Stef

Thanks for your answer. Do you think I am allowed to invest in RMF/LTF (15% each) to reduce my taxes and get a better refund?

I receive dividends from a Thai company. About 450,000 Bahts per year. It is my only income.
I am a registered taxpayper in Thailand and the company withholds 45,000 Bahts (10%) from that amount.

I think I can get a refund because 45,000 Bahts is more than what I should pay for an 450,000 Baht income taking into consideration deductions and allowances.
Does anybody have experience on how to compute my taxes and how to claim a refund?

Thanks in advance

I pay THB 30,000/year for VAT, WHT, etc. About 10-20 transactions/month. It is not a company just an accountant working for a big accounting company and who wants to earn extra money.  But, she only speaks Thai. 

THB 12,000 for the annual audit of your accounts.

I think that what you plan to do is not correct. There should be no 7% VAT on your tax receipt/invoice if you don't sell a product or service in Thailand.

But you should pay 15% of the invoice amount as withholding tax. For example, the Dubai company issues a USD 1,000 invoice. You pay them USD 1,000 and you pay USD 150 to your tax office in Thailand. You can deduct these USD 150 at the end of the year from your annual corporate income tax if you turn a profit.

A smarter solution may be to do this with another Thai company as the withholding tax for a service is only 3%.

Very interesting article from Luno. Thanks for answering my question.

I noticed that 1 bitcoin is about 3-5% more expensive when purchased through a Thai exchange. Is there a reason? Onshore and offshore Baht exchange rate or just the demand/supply balance?

For example:

Google: 1 BTC = 135,771 THB

bx.in.th:   about 140,000 THB

Does anybody know?

It depends on your situation. I am French. One of my banks informed me under short notice that they don't want non resident accounts anymore. I am lucky I still have another bank in Europe. I never go back to my country and It is almost impossible to open a non resident account on line in France today because of anti laundering and tax laws. If my second bank decides to close my account too I won't know what to do with my money. So for safety I would like to get a FCD account to be able to temporarily keep my money in euros in case I don't have an account in Europe. I think it is not safe to keep all my money in bahts.  I was already here in 1997.

If you don't face the same problems as me, I understand that a FCD may look useless. Just keep your money in your home country.

Thanks to all for the information. I finally found out that at my bank (Krungsri - Bank of Ayudhya) you can deposit and withdraw foreign bank notes but there is a 1% in lieu of exchange fee. Some information on their website is only in Thai.

It seems that their FCD offer is a little more competitive than other banks, lower fees, lower minimum balance and ATM card to withdraw in THB at any of their ATMs.

I am a little confused about foreign currency deposit accounts. Can anyone with experience with this type of account help?
Say it is an account in euros

1 - Can I deposit money in euro bank notes? For the initial payment when opening the account? Later? Is there a fee?
2 - Can I withdraw money in euro bank notes? Is there a fee?

I already understand what the fees are for T/T transfers in and out.

Thanks

I am looking for generic hydrochlorothiazide (diuretic medication for the treatment of high blood pressure). Does any one know a generic brand name commonly available in Thailand? How much does it cost?

Thanks

I have a joint account. I never had a problem for logging in with the old and new website designs. I can use Chrome or Internet Explorer.

The Android app could not be used for joint accounts.

US current account deficit ~ 100 Billion dollars per quarter

UK current account deficit ~ 20 Billion pounds per quarter

Euro zone current account surplus ~ 50 Billion euros per quarter

US budget deficit 2014 ~ 2.8% of GDP

UK budget deficit 2014 ~ 5.7% of GDP

Euro zone budget deficit ~ 2.4% of GDP

The Euro zone is doomed

Source: Trading Economics

I used Fast Moving twice (fastmovingthailand.com) and I was satisfied by their service.

You may contact them with the volume of what you plan to move. A team of 6 people will go to your place with a truck. They will pack everything and use bubble wrap to protect your furniture during the move. It was also in the Thonglor area. The price was THB 12,500 Baht + THB 30 per carton that they provide.

Sorry if it has already been answered.

I have a mobile phone with Android 5. Google Maps works well with GPS and 3G. I drive mostly in Bangkok and nearby provinces. After setting my destination, I would like to get turn-by-turn navigation with voice. I can only get written directions on the top of the screen as I drive (turn left at the next intersection ...)

Is it possible to get a larger tilted view and spoken directions?

Thanks

Yeap, getting the appropriate court docs is about it...basically validates surviving spouse has rights to the money of the deceased spouse versus someone else. As you know, Thailand haven't reached the point of financial law development yet allowing a person to declare a beneficiary on bank accounts; instead, they do the court probate process.

And regarding your fixed account, I get the impression that you may have just let it ride along in a 3 month fixed account (which matured fixed accounts automatically roll over into) which earns a lot less interest (currently earning 1.125%) than other fixed accounts promotions like their current 11 month 2.8% promotion...way over double the interest of a 3 month fixed account. And since 15% withholding tax has been applied each time a traditional fixed account matures please don't tell me you have not been filing for a refund of that withholding....it's not a hard process. If you have indeed just been letting the money ride in a 3 month fixed account and also not filling for withholding tax refund, you would be much better off in a hybrid fixed account like the Krungsri Bank MeeTai Dai hybrid fixed account currently paying 2.3%, no tax withheld as long as you don't exceed Bt20K interest earned per year, and you can make two free withdrawals per month (Bt50 fee for subsequent per month withdrawals) without in interest penalty like a traditional fixed account has such as the Bangkok Bank traditional fixed accounts. Please disregard this last paragraph if you have been rolling your money over into the best Bangkok Bank fixed account promotions whenever your current fixed account matures (and filing for withholding tax refunds).

I did not know about the Bt 20K limit for not withholding tax on interest of a Mee Tae Dai account. I did not see that in Krungsri's website. Are you sure? Where did you get the information from?

The Mee Tai Dai savings account for tax withholding purposes is treated like a regular savings accounts which means interest is not withheld until you exceed Bt20K interest per year. However, for "fixed" accounts the 15% withholding rate is applied for any amount of interest earned...even below the Bt20K level.

For those folks who are maintaining large amount in Krungsri Bank Mee Tai Dai accounts which would result in more than Bt20K interest earned per year apparently they have opened several accounts to ensure none of them exceed Bt20K interest per year. Was apparently recommend by the bank reps. You would think the bank would trigger on "aggregate" interest among the like accounts but apparently they don't.

Thanks for the information. I'll go and ask my bank if splitting my money between 2 accounts will help avoid the withholding tax refund burden.

Yeap, getting the appropriate court docs is about it...basically validates surviving spouse has rights to the money of the deceased spouse versus someone else. As you know, Thailand haven't reached the point of financial law development yet allowing a person to declare a beneficiary on bank accounts; instead, they do the court probate process.

And regarding your fixed account, I get the impression that you may have just let it ride along in a 3 month fixed account (which matured fixed accounts automatically roll over into) which earns a lot less interest (currently earning 1.125%) than other fixed accounts promotions like their current 11 month 2.8% promotion...way over double the interest of a 3 month fixed account. And since 15% withholding tax has been applied each time a traditional fixed account matures please don't tell me you have not been filing for a refund of that withholding....it's not a hard process. If you have indeed just been letting the money ride in a 3 month fixed account and also not filling for withholding tax refund, you would be much better off in a hybrid fixed account like the Krungsri Bank MeeTai Dai hybrid fixed account currently paying 2.3%, no tax withheld as long as you don't exceed Bt20K interest earned per year, and you can make two free withdrawals per month (Bt50 fee for subsequent per month withdrawals) without in interest penalty like a traditional fixed account has such as the Bangkok Bank traditional fixed accounts. Please disregard this last paragraph if you have been rolling your money over into the best Bangkok Bank fixed account promotions whenever your current fixed account matures (and filing for withholding tax refunds).

I did not know about the Bt 20K limit for not withholding tax on interest of a Mee Tae Dai account. I did not see that in Krungsri's website. Are you sure? Where did you get the information from?

Yesterday, I went to Chaeng Wattana to get my 17th extension of stay based on marriage.

As usual, I brought 2 photos with my wife, one inside the house and one outside showing the house number.

The officer told me that it was not acceptable anymore.

She wanted 4 photos including some with our 15 year old daughter.

I had to go again today to give her the 2 missing photos.

This information may be useful for people who are going to do their yearly extension.

FYI, household debt as a percentage of GDP:

Japan: 235%

USA: 124%

Canada: 110%

UK: 95%

Germany: 86%

OECD 2012 data

Can you please post the link to the specific source of this information because what you're telling us doesn't correspond with other sources

for example, your claim is that USA is 124% whereas this source shows only 80.57%?

And I would never have expected the Japanese to have household debt that high (whereas government debt has been quoted around those levels?)

http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/HDTGPDUSQ163N

You are correct. I mixed up two tables.

FYI, household debt as a percentage of GDP:

Japan: 235%

USA: 124%

Canada: 110%

UK: 95%

Germany: 86%

OECD 2012 data

People interested in these matters may install an app called water4thai for IOS and Android. It shows the current levels of all dams in Thailand and compares with previous years. It is in English and Thai. Data are updated almost daily.

These tax rates were decided by the previous government. I already paid tax on my 2013 income with these rates.

I read in PWC's Thai Tax 2013 booklet that "New personal income tax rates to be effective on 1 January 2013 have been approved by the Thai Cabinet but the required legislation has not yet been promulgated".

I have a Krungsri account. You can easily set and edit nicknames in "My Favorite Transfer". I have 5 names saved in the "To Other Krungsri Account" tab and 11 in the "To Other Bank Account" tab. I don't think there is a limit.

Yea, they probably do have some type of agreement. But having the title of a "free trade" agreement does not necessarily mean everything between the two countries is customs/import tax free; it just means the two countries have agreed that X-amount of import tax will apply to different categories of items...like anywhere from 0% to XXX%. But hopefully, the majority of the items covered in the agreement are import tax free. Say the pre-agreement import tax was 50% for product XYZ; under the free trade agreement the tax may be reduced to 20% or maybe 5%..or maybe 0%. Usually the reason trade agreement between two countries take so long to negotiate is because of special interest groups in each country that want to protect their industry from the other country's competing products by keeping an import tax of X-percentage on various products.

I know for a fact that a Thai based company selling electronic devices made in China import them tax-free . . . hopefully for the OP the FTA extends to mobile handsets too.

Thanks for the information. I have ordered the phone without asking the supplier to lie about the value. I hope to have only the VAT to pay.

Stef

I recommend you buying a MTK6589T phone if you are willing to proceed.

As I am not a gamer and don't like a large phone, I was considering a MTK6589 only. It is much cheaper and I think it will be sufficient.

Stef