the electronic payment is made among tax/duty payers (importers/exporters), broker banks (the banks where importers/exporters have accounts), Customs Banks, and the Customs Department. The EFT process via EDI is as follows:
   • A tax/duty payer electronically instructs his broker bank to transfer payment to the Customs bank;
   • After receiving electronic payment authorization, the broker bank will assign a Transaction Number to the tax/duty payer for future reference and then transfer the payment to the Customs bank;
   • When the full payment is received through EFT , the Customs bank electronically transmits payment information to the Customs Department referring to the same Transaction Number given to the tax/duty payer by the broker bank;
   • At the same time, the tax/duty payer also electronically transmits its payment information to the Customs Department by referring to the given Transaction Number;
   • The Customs EDI system examines the payment information received from the tax/duty payer against that received from the Customs bank and compared them to the Declaration made;
   • If all information is error free, the Customs Department will forward electronic message to the tax/duty payer notifying him to collect the payment receipt used for cargo inspection and release.