Mike Teavee

I disagree with #2 & believe that it's not assessable income for him as the money was sent directly to his wife, it was a "Gift". The only case study that I'm aware of is when Thaksin's wife was convicted of Tax Evasion, part of which was a wedding gift, the gift was challenged on the grounds that it was given a couple of years after the Wedding not on the grounds that she should have been taxed on it regardless of when it was given. She was convicted but the conviction overturned on appeal, if she had to pay tax on the gift regardless of when it was given then she would still have been guilty.

Surely in the case where somebody sends the money directly from an overseas account, the money became a Gift before it was remitted so any tax on it would only be due in the source country unless it's value exceeded the thresholds. But that wouldn't meet the definition of a Gift & could arguably be classed as Evasion which is not what we're discussing here, you can't go around taxing everybody on any Gifts they make on the off chance that they are doing it to evade paying tax.

Why would he be over the moon? He's 20 Million out of pocket & got zero benefit from it beyond the warm feeling of giving somebody a Gift, he'd be in a much better position if he simply left the money where it was. Edit: Again, I'm talking about a direct remittance to the Giftee from overseas & not a remittance to his Thai bank account & then a gift from there to the Giftee.

Ahh, so we're debating whether a Thai Tax Resident sending his wife a Gift from his overseas account would be liable for Tax on the Gift even if it doesn't come into his account? IMHO the answer is NO as you are not remitting any money for yourself & (in the case of a genuine gift) will receive no benefits from that Gift Edit: OK TO me this says that there is no tax from either side up to the Thresholds but if you exceed these then both Gifter & Giftee could be subject to Gift Tax (5%)... How Thailand taxes gifts Since February 2016, gifts have been considered part of personal income. In Thailand, gift taxes can be defined as taxation on the transfer of property, and taxpayers can opt to pay a 5% gift tax on property values exceeding THB 10 or 20 million rather than including the excess into their net taxable income, which is subject to progressive tax rates. Both individuals, even if they are non-Thai citizens, and juristic persons are subject to the gift tax. There are exemptions to the gift tax, particularly gifts worth less than THB 20 million given by a spouse or family member, or gifts worth less than THB 10 million from any other person. Gifts obtained for the purposes of preserving cultural heritage, upholding moral values, or performing parental responsibilities are also exempt. As always, if you feel you have the need to revoke an ill-advised gift due to the reasons mentioned above, it is essential to quickly contact an experienced lawyer to guide you through this matter. Remember: the clock is ticking. https://silklegal.com/law-on-gifts-in-thailand/#:~:text=Both individuals%2C even if they,million from any other person.

Sorry, I should have added "Up to permissible Limits" (i.e. the 20Million / 10Million thresholds) but all of the links are very clear that genuine Gifts up to these limits are not subject to Personal Income Tax... E.g. PWC https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/thailand/individual/income-determination#:~:text=Gifts,type of gift and donor. Gifts PIT is levied on gifts given by persons who are still alive. The tax is collected on the assets or the amount given to parents, ascendants, descendants, spouse, or others based on the value of the gift that exceeds a prescribed threshold, which depends on the type of gift and donor. Assets or amounts given that do not exceed the threshold are exempt from tax. The following gifts are exempt from PIT: Income derived by a parent from the transfer of ownership or possessory right in an immovable property without any consideration to a legitimate child, excluding an adopted child, in the amount not exceeding THB 20 million throughout a tax year in respect of each child. Maintenance income or gifts from ascendants, descendants, or spouse, in the amount not exceeding THB 20 million throughout a tax year. Maintenance income derived under a moral obligation or gifts made in a ceremony or on occasions in accordance with established custom from persons who are not ascendants, descendants, or spouse, in the amount not exceeding THB 10 million throughout a tax year. Income from gifts in the case where the person who receives the gifts will use them for religious, educational, or public benefit purposes according to the intention of the donors under the criteria and conditions referred to in the Ministerial Regulations. Gifts in excess of the above thresholds will be subject to PIT at the rate of 5% and will not need to be included together with other income when computing the annual PIT liability.

If you're talking about remitting the money to yourself & then gift it to somebody else then you are correct & you would need to pay tax on the remittance if the income was assessable. If you're talking about remitting the money directly to somebody else & it's a genuine gift, then it's not taxable... TRD Section 41, points 27 & 28 https://www.rd.go.th/english/37749.html Sheerings - https://sherrings.com/gift-tax-law-in-thailand.html PWC - https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/thailand/individual/income-determination#:~:text=Gifts,type of gift and donor. Herrera - https://www.herrera-partners.com/2024/01/10/on-gift-tax-and-properties-in-thailand/#:~:text=The following is the criteria,receiver is other third party.

Can I ask which agency you used?

And the great thing about Singapore is the FX Rate you get at places like “Change Alley” are pretty close to what you would get exchanging it in Thailand. Not like the UK where you’re lucky if you only get gouged 10% when buying THB (was there 2 weeks back & the rate on XE was showing at approx 46.2, FX places were offering 40.3).

There is still an outstanding question on this point - "Is any Income earned whilst a Thai Tax Resident taxable if I remit it in a year when I'm not Tax Resident" My gut feel was No as you wouldn't be completing a Thai Tax Return (unless you had Thai sourced income > 60K), but others feel it is Taxable as it was earned whilst you were a Thai Tax Resident. No definitive answer but I'll be Non-Tax Resident in the year I get & remit the 25% Tax free lump sum from my pension just in case.

Again, I don't want to belabour the comparison to Wise, but Wise typically doesn't remit your money as a single transaction but uses money already in Thailand to pay you out & then will settle it's own accounts periodically by moving money across. So if 10 people sent £1,000 to Thailand, Wise would pay them 460,000 THB out of money in their Thai Bank accounts & at some point in the future send over the £10,000 to square their accounts, if in the meantime somebody had sent 46,000 THB back (Bad example as Wise doesn't do external transfers from Thailand but in other countries where they do) then they would square it up by sending £9,000 back

Seems to answer the question for both Spouse-Spouse Gifts & Gifts from Parents etc... Any gifts received are solely owned by the person receiving the gift.... 3. Property acquired by either spouse during marriage through inheritance or gift If a spouse acquires any assets or property during marriage through inheritance, whether as a statutory heir or a beneficiary named in a will, such assets are considered personal property of the acquiring spouse. The same applies to gifts received by either spouse, which are specifically intended for them and without any consideration. Such gifts are the sole property of the receiving spouse. This principle also applies when a spouse gives a gift to the other spouse, which will be deemed the separate property of the recipient, even during the marriage. https://www.lafs-legal.com/blog/9633/personal-property-and-marital-property

Surely a gift between spouses cannot become conjugal property as the Gifter would retain an interest in the Gift thus making it not a Gift under the Thai definition of what a Gift is. However, if your parents gave you a large sum of money that they intended to go only to you, would your wife have a claim on 1/2 of it? - My gut feel says no, the gift is the sole property of the intended Giftee.

Agreed, Wise was a bad example though I could argue that I could book a room directly with the Hotel & send the money to them via Wise with would be no different that Hotels.Com sending them the money 🙂 NB. I am joking, Wise was a really bad example to use.

The discussion is if you used your AUS Amex to pay for a hotel in Thailand did you remit that income (are you using your using money from Australia to pay for something in Thailand) or is it a loan from Amex to you & Amex are remitting money to Thailand. The fact that you booked via Hotels.Com in Singapore doesn’t matter as they’re just acting as an intermediary & sending the money to Thailand on your behalf, no different than Wise sending money to Thailand on your behalf.

Again it’s not about whether you’ll be caught doing it, it’s whether what you’re doing is legit. If somebody were to never remit any money into Thailand & instead live on Overseas Credit Cards then I would think there is a non zero chance of them being audited & asked to explain how they were funding their stay, if the answer is “I’m using my overseas credit card” then maybe TRD will accept it or maybe they’ll assess it as remitted income & judge they owe tax, in the absence of any formal guidelines we just don’t know.

Prior to 1/1/24 it seems that TRD assumed all foreign remittances were from prior years’s income or had already had tax paid on it under a DTA so had no interest in auditing people but If they’re going to carry on with the same approach then there was no point in changing the rules. They have no way of automatically/systematically judging whether people should be paying tax or not so the only way I can see them doing this is by relying on people to file accurate tax returns & auditing a percentage of people to a) Check they’ve filed accurately & b) Encourage others to file & file accurately. They can’t possibly audit everybody so need to come up with some criteria to focus on where they’re most likely to get the largest gains & for me that would be people who remit large amounts of money (how many 20Million THB remittances do we think happen each year)? And those who remit no money (also a possibility to catch somebody working illegally). Again, the discussion is not about the chances of being audited/caught it’s about whether the approach is legit or not & gifting you wife money that you use to live on is not a legitimate gift (NB I’m not saying that you do this, I’m just saying that it’s not legit in general).

We’ll agree to disagree, certainly the UK treats CC payments as remitted income but obviously that doesn’t necessarily mean Thailand will

I never suggested they would & have actually stated several times that I won't be declaring the money I spend on flights for my annual trip to the UK, but the discussion was around whether Foreign Credit Cards used in Thailand is remitting money or not, it is not about whether you'd get caught doing it.

Might be worth a read: https://www.expattaxthailand.com/gift-tax-2024/ Caution Strongly Advised: The Implications of Using Gifts for Tax Planning We receive many enquiries from expats looking to use gifts for tax planning. We strongly advise caution when considering this approach. When you give something away as a gift, you are expected to relinquish all benefits from that asset. If you continue to benefit from it in any way, this is known as a ‘gift with reservation’. For tax planning purposes, it’s crucial to understand that you must not derive any benefit when gifting assets. For example, if an expat sends money from overseas to their Thai spouse and it covers their living expenses, it is not considered a gift. Attempting to bypass the tax regulations in this way is likely to be considered tax evasion, potentially resulting in severe penalties. A ‘gift with reservation’ can include a wide range of assets, including intangible ones like stocks and shares, valuable personal items such as jewellery or antiques, cars, or any asset subject to inheritance tax. If you do plan to use the gifting rules in your tax planning, we strongly advise seeking professional advice and having a formal gift document drawn up and notarised by a lawyer.

Gifts can be given for educational purposes, however IMHO this is targeted more to sponsoring a child's education rather than paying for your own child (again, all just my humble opinion) this would be considered normal day-2-day expenses. Gifts for Educational or Public Benefit: Gifts intended for educational purposes or public benefits are often exempt, aligning with the donor’s intentions and complying with specific regulatory approvals. Quite a detailed review of the rules around tax on "Gifts" https://www.expattaxthailand.com/gift-tax-2024/

IMHO yes, because you are paying for a service that originates from within Thailand. Part of the fare is the various Airport Taxes/service charges all set by Thailand, so at least this money is remitted, but IMHO the whole fare would be considered remitted.

My opinion on this is if you were paying the school fees for a child that doesn't live with you, it could be treated as a gift but if you were paying it for a child that does live with you it would fall under your normal living expenses.

We don't have a definitive answer to this but my opinion is that mixed funds would be treated on a percentage basis. E.g. 100K in a Bank Account that has generated 10K in Interest since 1/1/2024 Bring in 55K and 50K would be considered from your pre 1/1/24 capital & 5K would be considered interest & so taxable.

If the flight originates in Thailand then it's considered remitting money into Thailand so doesn't matter if you book Thai Airways, Emirates, KLM, Qantas etc... if the flights starts from a Thai Airport, you've brought money into Thailand to pay for it. However, if you booked a flight to a 3rd country & booked a different itinerary to then take you onwards to your home country, that flight wouldn't be remitted income even if it was on Thai Airways.

I believe Gifts under a "Moral Obligation" are valid so would say that C is technically correct and you could even argue that the Husband could gift his Wife 2Million to support herself & 100% of the costs of supporting the kids. But whether TRD would see it that way, especially if you were living together is anybody's guess. Edit: Also think that by reporting an income of 1Million THB you're greatly reducing the risk of being audited.