wmlc

None of these statements are false. However, I do agree the wording is not clear and it could have been written a lot better. That’s my point and I stand by my statement about Anglo Saxon and John Spooner being a good and knowledgeable law firm that can be trusted.

It seems that way, but it’s just the terminology. For example “foreign resident” is not clear. Some may perceive this to mean any foreigners living here. However, it is referring to foreigners who qualify as a resident such as employees, business owners and people who have resided in Thailand for more than 180 days in a calendar year. I agree the article is very sales oriented and that’s a shame but understandable in the industry.

As much as I don’t like the article’s purpose, it’s accurate. The only fault I have is the terminology is changed for the normal person to understand. This is a law firm who I know very well and they know what they are talking about. Today you are getting in debates with everyone it seems. You are not a lawyer and your posts are not backed up by any laws. If you want to make statements like this about the article, contact John Spooner directly. He knows his stuff. I may not agree with his advertising practices but he knows his stuff.

An example of the law firm taking advantage. Pattaya News owned by Bryan Flowers. Bryan Flowers is a partner in Isaan Lawyers who owns this law firm posting this. It’s to drum up business for getting tax IDs

I think you need to understand what a DTA is. This will be my last reply to you. The DTA ensures you won’t be double taxed. For most, they pay tax already at the source. This would mean in most cases, no further payment will be needed in Thailand. If there is, very little. Stop twisting words. You don’t know. You are not a tax lawyer and you have no knowledge of Thai law. On the other hand I have a lot of knowledge about Thai law as it’s my job. Next……. Enjoy your last words which I know you will ensure you have.

How about avoiding filing. Most won’t have to pay anything because of the DTA. You are reaching now. Enough of this. You should not be saying people only care to avoid tax. You don’t know. I’m out now. Stop accusing other of wanting to avoid tax when you don’t know………

Too much speculation on your part here and that’s what people don’t need. That is fear mongering in my books. If you want to debate, quote clear hard facts backed up with Thai law. Thats what I did and you chose to debate and argue and so on. What’s the point. Read the law. That’s it. Law and evidence. I could care less if you believe my evidence or not. I have been here for 15 years so I don’t need to prove anything to you. That was just one example. I have a thousand more. Why would I need to show you? Take it or leave it. Stop scare mongering dude. TRD does not care and if they did, it is sure as hell no where near as much as you and some other expats care. Some expats are so obsessed with this that it’s all they talk about.

Please quote the law where it says tax IDs would automatically be issued to foreigners under the circumstances that you describe. Quote the law please. Then tell me how enforcement has been set out. The answers to both these questions will not be answered by you. Why? Because the TRD does not automatically assign tax IDs to foreigners and there are no enforcement guidelines as of yet. In fact there is no enforcement for expats to file their personal income tax in Thailand unless they want to renew their work permit or do an extension of stay of a non B visa based on working. Now please stop scare mongering about the Thailand tax laws. One last point. Often companies who hire consultants need to deduct tax and remit to TRD. Why? Because TRD can’t collect it after the money has been paid out as there is no enforcement. Therefore, the law states the WHT is deducted at the source of the person paying and they remit to TRD. In this situation no tax ID is issued for the foreigner. End of story. And by the way, most foreigners in this situation are working without a work permit or they are overseas consultants. TRD does not care.

This is apples and oranges. I am talking about full on reporting of all transactions in and out of your account. The RD would not get those same details under the situation you are referring to and what they do get, they ignore. How do I know this? Let me tell you how. I have a client who earns a little interest on his money in a Thai bank, he works in one company that issues him a tax certificate for his salary. Then he also works two part time jobs and they also issue tax certificates. Guess what? He only files personal income tax on his main salary. He does not include the interest from his Thai bank, he does not include the other income from the part time jobs. For the last 15 years TRD has not done a thing. You read way too much into things and people like you create fear mongering about the tax laws in Thailand when actually until enforcement is announced, nothing will be done. That’s if and when. Anyways, It’s too late now for 2024 too. So, guess what? ………

No I am not talking about money laundering laws. Read the law I posted. It’s about reporting only to the revenue dept. You have no idea what you are talking about. Banks are obligated to report to the revenue dept on bank accounts that fall under these two scenarios. What they will find is not relevant. People want to know possible enforcement options for the Thai government and this is an example of how TRD will know about your account activities and that’s it. Nothing more or nothing less. The people who want to know about this law as I have described are the ones who don’t have a tax ID and have never filed personal income tax in Thailand. They might want to know in what situations their Thai bank account activities could be sent to the revenue dept and this is the only time their account activities will be sent and that’s the end of the story. If you already have a tax ID, my post may not be of interest to you. For example, expat A is retired and has a non O visa based on retirement and an extension of stay. He never had a tax ID and never filed personal income tax in Thailand. He does not want to comply with the law, he does not want to file, but wants to know how Thailand can enforce the law and get him to file. My post is an example of one way the revenue dept could know about his account activities. Therefore, being a part of enforcement by identifying how much funds he transferred in that particular year.

I disagree. Foreigners think they are on the Thai government's mind, but in actual fact, the Thai government couldn't care less. Too many other problems.

If anyone is interested in how banks are obligated to report to the Revenue dept about your Thai bank account activities, here it is: There is a law to follow for banks to report to the Revenue Dept. If it does not fall under this law, no transactions will be reported to TRD. On 20 March 2019, the Government published the Act to Amend the Revenue Code (No. 48), 2562 be. E. , in the Government Gazette. This Act became effective on 21 March 2019. Under this Act, the following entities have the duty to report information about a person who made certain types of transactions during the previous year to the Revenue Department by March of the following year: 1. Financial institutions under the law governing such businesses. 2. Governmental financial institutions established under specific laws. 3. Electronic money service providers under the law governing payment systems. These certain types of transactions must have one of the following characteristics: 1. Depositing or accepting transfers of money in all bank accounts 3,000 times or more in the previous year. 2. Depositing or accepting transfers of money in all bank accounts 400 times or more, for a total amount of THB 2 million or more in the previous year. So you must have 400 transactions and the 2 million, not either or. The entity liable to prepare such a report must submit the first report for the year 2019 to the Revenue Department by 31 March 2020. Ministerial regulations or announcements under this Act shall be completed within 180 days of the date that this Act comes into force. The information to be reported, and the reporting method, shall be as specified in ministerial regulations. If the entity responsible for reporting this information fails to do so as prescribed under this Act, the Director-General of the Revenue Department has the power to instruct that entity to file the report by the period required. Failure to report the information by the time specified by the Director-General of the Revenue Department may result in that entity being subject to a fine of no more than THB 100,000, and no more than THB 10,000 per day, until the report is submitted. So, unless they amend this law, nothing more will be done. To amend this law, the government needs time to draft it, present it to parliament and if approved, send it to the senate to approve. Then publish it in the government gazette. This all takes time. So, if this process has not started yet, alas it wont be done in time for the end of this year. Therefore, I don't foresee any changes to the banking laws that will help the Thai government enforce the 180 day tax law on foreighners. Nothing will change. Further, for those of you listening to some of the other law firms who are peddling tax ID set up for 5000-7000 baht a pop. You can easily do it by yourself for free if TRD will even give you one or if you insist to hire a firm to get it for you, the case is worth 2500 Baht. Thats what we charge. It's so dam easy to get one. Please do not contact me, as we don't want to do them. We only do them for new employees who are hired by our clients. My advice to everyone on this new tax law is to not worry about this until if and when they announce enforcement and that wont happen anytime soon as too much needs to be done internally for enforcement to take place. Not enough time before the end of 2024 and it’s not the governments top priority. As much as many expats seem to think, they are not so important for Thailand. Today the Thai government is focusing on the development of the economy and disaster relief due to the floods in the north and BKK. Yes, you can argue that this will help the economy if they go after the tax dollars from foreigners, but in most cases, the guys that do decide to file, wont have to pay because of the DTA. This law is only pissing people off that don’t file taxes in their home country so they want to keep that same situation here. Until enforcement is announced, everyone should stop worrying.

Yes, at times, it is very common. A lot of dodgy agents mostly in areas, such as Bangkok, Phuket, Pattaya, and Chiangmai. I came across this video on you tube, it seems to give great advice and covers most of the bases.

Just came across this. Seems to cover all the bases if you are a tourist and want to try to open the account by yourself or with an agent.

Enforcement??? None