MartinL

The pension rate for deferral is 1%/9 weeks, NOT 4%. https://www.gov.uk/deferring-state-pension/what-you-get I did this calc. for my brother who works in China and he was considering deferral until 70 which would result in a 23% increase in his SP. In his case, taking his pension ASAP would have been financially more advantageous than deferring. Screenshot of calc. attached although yours would be different, of course, but deferral would result in a lower cumulative pension over the years. Although not shown in the screenshot, the crossover point, at which cumulative deferred pension becomes greater than cumulative pension taken at 66, would be 87 y.o. He's decided to take at 66, later this year. Whether he'll then live in a 'frozen' country he's not yet decided but he won't stay in China.

Of course, all this is moot if the vehicles don't show their indicators until they actually start to make their turn or have actually started to turn, which is all too common here.

The interest on the 800,000 ฿ in a savings account will be taxable but if it's in a Thai savings account, the 15% withholding tax will already have been debited and your bank book will prove that. In fact, you'll likely be due a refund on at least some of that WHT since your 299,000 ฿ won't bring you into the 15% tax band even in the worst case. Looks like another clueless local official.

Twenty or so years ago, my friend built a huge house in a tiny village in KK province. Pool, a small house for his wife's mother, large grounds, the works. It now lies apparently abandoned after he, his wife and son moved to UK for the lad's education. They are very unlikely to come back to Thailand as a complete family. It seems he's too sick for that now, too skint (even before he left, he had trouble meeting financials for an extension of stay) and the family seem very happy in the new home. In that location, it seems totally unsaleable except very cheaply as a demolition project and a return to the rice paddy that surrounds it. The house was always FAR too big for the 3 of them - I think it was a vanity project in the days when he had plenty of money, built without serious thought to what they really needed. I agree with hotsun's comment - I'd feel really uncomfortable in that situation

Are the police sure he's a foreigner? If he is, he's learnt Thai driving habits to perfection.

Deleted by author.

Shouldn't that be R43?

On the strength of this post, I got in touch with my deceased mate's widow and asked if she'd received any paperwork from the Scottish Police pension people - she had. The tax code allocated to her on the payment advice slips was 1257 so it looks as though a tax code application mightn't be necessary. The very first payment she received included a back payment and deduction of £500 in tax. Since the widow's pension is FAR below £12,570, I'd expect that to be refunded in the 25/26 tax year and I'll be looking to see whether the 1257 code continues.

I've just had a response to my complaint - about 3 weeks later which isn't bad. They've apparently put a 'marker' on my tax account so that the automatic assumption of an annual CoL upgrade no longer applies. If you're also fed-up with the annual tax code shenanigans, it looks like you can get a positive result. It's just a pity it took a complaint rather than a simple phone request to achieve this. The text of the response is this:- Thank you for your complaint which we received on 3rd February 2025. Your customer reference is xxxxxxx .Your online submission reference is xxxxxxxxxx. I am sorry you have had to contact us regarding your tax affairs. I have been in contact with a specialist team who have confirmed they have set a specialist indicator to account for the frozen state pension and stop the automatic increase affecting your tax code. Once again please accept my apologies, I do hope your future dealings with us run more smoothly. I look forward to not having this problem in the future - but will have to wait a year to see if they can live up to their words.

Excuse my ignorance of the USA political scene but ... I often see this stated; "... registered (party xyz) ... " in US-related reports. Is it REALLY necessary to 'register' as a particular party's voter or is it a choice whether or not to do so? Does it then mean you can't change your mind spontaneously, without re-registering for another party? To officially 'register' seems an odd thing to do, in my view. Please explain.

All of the cost savings you mention were presented in a 2011 Report:- http://frozenbritishpensions.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Oxford-Economics.pdf but the findings and conclusions were rejected. It would seem that successive UK governments of all colours would prefer to make a political statement rather than save taxpayers' money.

This is mine, sent 3/2/25 ............

This is mine, sent on 3/2/25 ...............

Of course I will. I'm not optimistic that it'll be a quick process, given the long wait for a reply to my letters, but HMRC might spring a surprise!

Moderator - if you feel this would be better as a new thread, please do so. "UK Tax Allowance for Thai Widows"? I thought it better to resurrect this thread rather than start a new one. I sent 2 letters and an e-mail to HMRC on this subject in 2024. In the last couple of weeks, I had an e-mail reply - only about 9 months after the original letter! Despite the delay, their reply was a useful one. The e-mail is attached below. Pumpuynarak was told that the Personal Allowance had to be applied for each year. This seems not to be true where Thailand is concerned, because of the UK/Thai Tax Agreement. Using Form DT-Individual, NOT R43, this is a one-off process that, once approved, lasts until circumstances change - death of the Thai widow in receipt of the Tax Allowance being the most relevant for us or failure to return a Life Certificate (?). The form also allows for reclaim of taxes paid in error. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/637e192f8fa8f56eabf75e5b/Double_Taxation_Treaty_Relief_Form_DT-Individual.pdf Unfortunately, this application can only be made after a pension starts - after our death - so we can't be there to help our widow but maybe the bulk of the form can be completed while we're still here. I'll be making an application on behalf of my mate's widow soon.