Laos capital gains tax calculator
Laos taxes a disposal on its selling price, not its profit: 2% on share transfers with Lao Securities Exchange listings exempt, 1% on agricultural land, 2% on other land and property. The purchase price changes nothing and losses count for nothing.
Work out the transfer tax on a share, land or building sale from the price. Enter sales by hand or import a broker CSV, and the calculator splits multi-parcel sales under FIFO, applies the LSX exemption and the agricultural rate per sale, and shows the arithmetic behind the final figure. Everything stays in your browser.
Rates current as of 2026-09-30, from PwC’s Lao PDR tax summary.
Current rules
The rates behind the number
The transfer rates by year
| Tax year | Share transfers | Shares listed on the LSX | Agricultural land | Other land, land-use rights & buildings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 2% of the selling price | Exempt | 1% of the selling price | 2% of the selling price |
| 2022 | 2% of the selling price | Exempt | 1% of the selling price | 2% of the selling price |
| 2023 | 2% of the selling price | Exempt | 1% of the selling price | 2% of the selling price |
| 2024 | 2% of the selling price | Exempt | 1% of the selling price | 2% of the selling price |
| 2025 | 2% of the selling price | Exempt | 1% of the selling price | 2% of the selling price |
| 2026 | 2% of the selling price (new Income Tax Law from 1 July 2026) | Exempt | 1% of the selling price | 2% of the selling price |
| 2027 (planning) | 2% of the selling price | Exempt | 1% of the selling price | 2% of the selling price |
Rules and exemptions
| Rule | Value |
|---|---|
| The tax base | The selling price itself: acquisition cost, commissions and improvements are not deductible |
| Shares and company stakes (not exchange-listed) | 2% of the selling price |
| Shares listed on the Lao Securities Exchange | Exempt |
| Agricultural land in agricultural use | 1% of the selling price |
| Other land, land-use rights, houses, buildings, land with structures | 2% of the selling price |
| Holding periods | None: the rate is the same the day after buying and a decade later |
| Losses | None: no offset, no netting, no carryforward; a sale below cost still pays on its price |
| Withholding | The buyer or paying party withholds the tax on a share or land transfer and declares it within 10 working days of payment |
| Annual return | Individual income tax return due by 31 March of the following year |
| Dividends, rent, royalties (separate categories) | Dividends 10%, rent 10%, royalties and IP 5%; bank deposit interest exempt |
Rates as of 2026-09-30; each table links back to the authority page above. No official Lao rule covers funds, ETFs, crypto or other movable valuables, so the calculator computes none of them.
Questions
Laos capital gains questions
How much is capital gains tax in Laos?
Laos has no capital gains tax on the gain itself. A disposal pays transfer income tax on the selling price: 2% on the sale of shares, 1% on agricultural land sold for agriculture purposes, and 2% on other land, land-use rights, houses and buildings. Shares listed on the Lao Securities Exchange are exempt.
Does the purchase price reduce the tax?
No. The charge rides the selling price itself: acquisition cost, commissions and improvements are not deductible against it. A share bought for 90 million kip and sold for 100 million pays 2% of 100 million, which is 2 million kip.
Do losses reduce the tax?
No. The transfer categories carry no loss relief: no offset against other income, no netting across sales, no carryforward. A sale below cost still pays its percentage of the selling price.
What changed in 2026?
2026 is a boundary year. The 2019 Income Tax Law No. 67/NA governs 1 January to 30 June 2026; the new Income Tax Law No. 88/NA, enacted 25 June 2025, was published in the Official Gazette on 19 June 2026 and took effect on 1 July 2026 (VDB Loi's alert and Rajah & Tann's summary both state 1 July; PwC's summaries report 3 July; the gazette PDF is Lao-only). The transfer rates this record carries are the same on both sides of the boundary: PwC's pages, reviewed 7 August 2026 (after commencement), still state 2% of the selling price for share sales and 1% or 2% for land and property. Sources: https://www.vdb-loi.com/laos_publication/vdb-loi-laos-alert-new-income-tax-law-2025-effective-1-july-2026/ and https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/lao-pdr/individual/income-determination.
What does Laos tax on a disposal?
Laos keeps no separate net-gain capital gains tax for individuals. The law charges transfer income as its own category on the gross selling price, not on sale proceeds less acquisition cost. PwC's summary states: 'sales of shares are subject to income tax at the rate of 2% of the selling price' and, for real property, 'In case of land for agriculture purposes: 1% of the selling price' and 'In all other cases: 2% of the selling price'. Source: https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/lao-pdr/individual/income-determination (last reviewed 7 August 2026).
Who withholds the 2% on a share transfer?
The 2% share rate sits in the law's withholding table as well: PwC lists 'Sale, assignment or transfer of share' at 2% among domestic withholding taxes, so the buyer or paying party withholds it from the seller. Source: https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/lao-pdr/corporate/withholding-taxes (last reviewed 7 August 2026).
Are Lao Securities Exchange shares exempt?
Shares listed on the Lao securities exchange are exempt: Deloitte's Guide to Taxation in Southeast Asia 2026 states the rule in both its corporate and its individual Laos chapters - income from the sale of shares '(other than shares listed on the securities exchange, which are exempt from tax) is subject to income tax at a rate of 2 percent, imposed on the selling price'. No official English translation of the operative article was located, and the Lao text of Law No. 88/NA has not been translated, so the exemption's wording under the new law rests on the current Big-4 summaries. Source: https://desk.sh.gov.cn/zxfw/yjbg/gbbg/index/e47707cf416d4a91980d67f578e34783.pdf (Deloitte guide, Laos sections 2.5 and 7.5).
Can cost be deducted from the tax base?
The tax base is the price itself: no rule located in the official or Big-4 sources allows acquisition cost, commissions or improvements against the 2% or 1% transfer charge. A sale below cost still pays on its selling price. Source: https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/lao-pdr/individual/income-determination.
Can transfer losses be deducted?
No capital-loss relief of any kind was located for the individual transfer categories: no same-year offset against other income, no cross-asset netting, no carryforward and no carryback. PwC's individual page records the system's treatment of unrealised positions in the same spirit: 'Unrealised exchange gains are not taxable and losses are not deductible'. Source: https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/lao-pdr/individual/income-determination.
What exactly can be transferred in land?
Land in Laos is state owned; the transferable interest is the land-use right, and the 1% and 2% charges attach to its sale or transfer together with houses, buildings and land with structures. Sources: https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/lao-pdr/individual/income-determination and the Lao Ministry of Industry and Commerce land portal, https://lsp.moic.gov.la/index.php?id=43&r=site%2Fdisplaylegal&sort=-description.
When is the withheld tax declared?
Collection runs through payer withholding: the Ministry of Finance's tax-revenue instruction (No. 3281/MoF, 6 October 2014) states that income tax on land buy/sell and other specified income is deducted by the payer and declared within 10 working days after payment; the instruction predates the 2019 Tax Administration Law and is the operational baseline located. Source: https://www.laotradeportal.gov.la/en-gb/site/display/739.
What are the rates on dividends, rent and royalties?
Adjacent individual categories, withheld at payment and separate from the transfer charge: dividends 10%, royalties and intellectual-property income 5%, rent 10%; interest on bank deposits and bonds is exempt. Source: https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/lao-pdr/individual/income-determination.
When is the annual return due?
Filing: employers withhold salary tax by the 20th of the following month and the annual individual income tax return is filed by 31 March of the following year (Deloitte guide, Laos 9.2). Source: https://desk.sh.gov.cn/zxfw/yjbg/gbbg/index/e47707cf416d4a91980d67f578e34783.pdf.