Rod the Sod

39 minutes ago, henry2109 said:

Hey Rod

 

Valuable Input, thanks.

 

Can you describe for me the procedure it takes in Switzerland to get your withholding tax back?

You file in you tax residency form from Thailand and what else? Which forms and documents?

So you need to send a new tax residency form every year to the tax man in Switzerland, for the according withholding tax year?

Hi Henry

Download Form 60 from the Swiss Tax website. This is a WT reclaim form. You will need to download a programme called Snapform viewer to open the file but all of that is easy. This is a well laid out document that also tells you what documents you need to send. You should have some kind of Dividend Warrant or statement from your Broker that shows the gross and net dividend received. This is required together with the Letter of Tax Residency. I was a bit concerned this would be blown out for one reason or another, but I am happy to say both reclaims for 2017 and 2018 have been received. It can take around 8 months but hang on it there. You are correct about the new LoTR every year because they need to know that each year you continue to be a Tax Resident of somewhere. If you constantly move around and never spend the requisite amount of time in anyone country to qualify as a Tax resident, bang goes your refund.

Hope this helps.

Cheers

RtS

4 hours ago, Sheryl said:

 

Or they might be denying based on the "reckless behavior" provision.

 

That said, if the insured person appeals the decision the burden of proof is on the insurance co to show reasonable grounds for believing the injury was due to recklessness or intoxication.

 

If all else fails, and a UK claimant feels the Insurer has been unfair, they can appeal to the Financial Sservices Ombudsman. He or she will look at all the circumstances and make a decision based upon a "balance of probabilities". It would seem that since the claim remains refused, the Ombudsman, if involved, ruled against her.

I know this because in a past life I was Advisor to the Ombudsman on behalf of the industry.

On 11/16/2019 at 12:49 PM, zydeco said:

Was it? Why? The UK, as well as the US and Australia, could have simply continued issuing the letters and leave it up to Thai Immigration to accept them or not. What were the "Thai authorities" going to do? Launch an invasion of the embassies? Are the Canadian and New Zealand embassies continuing to issue letters that are accepted by Thai Immigration? If so, are they substantially different from those issued by the US, UK, and Australia? Do they not have privacy laws, too? 

I am at a loss to understand your thinking. The UK Government, through their Embassy cannot guarantee that your "declared" pension income and sources are actually correct because they do not have the information to do that, yet you think they should anyway..like for the fun of it I guess, or because it is easy to do so,....or because it helps people who maybe have no right to be here to stay regardless, illegally. ALL because we are British and "they" are their Embassy. Your reasoning is that the Thais couldn't do anything really once they had this letter, and so the Embassy should jolly well keep on issuing them for that reason alone, even though they may be completely fraudulent in content. That way the Brits are all OK, life carries on as normal and ignores that fact that a reasonable percentage do not have the minimum level of income required by Thailand if you are to live here.

I kind of get a feeling for your view on life. You know, like a Russian justifying stealing a watch from a display stand because "no-one was manning the stand, and so possession of the watch belongs to the person in physical possession of the watch". No wonder the world is going to the dogs!

20 hours ago, BritManToo said:

It wouldn't work as many of the expats posting here seem to have no idea how to control their spending, live in homes with air-con on 24/7 and eat/drink only imported food cooked in restaurants and bars owned/run by white foreign men. Married to gold-diggers charging a large commission on every household item they buy or arrange to buy.

 

I'm cooking myself roast pork and baked potato for lunch with onion gravy and fried mushrooms.

Cost about 30bht (pork was 1/2 price 15bht, large potato 8bht, 5bht of mushrooms)

Looks more like a bowl of beef soup with clinically "disected" potato and some half garlic cloves. Can't see the wedge of butter in the spud either and where are the grains of pepper that the gravy so desperately needs? Otherwise, looks very Brit man too!!

1 hour ago, rhyddid said:

Bring in the Red China army to deal with, Faux protesters are sponsored and mounted by US corporations and US secret services , its to clear !

Why all the news talk only of HK but don't talk of Chile, or Brazil ???

Apart from the fact you cannot support that statement with an ounce of evidence, it is the biggest load of claptrap I have heard for a while. HK may be talked about here because they are a neighbour and what happens in Asia (especially China) affects us all. Not sure what is happening in South America is going to impact you too much. Put yourself in the shoes of a Hong Konger who has had freedoms for 4 or 5 generations and they now see it being taken away contrary to the agreements China signed. You do not need any Americans to tell you that it is wrong and worth fighting for!! Doh....

I am not saying that there is no influence because there probably is as all the Superpowers seem to think it is their role to force people's thinking in other countries to suit their agenda, but please, give the people of HK some credit!!

You are obviously a deep thinker - you fancy another Tiananmen Square do you, this time caught on a million cameras. Even the Chinese have worked that one out!

11 hours ago, oznomad said:

The devil is in the detail.

Yes, 'qualified to be a tax resident', as opposed to 'are a tax resident'.

To take it a step further, if you want to be tax resident in Thailand, you cant just say to your home country, look, 180 days in Thailand. I am not tax resident in XXXXX any more.

That will not float, in the majority of countries.

Agree. It is not a transfer of Tax residency, it is a new status. For the sake of this thread, what I said is correct. Cheers RtS

39 minutes ago, oznomad said:

Not really.

Sorry not sure what you are trying to say. It is a fact that if you live in Thailand for 180 days and your passport stamps show that, then you are qualified to be a Tax resident, and the Thai Govnt will consider you a Tax Resident for tax purposes.

I received my Swiss WHT refund today for around TB200k so well work the tB200 late fee for filing my 2007 tax return.

On 9/14/2019 at 1:33 PM, Peter Denis said:

Hi, very interesting topic brought up by Rod!

My official residence is in Belgium but I am living in Thailand on a Non-Imm OA Visa and stay there more than 180 days a year.

One simple question from my part:

Are you also eligible to reclaim the 1800 THB withdrawal tax on the 800.000 THB from your thai bank account, when your official residence is not in Thailand?

 

Hi Peter

I am sure that it doesn't matter where your official residence is because after 180 days you are a TAX RESIDENT of Thailand. That is all you need. So pop along and take all the papers I mentioned earlier and tell the nice man that you have been in Thailand for more than 180 days and would like to file your tax return. Hand him the Bank Certificate of WHT paid and there you go. Presumably you have no earned income from the current tax year coming into Thailand (or else you will get taxed on that). Now follow the rest of the instructions :-))

For what it is worth, and I have covered this in some detail before, there are some advantages to the hassle of completing a tax return every year - even if you do not have to pay tax.

Firstly you do get the 15% back on your investment interest.

Secondly, you can get a Letter of Tax Residency that allows you, where there are agreements in place, to get refunds on Withholding Taxes paid on dividends around the world.

In my case it is a no-brainer and for an hour of inconvenience it is well worth it.

Cheers RtS

2 hours ago, acenase said:

Coming from an American. I think Thailand is very cheap, but that's because the USD to Baht was never SUPER high like how the Pound was.  I think just 6 years ago the exchange rate was around 28 or so? Then it SPIKED up to 36, and now it is somewhere in the middle, 30-31. So for an American it's still cheap.

 

But I completely understand how for British people, they could be completely turned off since they were used to having 60, and now that its down to 38, that's like almost HALF. So everything is doubling in price for you guys.

No it is down 36.66%. Maths not your strong point eh??

Suggest your wife tries again. Same happened as I registered 2 months ago and heard nothing. Registered again yesterday and all was done.

36 minutes ago, Max69xl said:

You don't need 2 TM30's. You register as the owner and then you  report your wife as a guest. That's the way the old TM30 report worked, and also the app. 

 

Thanks again. As a Non-Imm Retirement Extension holder returning to Bangkok after 3 months, even though staying in my own apartment, don't I also have to lodge a TM30?

1 hour ago, Max69xl said:

You must only fill in the fields with the *. Nothing else.

"details for myself and my wife"

There should be either you or your wife. Not both of you.

Thanks for your help. I ended up downloading the app rather than use the website and have now completed the TM30s. The property is in my name here in Bangkok and whilst I am registered here as the property owner, because we do so much travel my wife is actually recorded on a Tourist Visa as a visitor. Hence 2 TM30s.

Question please. I have also just successfully registered and signed on and changed my password. I have completed all the details for myself and my wife but it is not clear how to submit this. If I press "save" it tells me there is a problem to do with sequencing of 1 and 2. Any help would be appreciated. Cheers RtS

2 hours ago, kiever said:

MAny thanks for your help and answer. 

I have lots of wt tax in my home country , but I have no wt in Thailand because I have no deposit account in thailand. 

This is a problem ? Tax man will want to see a proof of wt in Thai bank ? Or it will be enough to declare I will get back wt from my home country and I have no wt in Thailand ? 

I would not worry. Just go and say you want to be a good citizen and keep all your papers in order and file a zero tax return.

17 hours ago, kiever said:

 

Hello. First of all thank you for your post. I was trying to exactly same thing. I spent more than 180 days in Thailand until today in 2019. I have some questions:

 

I need tax residency letter for 2019. For that :

- I need to wait until first three months of  2020 to apply 2019 tax residency certificate ? Because I can only complete pnd90 for 2019 in first three months of 2020 and until end of March ? 

- I don’t want to pay any taxes in Thailand. Because I have no income in Thailand also I didn’t bring any money from overseas same year I Earned. I transferred money to Thailand that I earned previously years. In this case I will pay no tax in Thailand ? 

- in tax office , they will help me to fill tax return ? and again ,I should complete pnd 90 until end of March of 2020 ? Not before ? 

- is it ok to pay zero tax and complete pnd90 tax return with zero income - zero tax ? 

- and do you think I should get help from accountants? 

- I quoted for tax residency letter from law offices between 4500 baht -30000 baht. Your post is great. Almost for one year I was trying to find answers for this. Many thanks again. 

 

For the year ending 2019 you go in March 2020 and complete a Tax Return. They will help you and you simply tell them you have no earned income and you are doing this to get a refund of WT. They will be quite happy with that and you will not get a tax demand. Income from previous years appears to be treated as savings and is not subject to Thai tax.

The Tax Man thought it was hilarious that I wanted to complete a zero tax return and pay a late fee of TB200 for 2017, until I explained how much I would get back from Switzerland in refunded WT. Then he got it, so no problems doing that. No need for an Accountant if you follow my guide.

Glad I could help.

Cheers

Rod

I have lived and worked in Thailand and Indonesia since 2003 (also HK and Singapore). My wife is Muslim Indonesian and I am UK Christian (slightly converted for a day to get married having paid the Imam a bribe to dispense with the necessities). I was staying in the Marriott when they blew it up and was opposite the Australian Embassy when they blew that up. I own properties in Jakarta, Solo and Bangkok. I have built big businesses in Indonesia. Those are my credentials ????

My wife loves Thailand because here everything is accepted. There is no-one looking at the length of your skirt, or questioning whether you wear a head scarf, whether you are 30 years younger than your husband or whether you are gay. Basically she sees Thailand as a place where anyone can live their way of living and the attitude of Thai and ex-pat residents is largely "live and let live". Remember the Indonesian Government has declared that they have no gay people in Indonesia because there is no such thing as gay - hence they can't have any. You can't teach stupid.

On top of that Thailand has the food, people (generally), shopping, BTS/MRT etc. We are lucky and own our own apartment so life is fairly easy for us I have to admit.

She dislikes Indonesia for many reasons but is also very loyal to her country and wishes so much it could be more like Thailand in the kind of ways I have described. She dislikes the corrupt politicians, civil servants and business people. She dislikes the fact that Indonesians are kept mentally brain dead through the garbage fed to them everyday on the TV (that way they accept their lot rather than aspire for more). She is frustrated that the infrastructure is crap because those in a position to do so steal all the funding. She deplores the lack of education for the many. In fact, what she hates so much could be said about Thailand too. It is just she doesn't see it as a resident in a nice Condo in Lower Suk right next to some of the best places to eat and shop in the world! Thats the difference between a part-time resident who loves being in her home and close by, and a full time inhabitant who has to face the frustrations every day. This is why it is good to make any one place just a part-time home if you can. Keep moving, that way they can't catch you ;-))

From my perspective, I refuse to live in our home in Jakarta (that is her base for her family) although I do visit sometimes. Why? - Islamic influences in the things that I value, like a nice glass of wine or a G&T. Cost of a drink is stupid now if that is important to you. Traffic - makes Thailand look like a German Autobahn on a Sunday morning. The general influence of hard line extreme Islamic folk who for political reasons under the guise of religious reasons, who lock away the one good man that has ever run the Jakarta Administration. The millions who demo because a politician has given them a free bus ride into Jakarta and a free lunch to support his cause, when they cannot read or write, let alone understand what the hell the Politician even stands for. Indonesia could be a leading nation, but it is dragged back by it's own people stealing from the ordinary folk for their own greed (yes, I know what you re going to say..). I really could go on for hours.

In Jakarta a trip to the supermarket is an all-day affair. I live 4 kms from a lovely supermarket. Hit the traffic at the wrong time, and it is a 2 hour drive. 45 minutes to find a parking lot. Finish your shopping and it is an hour long queue to get out of the car park. It is better to catch a movie and have dinner before heading home at 11.30pm in the hope that the traffic has calmed down. And the idiots on motorbikes.....give me a new thread!

The people of Indonesia in the main are nice, kindly and caring. Same as the good folk of Thailand. Each has its problem groups of course, but if I had to make a decision of where to live, it would be Thailand every single time. My wife would agree with that. Sometimes amongst all the moaning and complaining we forget just how good Thailand is today, even if it isn't the great place that many Readers would like it still to be.

I was wondering today what happened to the off-duty copper who shot a Frenchman in Trendy. Anyone know?

7 hours ago, PatOngo said:

No shortage of rubber necks...……...morbid!

You clicked in order to take a look!!!

What I do not understand is:

1. If they want to show they are a great Police Force doing a great job, then they should nab a few. To nab no-one makes them look close to being as stupid as they really are, and

2. If they really can't find anyone, explain it was a jolly exercise and they never intended to catch anyone. DO NOT publicise it all over the place to make total fools of themselves.

But then again......

Second time in two days I have read about Ponzi schemes that are just not Ponzi schemes. Clearly an in-phrase with very little understanding of what it means