Mike Teavee

2 hours ago, Dioj said:

In 2024 bring in no more than 150K, which is still tax free. File tax return in early 2025 based on 150K and see how things are handled. See if they are honoring the double taxation treaties on taxes already paid overseas and, if so, then possibly bring in more in 2025.  

Don't forget that you have a 60K personal allowance as well as the 1st 150K being taxed at 0% so you can bring in at least 210K each year. 

My "Plan" is to:-

• Remit 210K (60K personal allowance + 150K 0% tax) to the GF 
• Remit 235K (same 210K as above + 25K as I purchase health insurance) for me 
• Send the GF 100K for her Birthday & Xmas (at worse this would be taxed at 5%).
• Use savings already in Thailand to cover the rest of the money I need 
• Spend 2026 as a Non Tax Resident so I can remit the 25% tax free lump sum from my pension & (possibly) proceeds from the sale of my house then go for the LTR Wealthy Pensioner visa  

Oh & I'll also be returning to Thailand on Monday with £7,500 in my pockets 🙂

If you defer starting your pension then it should still accrue yearly cost of living increases so it might be worth anybody approaching State Pension age & facing a frozen pension to consider deferring it for a few years whilst current increases are so high, as a bonus your pension will increase by 1% every 9 weeks.

10 minutes ago, MangoKorat said:

I think they would find it difficult to prove otherwise. Anyone who knows about this as I now do, shouldn't find it too difficult to provide such evidence.

 

I for example, have an apartment in the UK that I rent out.  The girl who rents that apartment has been there for years and I know her very well - she loves it and doesn't want to move. I'm pretty sure she'll agree to facilitate what I need so when I move to Thailand, that will become my address and it will be me that pays the council tax.  I will also make sure that I use my UK bank account regularly and leave and enter the UK by the back door when I return to visit family etc.

 

I would prefer not to do any of that really but it seems I will be forced to if I want my pension increases.

I'm not sure how you would leave the UK by the "Back Door" but even if you could, do you really want to rely on that "Door" still being there & the same tenant staying in your apartment for the 10, 20+ years of retirement? 

Currently I'll get my State Pension in 9 years & by that time I fully expect there to be no "work arounds" to make it look like I'm still living in the UK (not that I would use one anyway as I'm financially better off being Non-UK Tax Resident), I certainly don't expect there to be in 20 or 30 years so can either accept that my Pension will be frozen or move to somewhere where it's not.  

I'm curious about Capital gains.

E.g. If I bought £10,000 of shares in 2023 & on the 31/12/2023 they were worth £12,000 but I sold them today for £11,000 then I've made £1,000 Capital Gains as far as the UK is concerned but could I claim to Thailand that I've lost £1,000 as the shares were worth £12,000 on the 1/1/2024 deadline? 

Similar point with selling my UK property, in the UK I'm liable for gains since 6th April 2015 (& have a valuation at that date) so will pay Tax only on the gains since then, for Thailand could I get a valuation as at 31/12/2023 & claim that as the capital starting point for any gains?

41 minutes ago, Presnock said:

I change my retirement O to the LTR, and only receive a US govt pension which supposedly can only be taxed by the US govt so for the next ten years

If you switched to the LTR then you must be earning at least $40K pa (assuming you've invested $250K/9Million THB into Thailand, $80K pa if not) which is >120K THB per month & a very healthy budget, especially as you have to have Health Insurance or another $100K locked away somewhere.

If you're only spending 65K of that then you're building up a nice nest egg for the future or a few very good holiday each year 🙂

1 hour ago, Dogmatix said:

 

There is yet another method, I think used in the UK for remittance tax on non-doms' remittance of income.  Income is remitted first, then capital.  For example you have 100k and earned 50K in capital gains and dividends in a tax year.  You want to remit 20k declaring it as 18k tax exempt principal and 2k taxable income.  No dice. HMRC requires you to remit all the 50k taxable income before you can remit the tax free principal. So First out income, last out principal FOILOP may be the new Thai accounting standard when they get around to it.

Isn't that just LIFO (Last in First Out) which is what the UK typically uses for any kind of assets.  

6 hours ago, CARLO BALDASSARRE said:

Does Australia have a tax treaty with Thailand? Yes, Australia does have a tax treaty with Thailand. It's a Double Taxation Agreement (DTA) specifically designed to prevent residents of either country from being taxed twice on the same income.

bbbbbbboom boooommm!!!..

Not quite true, DTAs prevent double taxation on Income that is covered in the DTA so any income not covered can be taxed in Thailand even if you've already paid Tax on it in your home country. 

14 minutes ago, NoshowJones said:

What about the 12 kg on your carry on which is allowed on KLM? Surely that would need wheels even for a fit 6ft 76kg guy like me.

18KG If you're travelling Business Class 😉  

Seriously, thanks for pointing that out as I bought a cheapish (80,000 THB BKK-MAN return) Business Class Ticket with Air France/KLM which only allows you 1 item of checked luggage so now I know that I'll be packing my roll-on (hard case with wheels obviously) as full as I can + adding a few extra bits to my laptop rucksack, all will go nicely into the overhead bin.

If it's like the Air France flight coming over there'll be 1 overhead bin per seat, I could have fit twice as much stuff in there, in fact reading the KLM baggage guidelines I'm allowed 2 carry-ons (+ laptop bag) so I might pop out & buy another one 🙂  

4 hours ago, Lacessit said:

Perhaps the strangest was a Spanish airline, in the days before smoking was entirely banned. I get to my non-smoking seat, after the plane takes off the people in seats in front of me and behind me are lighting up.

I asked one of the flight attendants why. According to him, the smoke was distributed better.

 

I remember flying business class with KLM from Tokyo to Amsterdam. 1990's. The Dutch really knew how to do good airline food.

My parents were on a flight to Bulgaria & Mum smoked so asked for a smoking seat but Dad didn't so asked for a non smoking seat... They ended up sat in Aisle seats opposite each other... Left for Smoking, Right for non-smoking 😛    

2 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

 

It might depend on the airline and your nationality. My wife flew to London from Bangkok and her suitcase weighed around 60 kilos. I couldn't lift it when she arrived, and instead of going to our destination by train I had to pay over 50 pounds for a taxi. Similarly, her friend flew to Germany with a suitcase that weighed over 50 kilos. Both passengers were Thai. Both were not charged extra. Both flew Thai. I was 5 kilos over flying to Tokyo and was charged.

UK Health & safety guidelines suggest that the maximum weight per item of luggage should not exceed 23KG though most international airlines will allow up to 32KG  

Current industry recommendations in the IATA Airport Handling Manual include:

• the maximum weight of any single piece of checked baggage should not exceed 23kg (50lbs), without prior arrangement. Although this limit is widely accepted, some airlines will accept baggage up to 32kg, and some foreign carriers have even heavier weight limits.
• "heavy" tags/labels must be placed on all pieces of baggage which exceed 23kg with the actual weight shown on the tag/label
• baggage belt weighing scales at passenger check in points should have an audible or visible warning when any individual bag weight exceeds 23kg.

Where heavy bags are identified but not labelled the airline should ensure that systems are in place to ensure weight limits are implemented and heavy bags tagged.

Training and work procedures should include provision for team lifting or alternative lifting methods.

https://www.hse.gov.uk/airtransport/faqs.htm#:~:text=the maximum weight of any,have even heavier weight limits.

8 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

Hmm, Brits can enter the UK with an expired/no UK passport, the issue might be at the Airline check in desk going to the UK. 

I see what you're saying, enter the UK on your expired UK Passport and then leave on your valid Thai Passport... 

This Reddit thread seems to suggest that the UK does not have exit border controls save for "Random" checks which it wouldn't surprise me weren't triggered by something like somebody leaving the UK on a Non-UK Passport that they didn't enter with...

I don't see what they could do to you for doing so except maybe log the fact that you have left the UK.   

4 minutes ago, Nick Carter icp said:

 

   What, you just walked onto an airplane without going through immigration or anything like that ?

How was you able to do that ?

As a UK Passport holder yes, the passport is scanned at the check-in desk & you only need to show it again at boarding time to prove that your ticket is your ticket & your not using somebody else's ticket to board the plane. 

1 minute ago, Neeranam said:

Actually, last year I never needed to show a passport when leaving the UK. Maybe a one way flight to Thailand would just require showing Thai passport/ID.

You would have had to show your passport at the check-in desk who would have scanned it & effectively registered your exit from the UK (presumably if you then don't board the flight the records are updated).

No idea whether this would flag up the fact that you left on a Passport that didn't give you the right to be in the UK (By this I mean using a Thai Passport that you didn't use to enter on & so doesn't confer automatic right to be in the UK).

19 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

I wonder if a dual citizen leaves the UK on their Thai passport, will the govt know they are out the country?

Could you leave the UK on a Thai Passport if you didn't enter using it? 

56 minutes ago, Dogmatix said:

It occurs to me that I have two Thai staff at my company earning 15k a month each who have never filed tax returns in their lives. One of them has been with me for about 15 years and will have several years worth of 2,000 baht fines and interest to pay, if she is ever tracked down for one of those 10 year audits.  Our accountant has always said their was no need for them file because they have no tax to pay.  Perhaps I need to check she is still of this opinion.

My GF used to earn a similar amount (more with commission but <the 210K pa where tax may be due) working at a Central Mall & I doubt she or any of her co-workers would have any idea how to go about filing a Tax Return so I've always assumed that the Company either filed their (Nil) returns or would file a return if they did earn > 210K.   

3 hours ago, ancharee said:

12,000 plus the passport fee ?

I believe 12,000 includes the passport fee (12,500 for the "Jumbo" passport). their fee is 5,000B if you pay for the passport yourself.

1 hour ago, sandyf said:

I used to hate going to Bangkok but recent years has been a bit easier, i think due to better transport services.

From Pattaya you could get the bus to the airport and then the train to Makkasan.  VFS is not far away, within walking distance or a couple of stops on the MRT.

I used to do it a couple of times per month to go visit mates & always took the bus from Pattaya Nua to Ekkamai (got off at Udom Suk) & then the BTS... IIRC It's <140 THB each way, cheap as chips 🙂 

Have also done a few day trips to visit my dentist in Sathorn, but now my mates have moved & I've switched dentists, 6K is a small price to pay to not have to do 2 trips just to go to VFS.

Just now, Lorry said:

Sorry, I don't know any agency for this. 

Whether the "token amount" would work - I don't know. 

I know one RD office where it didn't work. No tax no TIN.

I got my TIN 2 years ago at the Chonburi Tax Office in Naklua & at 1st they were reluctant to give me one solely on the basis of reclaiming withheld interest but I'd already briefed the GF to explain to them that we were buying a condo in my name & needed a TIN to pay property tax... they seemed a bit confused about this but gave me one anyway. 

NB. I got mine because the UK Bank who I have a mortgage one was insisting I got one, otherwise I wouldn't have bothered.

1 hour ago, 3STTW said:

Do it yourself and save yourself a bunch of money. I did mine a couple of months ago and it's a breeze.

 

https://www.gov.uk/overseas-passports

 

Download the form, follow the instructions and then it's a couple of trips to BKK. You can keep your original passport for the duration.

The only thing to add is take proof of address with you (bank statement, utility bill, etc). This isn't made apparent in the instructions but they will ask for it.

If you live in Bangkok then yes, but if you don't then the additional 6,000 THB agency fees are probably worth it to save the expense/hassle of 2 trips to Bangkok.  

44 minutes ago, lelapin said:

I used Key Visa end of last year and all went very smoothly     Renewing UK Passport in Thailand - Thai Girlfriend Visa from the top visa company in Pattaya - Key Visa (keyvisathailand.com)

Will be looking to renew my Passport in July and am looking for an agent but was planning on avoiding Key Visa as I have concerns that their service may not be as good since Darren died,  I take it you did your passport towards the end of 2023 so can confirm the service is still good there?

Other agencies I've been considering are www.mythaivisa.com  & https://thaivisa-express.com/uk-passport-application-thailand/