Misty

21 hours ago, noobexpat said:

 

No doubt similar to our offshore bonds, which don't have one and every other offshore bond i've ever seen.

 

So lets see these policy terms.

 

They seem to be variously referred to as "offshore bonds" and also "offshore savings plans" "offshore investment schemes" "offshore pension schemes" and perhaps other terms.

When you say "our" offshore bonds -- whose offshore bonds do you mean? Is it possible you've only seen a subset of what seems to be out there?

As you note, these offshore IFA pushed products are "policies" - as in insurance products. Maturity dates are included.  And surrender penalties if the policy is surrendered ahead of the maturity date.

1 hour ago, noobexpat said:

We use onshore and offshore versions.

Who is "we" ?  Are you one of these IFAs?

1 hour ago, noobexpat said:

they have no maturity date.

The insurance policy wrapped investment products pushed by IFAs in Thailand and elsewhere do, in fact, have maturity dates listed in their "Policy terms"

36 minutes ago, wordchild said:

The London Times article, which i linked in the OP, was referring to expats who had been the victims of offshore IFA,s sharp practice in the recent past,  not from many years ago. 

 

I know, for a fact,  that the deVere Group (referenced in the article)   still promote "offshore portfolio  bond" structures to customers of their Dubai operation.

 

One needs to exercise extreme caution in dealing with any offshore financial advisors, especially those based in places like Thailand. As the original Times article illustrates  you are running significant risks with your finances 

 

 

Agreed. That whole LMIM scandal from just a few years back that resulted in Thai criminal charges being filed against some so-called "IFAs" involved an Australian property fund (really a Ponzi scheme) that was held in long-term offshore insurance wrappers with jurisdiction in places like the Isle of Man.  To find recent examples just google "deVere's scam" and you'll find reports from the last year or two.

4 hours ago, noobexpat said:

 

Total nonsense.

 

There is no investment product in 2024 that even has a fixed term. This is the over age 70 folks with their only experience being endowment "policies" from the 90's with their "maturity dates".

 

A qnups will likely have an admin fee for closure. A fixed amount, somewhere between £50 and £1,500. Standard practice.

 

That's great to hear that you think the only fees involved in this case will be between GBP50-1500.  However, there are insurance-wrapped investments that have been sold much more recently than the 1990s with long maturity dates.  It's the insurance wrapper, not the investment, that has the long date. 

23 hours ago, MrBanks said:

Hi, my problem is that I don’t really have the luxury of time, to take a wait and see approach.

My thinking is that if the government do change the IHT rules regarding non UK citizen spouses and affords them the same rights as a UK citizen spouse, I can always change the protective moves that I am making.

Thank you for your help.

Yes, if there's no or little cost for changing the protective moves.  Most of the IFA sold products I've seen do have hefty costs/penalties for getting out of them, with long lock-in periods.  Be sure to check the fine print, as I've run across people who thought they had a 5 year plan (IFA said verbally), when in writing it was 25 years. 

On 5/3/2024 at 11:59 AM, pedritosan said:

This is a 5-year visa with a 5-year option to renew.

Hi, if you have an LTR visa it's a 10 year visa (and you have already paid for all 10 years) - with a 5 year permission to stay.

On 5/3/2024 at 11:59 AM, pedritosan said:

They told me that I should wait another 90 days before checking in. Is that correct? So, to be specific, I entered the country on May 5, 2023. I left in September 2023, and came back May 2, 2024

If you just re-entered Thailand on 2 May 2024, then with the LTR visa you have no reporting requirement until May 2025. If you have any doubt about this please check with the LTR unit itself. 

18 hours ago, wordchild said:

great point, this whole situation is, very much, in flux.

the UK domicile rules are currently undergoing  consultation pre  new legislation, which may or may not be enacted by the current government. 

In any event , i think it is likely that there will be a change in the definition of domicile to one which is based on time either resident or NOT resident in the UK.

I think the advice to wait , rather than implement a new series of arrangements is a good one. 

I suspect, that whichever government finalizes the legislation , UK citizens who have been non resident UK for a significant number of years , will find that they are deemed to be non domiciled in the UK.

Agreed. Many cross-border tax rules and laws are changing, and with increased transparency and reporting, so is the level of enforcement. 

Even without change, I'm also really skeptical about the claims that have been made about the initial tax advantages of products aggressively marketed or sold in offshore tax havens by unregulated expat salesmen calling themselves "IFAs."  Often there was no real benefit to start with.

And even if another tax jurisdiction initially allowed a tax benefit, as you note in time this can change or the existing rules can suddenly be enforced. Years ago expat Americans were being sold investments wrapped in offshore "insurance policies" in the likes of Isle of Man, Jersey, Guernsey, etc.  At first I think these largely got by the US IRS with Americans either not reporting them at all, or treating them on their annual tax filings as if they were the same as US insurance policies.  Eventually there was a ruling and these policies were clearly disallowed as not meeting the requirements for the claimed tax benefits. Yet there is still an overhang of American expats with these types of unreported offshore "investments" unfortunately. Eventually they may be subject to significant penalties as the IRS starts to get more aggressive with its audits.

6 hours ago, Richard007 said:

I’m happy to report that I received my Notification Letter for Qualifications Endorsement, exactly two weeks after I filed the application online.  Since I am currently in the U.S., the next step for me is to apply for an e-visa at the Royal Thai consulate here in the U.S.  I created a draft e-visa application and am not sure how to answer a few questions. 

 

The application asks for my arrival and departure dates.  Right now, I do not know the exact dates as I have some other traveling to do before I can get to Thailand.  Can I put estimated dates on the e-visa application?  Is this something that airport immigration in Thailand cares about, i.e. do they look at your plane tickets to confirm the dates match what’s on your e-visa application?

 

As of now, I have not booked a flight or accommodation for my arrival into Thailand but these appear to be required entries in the e-visa application.  Any suggestions on how to address this?  Again, does airport immigration compare this information against the e-visa application?

 

Regarding the required document indicating current location, is a current bank statement which shows my address in the U.S. acceptable?

 

FYI – I did send these questions to the Royal Thai consulate but have not heard back yet, so I’m curious to hear what others here did for their e-visa.

 

I received my initial LTR e-visa from the Royal Thai Consulate in NY and had similar questions during the application process. In that case I had a one way ticket to Thailand in November 2022, and no return ticket, and asked the NY Consulate on FB messenger how to fill out the application. They responded very quickly: " Hi, Please fill out information as is stated on your ticket. In the case you have only one way ticket, please fill out the estimate intended departure date from Thailand."  In the end when the visa was granted the dates were Oct 22 - Oct 32 - so no relationship with my existing ticket.  So my best guess would be estimated dates should be fine.  And if you'd still like to get it straight from the Consulate, give FB messenger a try.  They've been really prompt at answering that type of message in the past.

37 minutes ago, noobexpat said:

 

As you won't understand what this actually is, its just the unused transferable nil rate band allowance being made available to a non dom spouse on 2nd death. 

 

yes, and well done noobexpat. why wouldn't I understand?

37 minutes ago, Mike Lister said:

 

 

I agree with Misty, before travelling the higher risk path, the op will be better served to confirm whether his domicile is moveable or not. But the issue of domicile is a minefield and very complex, as Lord Denning famously wrote, "domicile is not a raincoat that can be discarded at will"! 

 

"There are three main types of domicile: domicile of origin, domicile of dependence and domicile of choice. You may also be ‘deemed UK domiciled’, irrespective of your actual domicile". It may not be difficult to change two of the three but the domicile of origin is immovable. Whether or not this will be adequate for his needs is another story, but it's worth putting in some effort to find out because the risks of his offshore IFA's shouldn't be underestimated. The registered IFA's mentioned in Guernsey, IOM and Mauritius, may indeed be capable and regulated, which is great for people living and receiving advice in Guernsey, IOM and Mauritius, which doesn't include the op!

 

Interestingly, @MrBanks there is also another option in the Deloitte link for your wife to elect to be considered domiciled for the purposes of IHT taxes, "which would enable you to transfer assets to her free of IHT."   And this election apparently can be made after your death and even backdated.  

From the link: https://taxscape.deloitte.com/article/inheritance-tax--non-uk-domiciled-spouses.aspx

"Non-UK domiciled individuals who have a UK domiciled spouse or civil partner can elect to be treated as domiciled in the UK for IHT purposes only (i.e. not for other taxes such as income tax or capital gains tax). This enables assets to be transferred between spouses or civil partners free of IHT....Elections can be made by the non-UK domiciled individual either during the lifetime of the UK domiciled individual (a ‘lifetime election’) or following his or her death (a ‘death election’). In either case the election can be backdated to apply from an earlier date and so any gifts which were made from the date specified in the election should benefit from the uncapped spouse exemption available to UK domiciled couples. "

5 hours ago, MrBanks said:

I was absolutely amazed, when I learnt that if a UK citizen was married to a non UK citizen, then if the UK citizen dies first, the spouse does not inherit tax free.

According to Deloitte, that isn't necessarily correct:  "The spouse exemption is unlimited if neither of the spouses or civil partners is UK domiciled."  Your spouse is not domiciled in the UK, but it is possible that you aren't domiciled there either.  The concept of domicile is not the same thing as being a citizen.  You say your home is in Thailand and you are not going back to the UK.  That is the definition of nondom.  So UK inheritance tax may not be an issue at all.

https://taxscape.deloitte.com/article/inheritance-tax--non-uk-domiciled-spouses.aspx

So before signing up with the complex structure you suggest with an unregulated IFA in Thailand, you may want to check into whether or not you are considered to be domiciled in the UK.

Perhaps @MikeLister can weigh in too.

1 hour ago, Thalueng said:

For partial usage of your house, car, etc. make a rental agreement between you and the company. For items purchased privately sell them to the company after purchase. You cannot claim VAT, but then most sellers on Lazada and the like will not issue a "tax invoice/receipt" for the sale unless you pay 7% on top which means they also do not pay VAT.

But then you'd have to claim the rental income on your personal Thai income tax return, no?  Unless I misunderstand it sounds like you'd be writing it off the company's expenses (corporate tax deduction), but then reporting it as personal taxable income.  

Another way:  get two rental agreements with your landlord - one for the company, one for you. Pay them separately, and get a Tax Invoice Receipt from your landlord for co's expense. If needed have your  auditor review and approve the split between the two as being reasonable. (The company could also pay a portion of other expenses like electricity, etc.)

11 hours ago, jakow said:

 

Man, I could've googled this for hours (more than I already have) and not have gotten this useful of info. Thanks again!

You're most welcome.  You can ask for a ใบกำกับภาษี (Tax Invoice/Receipt) and vendors should know what you want

9 hours ago, sabaiguy said:

LTR and TM30

     I received my final approval today and instructed to schedule my appointment.  I have a question for those who have actually gone through the appointment process.  Do you have to provide a TM30?  I asked BOI but don't think they quite understood me.  They just responded with the general requirements for a TM30.  I have been coming and staying in Thailand (for various lengths of time) for the last 25 years.  Stay at my house (owned by my wife).  I have never done a TM30 and never asked for one. In fact never heard of it until just a few years ago. Haven't done one on this trip.  So anyone who has had their appointment, did you need the TM30?  I have been in Thailand for almost a week.  Can I still get one if necessary.  Was thinking of getting one as soon as the LTR received. Very much appreciate anyones personal experiences.

I've not been asked for a TM30 by the LTR unit or any time while at Chamchuri. Not sure who would ask for it, but if you can get one it probably can't hurt to have it on file, just in case. 

5 hours ago, jakow said:

 

Thanks @Misty! That's really helpful info. So it sounds like you can't really claim partial personal/business expenses here, e.g. 50% of the internet at the house is used for business purposes and 50% is personal, since (I'm assuming) you couldn't get True to provide a tax invoice for 50% of the bill.

 

Would this tax invoice/receipt be a template type document that I would print out beforehand and bring along with me when purchasing things, and the merchant would just fill in the blanks? I guess for certain larger expenses we would need to go back to the merchant we purchased from in 2023 and have them fill out the document. Most things are ordered online so that's a bit difficult, however recently we've set up our accounts with the business name so next year we shouldn't have any issues.

 

I really appreciate the info!

I carry a small piece of paper with my company's info in my wallet to give to any merchant I've not done business with before so they can copy the info into their format.  Many vendors/merchants have saved our company in their system by its business phone number so they just call it up and print off the official receipt. Others (usually restaurants) will hand copy the info onto their own receipts. 

2 hours ago, wordchild said:

Dont know anything about them, however the website raises a couple of red flags for me.

  1) offices in Bangkok , Seychelles and Chichester (UK) - an odd mix of locations

  2)Lots of the usual general guff on the website but very little in the way of specifics eg no names/details for the  key staff. This makes it impossible to do any initial background checks on the people you would be dealing with- a major red flag , at least for me. 

 

Agree. If you're in Thailand, you'd also want to ask how they are regulated and how you would be protected if things go south. A UK regulator is unlikely to help someone in Thailand. The Thai regulator is limited in what they can do if the adviser isn't regulated, and the process of filing a complaint is very long and drawn out.

1 hour ago, Caldera said:

 

So the headline is nonsensical, as so often. Not the fact that they were mining bitcoin is illegal, but the fact that they were stealing electricity. 

Maybe that's all it was - thievery.  But cryptocurrency is a regulated activity in Thailand - were they licensed?   Did they report their financials, pay tax, etc?  Maybe they were stealing electricity in part to hide the operation.

23 hours ago, wordchild said:

and background to the case mentioned in todays ST     https://www.aol.com/sec-fines-york-firm-devere-8-million-over-192142813--sector.html

https://international-adviser.com/criminal-complaint-filed-against-devere-partners-in-thailand/

11 hours ago, noobexpat said:

 

Not in the UK they can't. And not for the past +40 years.

You need to have FCA controlled function 30 authorisation.

 

Even has a wiki page...

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/FCA_Controlled_Functions

 

 

 

Same in Thailand:  https://www.sec.or.th/EN  Need to be licensed by Thai SEC

2 hours ago, MRtommyR said:

Mine was sorted as well. Same problem 🙂

 

They were very helpful in the branch and seemed to have had proper training about the transition. Total opposite of my experience with the Thanachart TMB merger a few years ago which was a shambles.
 

Mine was sorted as well. Also needed to update information, as well as remove off a phone block.  The UOB staff were very professional at the branch office in the main building on Sukhumvit. They also had difficulty getting through to the back office people at first.  Apparently they've been very busy since the final handover Sunday evening.