gamb00ler

Same for me, except I didn't need the signed lease and I didn't need to pay anything. I don't remember if I needed the tm30 receipt which used to be stapled into my passport.

There are some other details of my initial visit to SCB that I didn't include. I told the SCB staff that I wanted to open the SCB EZ Savings account. That account has no bank book. For some reason they actually first opened a standard savings account for me. They told me they did so because there was some transaction in the bank branch was not possible with the EZ Savings account. I no longer remember which type of transaction that was. After they had completed opening the standard savings account they started the process of opening the EZ Savings account. It was during that process that the branch staff ran into a problem. That's the point where I asked them if I needed a Thai tax ID for them to complete the process. The next day I came back with my tax ID and the EZ Savings account was opened. To summarize: no work permit was required, SCB staff could open the standard savings account with no Thai tax ID but for the EZ Savings account a Thai tax ID was required. Non of it makes any sense to this dumb farang.

Sorry that I didn't mention that at the time I was on a newly renewed 1 year extension of stay.

In my experience ?

I managed to open one with my passport, a certificate of residence from Immigration and a copy of the the house book. That happened about 3 months ago at Central Airport branch.

As far as I know you would still need to go to the bank to move funds in/out of a fixed deposit account. That type of failure seems common in Thailand. Initially SCB said I needed a work permit. I told them I can't work because I'm on a retirement extension. They started my application but they seemed unable to proceed at one point. I asked them if I needed to get a tax ID and they said yes. The next day I got my tax ID in the morning and returned to SCB and setting up my account was completed. You need to be patient and persistent to get things done in Thailand.

yeah... Bangkok bank told me they would still do an advance on a credit card... which is super silly because the process for them is identical if I used a debit card.

I opened my Schwab brokerage account in '87 but never have had a bank account with them. I just recently found out that Zelle transfers are possible with their bank account but not their brokerage accounts.

I find the easiest method to contact Schwab is through their online chat function. I use a desktop all the time... not a smartphone. Not sure if the online chat function is available on their phone app. I've asked them dozens of questions that way and the Schwab customer reps have always been able to answer/help.

I forgot to ask you what Thai bank do you use to get a cash advance on your US debit card? I used to use Bangkok bank but I've been told they don't offer that service anymore.

He was not using an ATM.... he was doing a cash advance at the teller. Bangkok bank used to offer that service for free but apparently has stopped it completely earlier this year. I just opened a Krungthai bank account because they offer that service but they do charge 200 ฿. That's not too bad because with a Schwab card I can get up to 15K US$ per advance.

wow... those are some greedy banks. I usually use NerdWallet to find banks with better offers on fees and interest rates.

I have two US debit cards that don't add foreign transaction fees to ATM withdrawal, retail purchases or cash advances at a bank teller. Schwab and Capital One 360 Savings don't add the any fees. Of those two, only Schwab also refunds the 220 ฿ ATM fee. In the Fidelity Terms and Conditions they say that certain account types are eligible to have all ATM fees refunded. Also, Fidelity does not add foreign transaction fees. I found the Fidelity details by googling for fidelity "debit card" terms conditions.

I try to remember to warn potential debit card users of the foreign transaction fees that are added by most financial institutions. I think your estimate of 3-4% is a little on the high side. I think the most common fees are 1.5% and 2%. Bangkok bank also adds that fee if you use their debit card outside Thailand. The best place to find the details of the foreign transaction fee is in the Terms and Conditions attached to your debit card. I agree that the banks don't make it easy or convenient to find those details. The Visa and Mastercard web sites I posted earlier do allow the user to enter the foreign transaction fee percentage each time you request an exchange rate quote.

yes... Schwab is not a bank so they don't directly connect to SWIFT. They need to use an intermediary bank.

Since TRD has exempted all funds received/earned prior to Jan. 1, 2024 we don't need records from before that date. We would need to show documentation of the value of all accounts at the end of 2023.

I have read 3 DTA's and beyond that many of the DTA's use the OECD model. And that model is as I described.... the tax treaty has NO dependancy on the tax code of the signatories. It seems you have looked at even fewer DTA's than I. Please show all of us what part of the US-Thai DTA needs amending. https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-trty/thaitech.pdf

I'll be there, but I'll bring my own tea. I don't like Thai tea.

You may want to consider remitting enough current year income to use up all your tax exemptions for this year to reduce the potential of exceeding your exemptions in later tax years.

hopefully his subscribers are mostly fake accounts that were bought and paid for through a botnet. I hate to think there are so many real idiots out there.

The entire balanceI of your nest egg as of Jan. 1 of 2024 will never be subjected to tax in Thailand. Under the most recent regulations the investment income earned on your nest egg starting from Jan. 1 of 2024 will be considered assessable income if it is sent to Thailand. However as a Thai resident significant amounts of your assessable income will not be taxed due to several exemptions made available by the Thai Revenue Dept (TRD). However, if your nest egg is in the form of 401k and/or IRA accounts withdrawals after Jan. 1 2024 may be assessable income in Thailand. Thailand is not allowed to tax US Social Security benefits. Bottom line is that you likely will not have to pay any tax in Thailand.

Prepare a list of questions you have regarding tax credits and post them. Several regular posters in these tax threads understand them very well.

A little more detail of your current situation will help us give you advice. Why not call your bank's customer service line and ask them? The larger Thai banks have staff available to speak English with you on that help line. Is your current bank account a fixed deposit account? Can you use your smartphone banking app to transfer money? If not, why not? Does your bank offer internet banking from your desktop? Most regular savings accounts in Thailand pay minimal interest (.25% - .5%) and those accounts don't require you to go to the bank to move money. You can find 1.5% - 1.75% savings accounts at SCB and LH banks. With their accounts you can use your smartphone banking app to move funds around.

I think I'll send a suggestion to YTube to create a special area where videos that get sufficient maroon votes are listed.

There is almost no dependency between a DTA and the participating country's tax codes. DTA's usually just settle which income streams are taxable by each signatory and the priority of each country's tax claims. If the DTA does define restrictions on methods and level of taxation it is only on income streams originating in that country. For example the Thai-Canada agreement restricts the percentage of taxation each country can apply on specific income streams originating in that country. Bottom line is there will be no need to rewrite the DTA's.