RupertIII

I recall reading on AN that in Court it was proven that it was against Thai law based on discrimination by nationality (I believe this is also against international law) but the judgement was that as he was a foreigner he could afford the inflated price plus it was to Thailand's benefit. Thai justice!

A few yeas back I was referred by my hospital to another hospital for a test. My wife Thai phoned the second hospital asking for a price without mentioning who it was for, quoted THB15,000. At the hospital waiting room a nurse approached us just to let me know the cost is THB25000! I think after a lot of haggling and toing and froing by the nurse I believe it did come down somewhat although with all the other bits they manage to add on not sure how much I actually paid for the test.

Thanks for that. It was, I think, Mike Lister in one of the forums stated that expenses of up to 50%, subject to a max 100K, could be deducted against income which, at the time, I took to include pension income. However the above booklet quotes:- The amount of personal expenses that may be deducted depends on the category of assessable income, as follows: • Income under the above categories of assessable income (1) and (2), including goodwill, copyright and other rights under (3), a deduction of 50% is allowed subject to a maximum of Baht 100,000. • Income under (5), the rates of deduction vary from 10% to 30% depending on the type of rented property. • Income under (6), (7) and (8), the rates of deduction vary from 30% to 60% depending on the type of income or type of business. Income under categories 1, 2, and 3 are listed as:- Assessable income is classified into eight categories: 1. Salaries and wages (including income from stock options, house rent allowance and other fringe benefits) 2. Hire of work, office of employment or service rendered 3. Goodwill, copyright, franchise, patent, other rights, annuity, etc. Could any of these be interpreted as pension, possibly other fringe benefits? I am wondering if anyone has ever been put this to the test by previously successfully submitting a return including this expense deduction in respect of pension income?

Thailand's desire for an FTA with the EAEU and increased trade with Russia, as reported in today's BP, isn't likely to help or have they now given up on an FTA with the EU?

I assume this refers only to realised capital gains, not unrealised.

Based on the UK IHT I would say only once to the entire estate. IHT is levied against the deceased's Estate not each individual inheritor. However this is purely my personal opinion and you may wish to take further legal advice.

Thanks Richard, as my handwriting is also awful nowadays was going to use the computer to complete all passport forms so lucky for me you mentioned this!

Looking at the form for completion to pay for passport renewal it strikes me as having quite a serious security issue. It requires, amongst other info, the 3 digit security number as shown on the reverse side of the card, Anyone with access to this info could use it to clear out the a/c and having divulged the CVV number I can't imagine the bank being particularly sympathetic. Anyone had any previous issues with this? Does anyone know if VHS Global Bangkok can offer a more secure method of payment or will they accept cash? Failing which I suppose the only answer is to transfer out the balance of the a/c apart from whatever the required passport fee is and then, after it the fee has been deducted, go through the hassle and cost of replacing the card. Thanks.

That would appear to be correct, see below. My wife queried this when she was at the tax office earlier this year and they appeared to confirm and asked if there was documentary evidence to support. The Inheritance Tax Act B.E. 2558 (2015) (“ITA”) took effect on 1st of February 2016. It stipulates the following: 1. Inheritance Tax a. Tax Base The inheritance tax base shall be calculated from the inheritance, which an inheritor received from each testator, whether it is received once or several times, above 100 Million THB. (Section 12, ITA). The value of the inheritance subject to tax means the value of the asset received as an inheritance offset by the liabilities inherited. The tax is levied on inheritors who are: 1. Thai individuals or Thai juristic persons or foreign individuals who are resident in Thailand according to the immigration law, which inheriting assets located in Thailand and outside the country. 2. Foreign individuals or foreign juristic persons, which inherit assets located in Thailand. (Section 11, ITA) The spouse of the testator is exempted from inheritance tax. (Section 3(2), ITA) Foreigners who are resident in Thailand, shall be liable to pay Inheritance Tax in the portion which exceed 100 million THB, calculated from the inherited assets in Thailand and foreign countries. Foreigner who are non-resident in Thailand, shall be liable to pay Inheritance Tax in the portion which exceed 100 million THB, calculated from only inheriting asset in Thailand. The inheritance tax rate is 10%, except in the case of heirs who are ascendants or descendants of the testator, where the rate is 5%. Legacies received by the spouse of a testator are exempt from the tax. The inheritance tax applies to registered assets, including residential properties, land, vehicles, bonds, equities, and deposits at financial institutions. (Section 14, ITA)

Thanks Chiang Mai. In any event probably better below rather than over, less hassle and bureaucracy I would guess. I believe the online bank statements also show gross and also w/h tax deducted

My bank interest payments from Thai banks has w/h deducted, my wife's, I believe, is paid gross. I don't want to produce an annual income for this year in excess (nor much below) of the non-taxable amount (565K in my instance) so when adding interest rec'd into the total should I use net figures for mine and gross for my wife's or net or gross for both? I can then calculate how much I can remit from overseas just prior to year end. Thanks.

If the tax payer is Thai.

Unless it has changed very recently you are ok up to 100m THB. The Inheritance Tax Act B.E. 2558 (2015) (“ITA”) took effect on 1st of February 2016. It stipulates the following: 1. Inheritance Tax a. Tax Base The inheritance tax base shall be calculated from the inheritance, which an inheritor received from each testator, whether it is received once or several times, above 100 Million THB. (Section 12, ITA). The value of the inheritance subject to tax means the value of the asset received as an inheritance offset by the liabilities inherited. The tax is levied on inheritors who are: 1. Thai individuals or Thai juristic persons or foreign individuals who are resident in Thailand according to the immigration law, which inheriting assets located in Thailand and outside the country. 2. Foreign individuals or foreign juristic persons, which inherit assets located in Thailand. (Section 11, ITA) The spouse of the testator is exempted from inheritance tax. (Section 3(2), ITA) Foreigners who are resident in Thailand, shall be liable to pay Inheritance Tax in the portion which exceed 100 million THB, calculated from the inherited assets in Thailand and foreign countries. Foreigner who are non-resident in Thailand, shall be liable to pay Inheritance Tax in the portion which exceed 100 million THB, calculated from only inheriting asset in Thailand. The inheritance tax rate is 10%, except in the case of heirs who are ascendants or descendants of the testator, where the rate is 5%. Legacies received by the spouse of a testator are exempt from the tax. The inheritance tax applies to registered assets, including residential properties, land, vehicles, bonds, equities, and deposits at financial institutions. (Section 14, ITA)

I picked this up some time ago and assumed that a mutual fund was the USA term for an investment fund. However not so in Thailand - Mutual fund means a body of persons who participate in a fund that is established and operated by an investment management company for a project under the law governing the control of trading activities that affect public safety and welfare. You can find out further from https://www.rd.go.th/english/37749.html#section40 and search for mutual in your browser.

And don't forget that the PM under the last military coup dictated that western foreigners have to pay 3x for treatment at a Government hospital and 2x at a private hospital. For a 1 million baht treatment at a Govt hospital and assuming a 35% tax rate that would cost a little in excess of 4.5 million!