Presnock

also within the rd.go.th https://www.rd.go.th/fileadmin/download/insight_pasi/DTA_Book.pdf

should be a copy in the Revenue dept ..

so possibly a "State" pension versus a civil pension which is usually taxed only by the paying country and might be determined by the Thai side as an assessable income unless it is a written correctly in the DTA.

I am sure that they will have someone do an app on the tax forms and then interview the expat, depending on country of origin and DTA as part of the app - probably do like my US 1040 I just did yesterday - log in to the company I use each year - maybe half an hour if that much time to do my 1040, pay for it and print out a copy to get my couple of thousand refund - last year took two weeks only after the company forwarded it to the IRS. The totat 1040 is 16 pages long and has a lot of questions but my financial situation isreally simple and since it costs me less than $30 to file it, it would take longer if I had to check everywhere necessary. Anyway, locally I hope that they do come up with the final scheme and expats are all happy.

Just as an aside on who knows what or not, I read today from one of the Thai ltax lawyers and advisors he interprets this new interpretation of the old law that ssavings or monies earned prior to 1 jan 2024 can be remitted tax free during the calendar year 2034 but after that any of those foreign funds are taxable whenever they are remitted after 31 Dec 2024. I have read a lot of the interviews of the finance folks and like many do not mention expat as specific targets for worldwide taxation and added to the Thai tax program. For example, read the Setta talk that program and he talks repeatedly about getting the foreigners added to the tax base in Thailand. In another advisor, his company says that there is nothing on the plan to tax retirees which may also be true but...I am no expert by any means and see so many different ideas. We all continue to guess at what will happen when maybe nothing will happen.

One reason is that locals with foreign bank accounts never worried that the over seas banks would advise the TRD of the Thai individuals' bank accounts. Now with the joining of Thailand with all the rest of the OECD and CRS FACTA exchange of banking information, the TRD may learn about citizens that have those foreign bank accounts.

yes it is not a new lw but this new "interpretation" of that law is decades old so many trd employees may have not even been around since the change.

That is what the TRD lawyer said that I listened to yesterday. His final words were "get a tax ID, file your taxes your taxes and pay if due, or if you paid too much, the RD will give you a refund."

Actually, I continue to wonder if any local TRD office knows all the details about the new tax interpretation. If one goes to a local office and gives incorrect information, will the TRD itself allow one to not follow the new regulations? IMHO none of local offices know all the details yet, let alone DTA details of 61 countries.

Until all the"dust" settles and the TRD gets the final chats of all the officers, then the field offices will be advised of the determination about what is and isn't taxable. The lawyer said if anyone has any doubt about what is assessable they they should go to the revenue department webb site and read the document - available in English or Thai.

DTA's usually can protect a pension if taxes are already taken out prior to annuity sent.. I red that some state pensions are not taxed by their country - these most likely will be taxed by Thailand and they will say " tax credits" can be issued to protect one from double taxation. That is why DTA's must be carefully read and full understanding of what the TRD will determine if they want. The TRD lawyer I heard on the expat interview said that untaxed pensions should be declared, and taxes filed, let the TRD determine if any tax should be paid or not. They sid documentation as proof of any income source should be retaind by the expats.

Seems like some people when they go to a local TRD office and ask about their situatioon are told they do not need to file nor get a tax number but I am leery about the info going to from the main TRD office to all the remote local offices.

I opine that it depends on the wording within the DTA of your country as they discussed they would look at the amount of a pension and would determine there needed to be a tax or a refund in the interview and if taxed already in your country, then a tax credit can be issued. I am not familiar with taxing here whatsoever except in my own particular financial position and the DTA with the US. I listened to the Thai also, and as usual, 100 words to express a situation needing maybe 20 words. They also discussed failure to file when necessary and the problems that could cause - needing a tax-free pass to leave, visa extensions or re-entering the country later after not filing. The two TRD folks in the interview spoke in Thai, then a Thai advisor to expattax "translated".

This AM got a note from expattaxthailand with an interview of a TRD lawyer and official about this year's filing of 2024 taxes. the officials advised anyone with questions about the taxes to check out the TRD webbsite at www.rd.go.th/English for non-Thai speakers, but also gave some ino on the tax filing. As we all know it is Self Assessable income - if no assessble income then one does NOT have to get a TAX ID nor file the tax forms. Since DTA's either exempt pensions or provide tax credits, exempted in my opinion means non-assessable income for US civil service pension as well as pre-2024 savings then an expat then does NOT need to get a tax id nor file. They indicate this anyway if one wants to hear it themselves. They also said that expats need to keep documentation supporting that income if is considered non-assessable. Strict penalties for "fake" documents. Anyway, I checked the interview see the link or contact Carl at expattaxthailand and you should be able to get the interview there. They mentioned that the TRD site can also allow one to ask questions. https://youtube.com/watch?v=mGvznkNy398

Taksin has been proposing a negative tax system int Thailand in which those below a certain level will get extra money from the rich to compensate and make them more equal. https://aseannow.com/topic/1336853-taksin-proposes-negative-income-tax-to-combat-poverty-in-thailand-short/

wrong - most "announcements" are taken out of context it seems to me. The TRD still says no assessable income does not need a tax id nor file income tax forms. They too I am sure realize that if EVERY tax resident filed then the majority would probably not have any tax due but would inundate every trd officer for years to come just for this year alone IMHO. But, if YOU want to file, please enjoy that effort.

to get online shopping - small orders almost daily, have to register when you call in so they need your phone number

agree, if remitting assessable income then IAW the TRD directive #1 "within 60 days of having assessable income one shoulr obtain a tax id number."

I agree and a further "good" story on some store employees - yesterday we shopped at TOPPs in Latkrabang - after bagging up our buys, my wife said she forgot some yogurt of our daughter and returned to get that and just did the "you scan it" line but paid with a 1000 baht bill but forgot to get the 500+ baht change. An hour later at home she was phoned by the store to advise her about the money which the employee would keep and "owned" it to my wife via phone. Honesty like this can give one a good feeling overall.

Major malls stores, home pro, etc all carry Xiaomi of all sizes, there are western brand names too but we find the xiami to work well, we have a house in CM and are right at the moment in BKK and all our rooms have air purifiers but we only use them when we are in those rooms i.e. bedrooms at night, living room, computer rooms etc during daytime. It takes them a while in the AM to bring the levels down like today when outside is over 120, 60 when I turned on the air purifier at 6. One can also wear N95 or P100 masks which filter out almost all the pollutants.

I think that most people especial westerners think that air pollution doesn't affect them. they have been proven to be wrong - it doesn't usually happen ovenight/day unless one has breathing problems or mabe heart problems but is a long time coming health issues, just as smokers don't get lung cancer or breating problems early in their smoking days. One can also wear an n95 or p100 mask which will filter out the 2.5 micron pollutants which are the dangerous of getting into your body. BTW this AM at 6 AM when I walked the dog, with my 2.5 micron meter Prawe district in BKK began flashing immediately when I turned it on - it begins flasing at the 115 reading and for those unfamiliar with the healthy levels, WHO detemined it to be about 38 microns. Googling AQI and your location in Thailand or other countries will show you the current reading at that location. Today's newscasts and other media show that his problem is getting more govt response but until all of south Asia stops polluting then Thailand will continue with high pollution in my opinion. I wish good health to all.

Well in my 30+ years here dating back to the 50s, one thinig that the locals think all westerners have is BIG DOLLARs! and while the TRD may be targetting the rich locals stashing money overseas, I think the greedy hands are also reaching for expats of the wes.t. I could be wrong and they might just ignore most retirees and nomads but I do think all should have a plan already by now.

I too have an LTR and what I needed to provide as covering the requirements, is basically public knowledge as I am a retire civil servent. With FACTA and CRS and OECD requirements on banking, not a whole lot will totally "protected" in my opinion as banks will be probing for more and more or will just not open accounts for certain foreigners in my opinion anyway

Believe we will learn in the not-too-distant future if they want to tax or not tax retirees, while as for qualified technical specialists, they are offering lower taxes on the money earned in Thailand but the way they seem to be starving for any additional money, who knows what their next scheme will look like.

plenty researchers and doctors are saying exactly that - cancer thrives on sugar. But, who am I to advise anyone what they can or shouldn't put into their body. I hope you are healthy and remain so for a long life.