The headline transfer fee at the Land Office is 2% of the property's official appraised value — but it is only one of up to four charges settled on transfer day, and who pays what is negotiable. Here is the full picture for a Pattaya purchase in 2026, with realistic numbers.
The four Land Office charges
Transfer fee — 2% of the government appraised value (which is often a little below the market price). In most Pattaya resale deals the buyer and seller split this 50/50; on new builds from developers the split is usually written into the contract, commonly half each.
Specific business tax (SBT) — 3.3% of the appraised or sale price (whichever is higher), payable by the seller if they have owned the property for less than five years. Sellers who have held longer, or who had their name on the house registration for at least a year, escape SBT and pay stamp duty instead.
Stamp duty — 0.5%, payable only when SBT does not apply.
Withholding tax — for individual sellers this is calculated on a sliding scale from the appraised value and years of ownership (typically ending up around 1–3% in practice); for company sellers it is a flat 1% of the higher of sale or appraised price. This is the seller's income-tax prepayment, not a buyer cost.
A worked example
Take a resale condo in Jomtien selling at ฿3,000,000 with an appraised value of ฿2,700,000, seller owned six years. Transfer fee: ฿54,000 (2% of appraised), split ฿27,000 each. SBT: none (held over five years). Stamp duty: ฿15,000, seller. Withholding tax: seller's account. The buyer's Land Office bill is roughly ฿27,000 — under 1% of the price. Budget on that order of magnitude and you will rarely be surprised.
Who pays what — and what is negotiable
Nothing in law fixes the split; it is a term of the deal. The Pattaya convention is transfer fee shared 50/50 with the seller covering SBT/stamp duty and withholding tax, since those relate to the seller's gain. On off-plan purchases, check the contract: reputable developers state the split clearly, and by law a developer cannot pass more than half the 2% transfer fee to the buyer. We confirm the tax position on every deal we broker before you sign anything.
Watch for government incentives
The Thai government periodically cuts the transfer fee to 0.01% for properties under a threshold (recently ฿7 million) to stimulate the market. These windows come and go — worth thousands of baht when they are open, so ask us what applies the month you buy.
Other one-off costs to budget
Beyond the Land Office: legal fees for due diligence (typically ฿30,000–60,000 and money well spent), a sinking-fund contribution on new condos (usually ฿400–700 per square metre, one-off), and pro-rated common-area fees. There is no annual "council tax" shock afterwards — Thailand's ongoing land and building tax on a condo is typically only a few thousand baht a year.
We have been walking buyers through Pattaya transfer day since 1978 and will give you an exact costs schedule for any property before you commit. Browse current listings or ask us for a worked costs breakdown on a property you are considering.