Returns from TikTok, Shopee and Lazada: how should you handle sales VAT adjustments?

1. Establish eligibility first

This article concerns VAT-registered sellers that already included the original sale’s output VAT in a VAT calculation and subsequently have a qualifying reduction under section 82/10. Sellers without the relevant VAT entitlement should not issue VAT credit notes using this process. Section 82/10 · Section 86/13

2. Check the reason, not just the refund status

Distinguish a return after a sale from cancellation before the taxable transaction or another type of refund. The treatment can differ. Statutory return grounds include qualifying defective or non-conforming goods. Section 82/10

A Revenue Department ruling accepts a trade-agreement return on its particular facts. It does not mean every marketplace refund automatically qualifies for a VAT reduction. Ruling 0702/พ./5072

3. Link the evidence to the original sale

A practical review file should bring together:

• Order reference, goods and quantities returned.
• The original tax invoice or information needed to locate it.
• Return request, reason, approval and relevant agreement.
• Evidence of receipt and refund, according to the actual transaction.
• Marketplace adjustments and the credit note where applicable.

This is a preparation checklist, not a declaration of complete legal compliance or a claim that every platform uses the same documents.

4. Check the credit note and tax period

Section 86/10 calls for issuance in the month of the event, with the following month available where necessity prevents issuance in time. Under section 82/10, the output VAT reduction is taken in the month the credit note is issued. The bank refund date alone does not determine an unrestricted retrospective adjustment. Issuance requirements · Adjustment period

Review the document heading, issuer and buyer details, date, original invoice reference, original and correct values, difference, VAT and reason. Also check additional particulars and rules relevant to the document format. Section 86/10 · Notification 195 · Amendment 249

5. Reconcile before filing

Match returns, credit notes and the sales VAT report to avoid duplicate or incorrect adjustments. If platform fees are refunded too, review those documents separately from the store’s own sale credit note.

Where the original document or legal ground remains unclear, have the accounting team review the facts before adjusting VAT. An aggregate refund total is not a substitute for the underlying tax records.