Misty

I'm not sure what a "BOI lawyer" is - is this a private sector firm charging a fee for advice, or a lawyer who works for the BoI directly, or something else? The reason I ask is that the LTR unit itself seems to be the best source of information and advice, and there's no fee involved. My various applications were not at all straight forward or plain vanilla, and the LTR unit was great in getting it all done. There was no need to pay a third party for this.

Ditto (though I've had mine for "only" 17 months). No visits to immigration, no forms to fill (I leave the country regularly), no bank statements, no photocopies. Visa matters are no longer the constant irritant in my life that they used to be - and I just now sped through Fast Track at the airport in under five minutes. I'm an LTR fan. Same here - had an LTR visa since Oct 2022. BoI's LTR and its long-term digital work permit are way better than the years of annual hassle renewing NonB/work permit. No comparison.

Just to clarify: for most LTR visas if you work in Thailand the earned funds will be taxed at the normal progressive rate schedule, reportable on a PND90 or PND91. There's only one LTR visa (LTR HSP) where the earned funds will be taxed at a flat 17% rate reportable on a PND95. But the LTR HSP visa doesn't get the benefit for the royal decree tax benefit. If you have an LTR HSP and remit foreign funds into Thailand, the royal decree doesn't apply.

You don't seem interested in this particular visa. Why do you keep posting on this thread?

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.

Who is "we" ? Are you one of these IFAs? The insurance policy wrapped investment products pushed by IFAs in Thailand and elsewhere do, in fact, have maturity dates listed in their "Policy terms"

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.

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.

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.

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. 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.

Thanks very much for digging out this announcement to clarify for @Presnock or anyone else who might have missed it. I've been told the same in person, by email and in foreign chamber presentations. If you leave the country during the one year period, the clock for reporting starts over. I've had an LTR visa since Oct 2022 and have not been required to file an annual report because I do travel outside Thailand from time to time. If anyone still doubts this is the case, please go ahead and make the annual report - can't see any harm in doing so, and maybe the LTR unit will clarify for you that it's not necessary if you have left the country during the past year.

Please post links to these reports in AN you say you've read of LTR visa holders being stamped in for shorter periods than they have been given permission to stay. Never seen any sign of that myself. Even if this happened in the very rare case of an error, an LTR visa holder would only need get the stamp corrected. They need not change a ticket. And what is this "huge amount" you say "they" take? Could you be confusing LTR with the elite card?

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.

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.

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

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. "

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.

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.)

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

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.

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.

My experience is dated from 20 yrs ago, but it was a bit of a catch 22. In no small part it will depend on the bank and the branch manager. I first tried KBANK the bank I'd had my personal accounts at for years at that point, and they wouldn't open a business account although the business was set up and registered and the initial capital was sitting in my savings account with their bank. This was because I no longer had my work permit from my former employment, and I didn't yet have a work permit for my new venture. I couldn't get a new work permit until the new business was capitalized - so catch 22. Went across the street to BBL, and was able to open the business account immediately. Wrote a check off my KBANK account and deposited it in the new BBL account. BBL has been our corporate bank ever since. Others may have more recent experiences.

Hi, I've run a business here for c. 20 years. To credit expenses to our company, our accountant needs a "Tax Invoice/ Receipt" that includes certain information about the company. Usually this is the full name of the company, if it's the head quarters office or a branch office, the company'sThai tax ID number, and the registered business address. You can pay for items on Lazada with your personal account, but you would still need the Lazada seller to provide you with the Tax Invoice/Receipt. If your company's official office is listed at your home address, your accountant may agree to allow a portion of certain expenses to be used as business expenses but you will still need to get a Tax Invoice/Receipt from the provider (ISP, utility, landlord, etc) made out as suggested. Same goes for a business lunch with clients - you would need a Tax Invoice/Receipt from the restaurant made out to the company with all relevant information.

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.

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.