KhunHeineken

Any content to contribute????

Over the course of many months, many threads, and many posts, and much debate, non resident pensions either believe, need to believe, or want to believe, or have to believe, their pension, which is an income, and taxable, will be treated in the EXACT same way as it would be as if they were living in Australia, yet, they are non residents for taxation purposes, and living full time in Thailand. When asked on what basis they draw their conclusions that their income, being the pension, will be treated the same way as a pensioner living in Australia, all you get is personal attacks. No links. No quotes. No youtube. Nothing. Indeed, some confused "portability" with being "tax free pension" as if they were residing inside Australia. "The Paul Hogan Syndrome."

If a tax resident of Australia, right? What if they are a non resident for taxation purposes? Do you think it's EXACTLY the same?

Are they in Australia or overseas? Different rates. The ability to "collect" or "withhold" will change in the near future. They can avail themselves of the tax free threshold, something that non residents for tax purposes can not.

You are correct. The aged pension is included in the "mix" of whatever, from wherever, you have some other income. It does not stand outside of other income earned. The pension goes towards what tax bracket you are in. Now, as a non resident for tax purposes, tax is paid at 30% from $0. If someone can post a link to any "offsets" for anything, including an aged pension, for non residents, I would be happy to read it, and no, it's not the DTA between Australia and Thailand.

Exactly, but there is no tax free threshold for non residents for tax purposes. It 30% from $0. The game changes with your geographic location.

You can personally attack all you like, but perhaps you can post on what basis you draw your conclusions. I'll simplify it. 1) Is the aged pension deemed an income at law. Is your answer yes or no? 2) Is the aged pension taxable? Is your answer yes or no? 3) Have you been outside of Australia (living in Thailand) for several years? Is your answer yes or no? 4) If you have been living in Thailand for years, do you think you are a non resident for tax purposes? Is your answer yes or no? 5) Is there a tax free threshold in the non resident tax brackets? Is your answer yes or no? I know you would like to think that receiving your pension in Thailand will be EXACTLY the same as receiving your pension as if you were living in Australia, where there is a tax free threshold and some concessions. When the proposed changes are passed, can you guarantee the pension you receive living in Thailand will be the same as if you were living in Australia, some supplements aside? Is your answer yes or no? The difference in tax law between resident and non resident is considerable. I would really like to know why you think your taxable income (pension) will be treated by the Australian government the same as if you are living in Australia, when you are living in Thailand? Now, I think we are past "that's just for guys like Paul Hogan" and "I still have a Medicare Card so I am a resident." Can you post why you think your taxable income (pension) will be treated the same as a tax resident, when you are clearly a non resident for taxation purposes?

It occurred to me some time ago that I am dealing with an American who has NEVER purchased $10USD credit from Local Phone using and Aussie Visa / MasterCard, thus, has no idea on the fees, nor the conversion rates at any given time, so can not state a final price to an Aussie customer on this forum. Thus, any, and all figures you put forward, are rubbery. Once again, with Skype, an Aussie buys $10AUD of credit, and ONLY pays $10AUD. Unlike Local Phone, where the amount withdrawn is unknown until the transaction has been completed, and by then, the "best" may not be the "best." A question for you. If Local Phone is so good, why wouldn't they offer payment in more currencies? I mean, YOU claim they are the "best" yet they only deal in three currencies. Still waiting for the answers to my questions in the previous post. We both know you can not answer Question 1, but how about Questions 2, 3 and 4? Should be simple enough. Asked it a few times. Still no reply.

It's very simple. 1) How much AUD does an Aussie customer of Local Phone pay for $10USD credit? 2) How much does Local Phone change for calls to 13 numbers? 3) How much does Local Phone charge for calls to 1300 numbers? 4) How much does Local Phone change for 1800 Toll Free numbers? Everyone knows you can't answer question one with an exact price / cost / figure. This is what makes your claim that Local Phone is the "best" questionable, which you can not prove. Once again, your personal attacks are wasted on me. Can you at least answer 3 out of the 4 above questions?

So, expats pay more VAT that 70 million Thai's. Really?

Certain countries have a certain amount of enforcement capabilities. Given Thailand has had a retirement visa for decades, thus has a long recent history of managing legal migration, mostly in the form of retired expats, I would say Thailand's ability to administer a tax policy, collect the tax, and enforce the policy, would be greater than neighboring countries. On that basis, as far as taxing foreigners is concerned, Thailand will be better at implementing a tax policy, in the same way they are better at hosting us, in relation to visas, bank accounts etc. You take the good with the bad with Thailand. It's been a nice ride, but times are changing.

Nope. You still don't get it. Article 18 relies on the provisions of Article 19, and Article 19 does not cater for Centerlink age pensions. Watch 18 minutes to 19 minutes. It confirms what many already know, but many refuse to accept. "Government services - civil service pensions." That's not a Centerlink age pension just because the government pays it.

As another member pointed out, what about the 800k or 65k per month for your extension? That said, I'll be bringing back a wad of cash from the Singapore F1, but under the declarable amount. Have a friend coming over towards the end of the year. Might get him to bring some in as well. Who knows, there might be a new industry spring up similar to "visa runs" to the nearest boarder. There might be a demand to cross the nearest boarder for a "cash run." I'm sure the casinos would be happy to offer it as an extra service. Nothing illegal, under the declarable amount. Could be funny having all these expats living in Thailand, with no money following through their bank account. They must be working illegally, right?

I didn't. I just pointed out your BS.

Fail.

There's a long list of countries in the treaty. In the future, more and more countries will come online. There will be no where for an individual, or their money, to hide. The Swiss can't even offer private banking anymore. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/w/worldwide-income.asp See the words, "earned anywhere in the world?" "In the United States, worldwide income describes an aggregation of a taxpayer's domestic and foreign income. Worldwide income is income earned anywhere in the world and is used to determine taxable income. In the U.S., citizens and resident aliens are subject to tax on worldwide income."

Article 18 is subject to the "provisions" of Article 19, and Article 19 sets out government occupational pensions. Eg. military pension.

That's because the easiest targets have the most to be concerned about.

"Likely" is not a precise figure, is it? What figures? They are not accurate figures because you don't know them, and can't guarantee them. With Skype, $10AUD is $10AUD. You pay $10AUD and get $10AUD credit. With Local Phone, you don't know how much in fees you'll pay and what rate you'll get, so you don't know the final cost of the $10USD credit with Local Phone. You said earlier it's "likely what your bank charges." Do you know who I bank with? I never said. What about all the other banks in Australia. Do you know their currency conversion fees? You are dribbling again. You are trying to make unknown fees and rates into an exact amount, but you are embarrassing yourself as you refuse to admit that you can not guarantee the EXACT amount of money that is withdrawn from a customer's Aussie bank account when buying $10USD of credit with Local Phone. Now, how much does Local Phone charge to call 13 and 1300 numbers, and 1800 numbers? You never said. Do you know?

Can you post a link showing a tax free threshold for non residents for taxation purposes? With a pension being deemed an income, and taxable, and the government eventually being able to classify an individual as a non resident for tax purposes by proving one has been outside of Australia for several years, what, exactly, are you relying on that ensures pensions are not taxed at non resident rates, the same as any other income?

Link them and quote them then.

Yeah, we do. It's not a Thai market where they throw a price at you and you haggle. Yeah, it does. We were comparing prices between Local Phone and Skype. I questioned if it was the "best" value and you can't even supply a final price to the customer. Not to mention, the price of 13 and 1300 calls, and 1800 toll free calls. Still waiting for these prices. But no EXACT price, right? With Skype, you pay $10AUD, it's a known value. You can't guarantee the price of $15.71 every time an Aussie customer buys $10USD of Local Phone credit, can you? Thus, your figures are rubbery. You haven't even mentioned the bank's currency conversion fee, that's probably because you are not Australian, and don't have an Australian bank account. This fee makes Local Phone even more expensive. Your personal attacks are wasted on me. You say Local Phone is the "best value" and I am asking you to prove it in AUD figures, but you can't, and you know you can't, because of exchange rates and bank currency conversion fees. It really is as simple as that. Thus, Skype becomes the better option.

I have addressed this already, several times. The current 90 year old laws have more holes than Swiss cheese. That's why myself, and many others, have paid no tax. That's why I don't know anyone on a pension who has paid non resident tax. This is exactly why the proposed changes were drafted, and accepted by both major political parties. All those loopholes are closed, and iron clad closed. Simple as that. We know the pension is deemed an income. We know the pension is taxable. We know expats that haven't been back to Australia in years are non residents for tax purposes. We know non resident tax is 30% from $0. Put all the above together and there is cause for concern. As for human rights, do you really think this will end up a UN issue.

This is the point many in the Australia Forum don't want to accept. Article 18 and Article 19 of Australia's DTA with Thailand deals with pensions. Article 18 relies on the "provisions" of Article 19, and Article 19 focuses on government occupational pensions. When this was put to members, one member's reply was, and I quote, "Forget about Article 19." Yes, it's like Article 19 does not exist, because Article 18 says the pension will be tax in the resident country only. Addressed in this video. Around 16 minutes to 18 minutes.

Wrong. Do you even know how a DTA works? Did you watch the youtube video I posted?