Dogmatix

Everything in Thailand is now being decided by Money Bags Tony who has proved that his money can buy anything in Thailand, including political power after losing an election immediate release from prison despite an 8 year sentence confirmed by the supreme court etc etc. Let's hope he finally gets locked away for his insults to the Privy Council, which serves at the pleasure of HMK in the Korean newspaper interview. But he has already began the process of endless appeals for "fair treatment" like the Red Bull brat did before fleeing the country. When he became PM in 2000, Tony actually brought some ideas with him, such as universal healthcare to help offset his authoritarian rule and rampant corruption. Now all he can offer is the digital wallet, resulting in more taxes for Thais and foreigners but Thais still get the authoritarianism and rampant corruption. The sooner he vacates the political scene, or even shuffles off his mortal coil, the better life will be for everyone in Thailand.

Looks like a scene from Gaza. There are horrible incidents with these dangerous toys every year. High time they were banned along with the gun powder or whatever the propellant they use.

There’ll be a lot of elderly farang pensioners begging in Isaan villages, once Thailand had taxed the living b’Jesus out of them and their Thai wives have booted them out as having no more value left in them.

Tony should be entitled to the same treatment as the girl who was denied bail for LM and was left to die in prison without bail.

You can easily be tax resident of more than one country. Many UK expats are still UK tax residents because it is much harder to get out of the UK tax net than the Thai one and conversely much easier to get dragged back into the UK net, eg visit the UK for more than 90 days in a tax year. US expats are all US tax residents in addition to maybe being a tax resident of other countries.

I like the way there is no suggestion from Minister Varuwut, who is from a political family that allegedly made big money from corruption, that any of the beggars might actually be in desperate need, so his ministry should pick them up and do an evaluation whether they need help or punishment. One solution would be to tax them on the assumption they can make 100k a month. Given them a 30k allowance for expenses and tax them on a net 70k. That would at least raise tax revenues for the government. Get police to check their tax receipts or arrest them.

On my first trip to Thailand I was approached by an Irish beggar near Patpong.

A complete overhaul of the tax structure for foreign source investment income would be a good idea to bring it into line with tax on Thai investment invome, viz: Capital gains on listed stocks 0% tax or at least allow offset of losses as Thai companies can do. 10% flat rate on dividends which don’t impact your top rate of tax. 15% on interest without affecting your top rate of tax. A lightweight transactional tax on property sales without affecting your top rate of tax. Taxing foreigners at the top rate of income on these income sources is very unfair, given the easy tax regime on domestic investment income. Many foreigners will right feel discriminated against when they understand this and leave. Foreign rental income which many expats live on, could be a complete nightmare. Thailand allows only a flat deduction of 30% regardless of costs including renovations and repairs which can often wipe out a year’s rental or more. Tax years being out of synch could be a huge problem and to cap it all renting out property is considered a business in Thailand and subject to a PND 94 mid year tax return in September as well as the standard PND 90 year end tax return in March. I think many expat property owners will just throw in the towel and leave when they understand the implications and I can’t blame them. However, it is extremely unlikely they will even consider bringing tax rates on foreign investment income into line with Thai rates. We are dealing with a bureaucracy and politicians who like to go for quick wins without thinking anything through and xenophobia is institutionalized.

I agree there seemed no intention to tax globally on the US model. That would impact Thai citizens living overseas and would be very unpopular while collecting very little incremental tax vs the European style global tax for tax residents only

My guess is that you would get to donate GBP 350,000 of your 1 million prize to the Thai government. This is essentially income from a foreign government bond which is taxable. Whatever tax exemptions may apply to similar schemes in Thailand like the Government Savings Bank lottery (and I am not if that is exempt anyway but prizes on the National Lottery are taxed at only 0.5%) would not apply to a foreign scheme because it is not named in any regulation. It would just be classified as interest or income from other investments and taxed at 35%. it is worth noting that you can opt to be taxed at a flat rate of 15% on interest from Thai banks but this doesn’t apply to interest from foreign banks. There are several concessions on Thai dividends, interest, capital gains and property sales that won’t apply to the same foreign investments. So it will massively unfair to expats living off foreign investment income. I expect many will vote with their feet.

MFP's policies involved a big step up in welfare payments and they were planning a wealth tax to help pay for that. They had also proposed axing the exemption on capital gains on listed Thai stocks. I don't think they had proposed global tax or remittance tax but it would appear to be a fit with their policies.

AFAIK US green card holders are also taxed on world wide income, even if they reside abroad, as long as they maintain their green cards.

I don't know about Eritrea but what is unusual about the US is that it taxes US citizens and green card holders on global income wherever they live in the world. The UK and most of Western Europe already do what Thailand is planning to do, i.e. tax worldwide income of tax residents. You can get out of the UK tax net but it is quite difficult. Once out you pay UK tax only on UK source income.

Pita planned a wealth tax. Prayut good in this context because very conservative and avoided any radical reform.

They could bypass parliament with a Royal Decree but that is risky, as parliament could overturn it later with consequences for whoever approved it.Major changes like the inheritance tax have been acts of parliament, while minor things like tax exemption for LTR visas have been Royal Decrees. They said they are confident of getting the Top Up Tax bill for multi nationals enacted through Parliament in time to go into effect by 2025 which has just been approved by cabinet. But the BOI is arguing it needs more time. This one still needs to drafted and be approved by cabinet, then pass Council of State scrutiny before going through 3 readings inparliament and then go to the Senate. The readings are sonetimed made close together, if uncontroversial and Urgent with few amendments called for but that is unusual and there is often competing legislation. So being in effect for 2025, though technically possible, would be a tall order needing all stops pulled out and no opposition in parliament. 2026 is more feasible, if the government lasts. Since this is pushed by the RD not a political party, it probably won’t go away unfortunately.

I think this answers some of my questions on rental income https://www.hlbthai.com/thai-rental-properties-and-personal-income-tax-2/ Thailand allows a flat 30% deduction on rental income. If you want to claim more for extensive renovations, tough luck. You will have to submit audited accounts and they might not accept it anyway and unlikely to let you carry losses forward, as in the UK. The out of synch tax years and tax credits under DTA still a problem. Also a big problem that individuals as landlords have to submit a half year PMD 94 tax return with estimate FY income as well as PND 90 and pay tax twice yearly.

I have rental income from the UK which I rarely remit the Thailand and pay tax in the UK. They have a system and a form for non-resident landlords to file. You do accounts deducting expenses including agents fees, repairs and renovations and pay tax on your profit. Some years I have had to do a big renovation and declared a loss. No problem with UK taxman who has never audited or even asked for receipts or documentation in decades. How will this work under Thai global tax? When I do my Thai tax return, I will have file for tax in the UK for 1 Jan to 5 April of the Thai tax year I am filing for but not for 6 April to 31 Dec. So I clalm tax credit for 1Jan to 5 April and pay full Thai tax for the rest of the year. But I will also have paid advance UK tax based on an estimate which can later be adjusted, Do they ignore that? Next year do I then claim a tax credit for what I paid in Thailand? Does Thailand allow deduction for repairs and renovation? If so, what documentation would they ask for? Sounds like a horror no incoming our way without looking at how they will treat other overseas investments. But one thing we know is that they don’t allow deductions for losses. So those already paying tax on capital gains less capital losses will likely have more to pay in Thailand. None of this has been thought through in this pkan to just shake the foreign money tree until it dies. Not saying they have no right to tax bit it would be better if they spent a couple of years studying the implications and then came up with detailed plans which would probably mean a complete overhaul rather than just applying Thai tax rules to overseas income and not caring about the complexities or unintended consequences.

Not completely true, if you compare income from investment. Capital gains tax on Thai stocks is zero, on dividends it's 10% flat rate and on property sales it is a transactional tax that is generally fairly low and doesn't get lumped in with your income. Tax on investment gains and income on all foreign assets is up to 35% and lumped into your overall income.

Legal weed cuts into the money made on meth by gangsters including police, politicians and military.

Good. Fit enough to go to jail on his LM charge. He is an obvious flight risk and should not be given bail.

In a recent poll asking Thais who they would like as PM, Srettha was trailing at 8%. Pita was top with 46%. Prayut 3rd with 17% and Thaksin's daughter just above Srettha. Anutin was I think just below him. Thais didn't elect this clown and it is pretty clear that the vast majority don't want him or Thaksin's daughter as PM. So there will be few tears, if the court decides to bin him.

Sad but true. The initial statements about targeting Thai investors were nonsense. They are going after everyone they can, even someone ordering a box of paper clips from China for 25 baht. Whatever they can get from foreigners is easy pickings because the foreigners have no votes and they don't care, if they stay or go, as long as they pay now.

But this time the Shins grabbed power after losing the election and Srettha is extremely unpopular and seen as ineffectual as PM. So hardly likely to be a genuine backlash, if the court dumps a PM that wasn't elected and most people dislike. Although it wasn't his own idea, appointing to the cabinet Thaksin's bagman former lawyer was clearly unethical and he deserves to be binned. Nonetheless I doubt the court will get rid of him as the people who appointed the judges have no alternative to the Thaksin camp.

I have seen people say that but one of my banks overseas confirmed it was not the case. They only report year end balances and income/inflows into the account during the year. Of course the RD can request more information from the overseas tax authority but I think they would need to have a good reason and wouldn't do it lightly. In future the scope of CRS reporting will probably broaden out and may include this data.

They are unlikely to come up with a form to allow you to show non-assessable income. You might be able to get an accountant or lawyer to write a covering letter for you to take on to explain your situation. Or at lower cost you could draft a letter yourself and have someone translate it and sign it yourself enclosing copies of the National Police Order authorizing your type of visa. Then just take it along every year with the new date on it. Companies make written submissions to explain complex tax issues. So no reason why they should accept the same from individuals and, if they don't come up with new forms, that will be the only way.