KhunHeineken

How will they know your remitted funds are not assessable, or covered by a DTA? What if you have to produce a certificate of clearance at extension time? You would need to file, and pay zero tax, in order to get the certificate to clear with the TRD that your funds are not taxable in Thailand.

It has been discussed here that the Thai's may / will seek to "simplify" this tax policy. I put forward one way they may seek to do it and it is exactly how you describe in your experience. As I have said, assessable, non assessable, pre 2024 savings, DTA's blah blah blah, they will not care. If you refuse, no visa extension. Simple. What TRD office did you go to?

Given that western pensions go over the threshold, not unlike many taxes all around the world, it seems to effect the people who can least afford it the most. As I have said in the past, "a little out of a little can be a lot for some people." Pensioners may have to adjust their lifestyle, and budget for this tax bill every year, going forward. The high net worth individuals may just pay it, but could vacate for 6 months, depending on their thoughts about this tax, rather than its affordability. It's the people in the middle that will be interesting. They bring in more than a pension, but are not a high net worth individual. Many could be in that "zone" of viewing this tax as a rip off, or, the tax goes a long way towards paying to live 6 months outside Thailand anyway, so why not leave? 2025 is a test year for this. We will have more official and unofficial data on what demographic decided to do what in 2026. Interesting times ahead.

Yes, that's what I said. Members from various countries have posted their country's pension amounts, and then some pretty common set of circumstances, such as, being married and over 65 years of age, and the result was if there to remit all of their pension on an annual basis, they would have a tax liability.

No.

So why do you keep bothering to reply?

Yes, it does happen in every country, except you do not get "cut off" in Thailand, they keep serving you. Then, they wonder why they have a problem with a really drunk customer.

That would be "Tim Tams." If you are going to play the role of an undercover Aussie police officer, at least try to get the "lingo" right.

The part you are clearly unaware of is there has to be a brief of evidence in existence, for which an arrest warrant is issued. I have just posted an simplistic example of a UK male being arrested in Thailand for a murder he committed in the UK. The UK don't sent police to Thailand to do the arrest. I did mention pedo's being arrested in their home country for crimes they have committed in other countries. The Philippines is a popular choice for pedo's. New laws allow for the trial and conviction of an individual in their home country for sex crimes committed against children in another country. Think about that for a moment. The crime was not even committed in the country for which they were arrested, charged, brought before a court, convicted and sentenced. Like I said, the evidence has to be overwhelming, such as a video of him committing the sex act with a child. Jurisdiction dictates who can make the arrest. It's not uncommon in big cases for a home country to send out the officer in charge of the case to brief local police before local police make the arrest. The officer in charge can also be the escorting officer after extradition. If it's federal charges that have been broke, the federal police in the local embassy can be briefed, and they then liaise with a local police task force. This happens a lot with large drug importations. Customs of both countries are also involved. There was a famous case involving Australians in Bali. It's been in the media again recently. Two criminals were executed. The criminals were dubbed "The Bali 9." Police were made aware the group were going to be smuggling drugs, they informed the police in Indonesia / Bali, and they were arrested in Bali, by Indonesian police. Australian Federal Police did not fly to Bali to do surveillance, and make the arrest. It was a somewhat a controversial case because the Australian Federal Police could have kept the intel to themselves, and arrested the group in Australia where there is no death penalty, and prison conditions were not as harsh, but they handed over the intel. This whole thing about police from various countries actively investigating in other countries all around the world is laughable.

I'll give you a very, very simplistic example. Say someone murders someone in the UK and they know there is no way getting off it. Maybe they got into a fight at their local pub and stabbed to death someone, in full view of many people who knew him. He races home, packs a bag, grabs his passport, and heads straight to the airport and flies to Thailand / Phuket. The UK police investigate the case and identify him soon after as being the murderer. Investigators discover, through immigration records, he has left the country. Bank statements, air tickets, and telephone sim card data reveal he is in Thailand. The UK police arrange for an arrest warrant via Interpol and inform Thai police he may be in Thailand. The Thai police check their TM30's, but also may have some intel from the UK police that he has hit an ATM in Kata Beach Phuket a few times. They will also see he is receiving calls from friends and family in the UK and those calls are going to Phuket Thailand. The Thai police see a TM30 for him at a hotel in Kata Beach Phuket. The Thai police send in some undercover to sit off the hotel to make sure it's him. Satisfied it's him, they can raid his hotel room at 4am, or arrest him in a restaurant / bar, or while sun baking on the beach. He'll be held in custody awaiting extradition. The extradition will be granted. The UK police will send one or two officers over to escort him back to the UK where he will face trail for murder. The above is a very simple example, but the UK police do not send undercover officers to Phuket / Thailand to arrest him.

Yes, the DTA's vary from country to country. From what I have read from American members posting, the USA / Thailand DTA is "kinder" than the DTA's for many other countries. The old aged pension in the Australia / Thailand DTA is not covered.

In relation to the Australia / Thailand DTA, "government service pensions" are covered. One may receive a government service pension for working in the military, for example. The old aged pension, whilst still paid by the government, is not covered by the DTA because receiving it does not involve ever having to perform any "government service." (employment) Many old aged Aussie pensioners are under the belief their pension is covered by the DTA, it's not.

It's so simple, quick, easy and cost effective for them to go down that path to ensure compliance that it would be too hard for them to resist.

I posted this in another thread, This guy explains it quiet well. Basically, if your home country has say 5% tax and Thailand has say 15% tax, you pay the 5% in your home country and get 5% credit for it in Thailand, so Thailand can only tax you 10%, so the combined total is 15% tax. All a DTA does is stop the same money being taxed twice. Many members wrongly believe that is they pay any tax in their home country, then Thailand doesn't get to tax their money at all. Nothing could be further from the truth.

No paranoia here. Thailand is an unstable, 3rd World Country. I have always known my stay here could end at any time, through no fault of my own. It's as corrupt as f**k here. That retirement visa / extension is nothing more than a 12 month tourist visa. I already had a Plan B escape even before I started living here full time. Unfortunately, for many who are on more than just a pension, the cost of staying in Thailand appears to be going up, by way of this tax, or, they leave for 6 months of the year. I feel many will be facing a tough decision in the future.

As you say, This is Thailand, and as I say, they have foreigners by the b*lls here. They don't want you to "know." They want you on a string, like a puppet, so at any time of their choosing, they can make you dance. No problem for me to do 179 days in Thailand, should they seek to screw me. Others are not so lucky to have such freedom of movement, but they made their choice and ill have to live with it. Something I am sure the Thai's will take advantage of.

I was posting in general, not specific to you circumstances. The numbers have been crunched. Most pensions go over the threshold, and allowances. Simple as that. If you have to pay no tax, good luck to you.

The Thai's will take money from any nationality, fill them full of alcohol, possibly drugs, maybe also rip them off, then, when a "rampage" happens, wonder why.

They handed him the hospital bill and he went off.

The deadline hasn't been reached. It's the 31st March.

The numbers have been crunched, and crunched, and crunched, several times in the past. Most pensions from around the world go over the threshold, meaning, there will be some tax to pay, however small, but some tax to pay, should the whole pension be remitted every month, government service pensions aside, which many DTA's seem to exempt.

Certainly not. Like most who have retired to Thailand, we can consider ourselves not "mainstream" thus, hardly fearful. That's at a very basic level. I've worked in some real dangerous sh*t holes in the world, and goggles and gloves aside, yeah, I was cautious. When one's environment presents a level of threat that puts risk to your survival, you get cautious. You laugh at at your former colleague, but have you ever heard of dust disease? What about asbestos, heard of that? Nasty stuff. No. I'm fine with my health and physical security. I just happen to think this Thai tax policy will have something in it for everyone. Clearly, you disagree, and that's fine. I, like many others, really do hope you are correct, but I don't think you are. Time will tell.

+ 1

Wrong. Correct. Wrong. Deportation is for breaches of immigration. Eg. overstaying. Extradition is when another country requests, via international warrant, Interpol, the arrest and extradition of an individual to a country where they have committed a crime. Ever heard of cases where individuals has fought against extradition? Guess what, it happens in a court. There is a formal process. There are some cases where pedo's have evidence on their phone / computer etc of crimes committed in another country. Reasonably new laws in my country, Australia, allows them to be charged for the crime they committed in another country, in Australia. Obviously, because the evidence is so overwhelming. Eg. they filmed themselves having sex with a child. Here's one case. https://www.cdpp.gov.au/news/paedophile-jailed-crimes-australia-and-southeast-asia Link please. I'll check it out.

This guys explains it pretty well, and he should know, because he helped build the infrastructure for mass surveillance.