Mike Teavee

I think most people do sit in the middle but sensibly assess the impact of getting it wrong E.g. for me... Remit income up to my Allowances + 150K ( Total of 235K) & not file a return, worse case, 2,000B fine (They'd owe me 5,000 in Withheld tax on my Bank Account interest so can take it out of that & give me the extra 3K). Do the same for the GF (Total of 210K) + "Gift" her 2x100K, worse case, (IIRC) twice the Tax due on the 200K (She's already used the 1st 150K at 0% so it would be 150K at 10% + 50K at 15% = 22,500 doubled) 45K + 2K fine=47K. Remit the Tax Free Lump Sum from my Pension + some Capital Gains for a total of say 12Million THB = 7,460,500 (2x3,730,250) + 2K fine. 1st 2 I've no qualms about but the 3rd one, no way... Besides there's something intensely satisfying in having a 6 month holiday on money that you would otherwise have given to a Tax Man 😄

(Technically) he is liable to tax on income remitted during the year he was not tax resident if the income was "Earned" during a year when he was tax resident... E.g. Earn income in 2025, be a non-Tax resident & remit the income in 2026 & (Technically) you're still liable for tax on it. Flip side is true also, earn income in 2025 when you're not a tax resident & remit it in 2026 when you are, no tax to pay. FWIW I be taking no chances when it comes to remitting my pension tax free lump sum and/or proceeds from the sale of my UK house, I'll be getting the money & remitting it in the same year when I'll be non-Tax resident.

I agree & end of the day it comes down to "Technically" Vs "Practically".

Thailand doesn't seem to have anything specific around CGT & treats it as Income so I guess as an extreme it would be 10 years as that's the furthest they can go back for Tax Audits?

I'm not sure it ever becomes savings if it's "Earned" after 1/1/2024, so maybe "Bed & Breakfasting" is a way to move from a position of having a high capital gain to one where you've got zero/little & so when you came to sell the asset, the money would be as good as "Savings". To take it to extremes I guess there is nothing to stop you taking all of your income (Dividends, Rent, Pensions, even gains from selling your house), buying assets with it, selling the assets & remitting the proceeds with no/little tax to pay.

I'm up early adjusting the Stop limits on some UK shares that have done well recently & a thought struck me... If I paid £10,000 for some shares & sold them for £30,000 I've realised a gain of £20,000 but as there's no CGT to pay in the UK, if I remit the £30,000 into Thailand I'm liable for tax on the full £20,000 gain. However, if I use that £30,000 to purchase some new shares (same company or another) & sell them straight away then I'll lose on the dealing charges & spread between buy & sell price but this won't be anywhere near the tax on 920,000B. Not planning on doing this anytime soon, but if I do decide to bring significant income from Capital Gains I'll be looking at "Bed & Breakfasting" it in the UK before I do. [NB UK has a 30 day rule to stop you crystalising CGT gains/losses by selling & immediately repurchasing the same stock but as Thailand doesn't seem to have any separate provisions for CGT but treats it as Income Tax then I'm assuming they don't have something similar].

And I've always thought the FX rates on XE were amongst the best but they also stated... Inheritances above ฿100 million THB (about $335,000 USD), Non Transferable property rights above ฿20 million THB (about $67,000 USD) Also out by a factor of roughly 10X 😄

I thought Income earned between 1/1/2024 and you getting the LTR was still Taxable. E.g. I plan on going for mine when my pensions start in 2026 and am expecting that I would have to pay Tax on Rental/Dividend income earned in 2024 & 2025 if I remit it.

I'm stepping back from any discussions on Tax from any Income arising in Thailand as it doesn't directly impact me but here are the Thai rules around Gift Tax https://www.rd.go.th/43338-1/clear-cut-ภาษีการรับให้-gift-tax-ใครต้องเสียภาษี.html (Chrome should translate it for you). And here's the translated summary table... Enjoy 🙂

I'm assuming you can get a Tax adjustment somehow as the TRD says you can get Tax relief for Gifts, so in your examples where you've already paid PAYE Tax on the income it makes logical sense that you can claim some relief, however the (English Version) of the Tax Return Guide doesn't mention gifts anywhere so again we're back to the question "Can Domestic Gifts be given Tax Free" (I don't see how you could pre-claim it & avoid paying PAYE income but I've never worked in Thailand so wouldn't know) - All the more reason to remit the Gift directly to the Giftee & not send it via your Thai Bank account. If the answer is "No, Domestic Gifts cannot be given Tax Free" then it doesn't make sense to have a Gift Tax rule at all unless it's for just for Remittances & surely the receiver of a Domestic sourced Gift would not pay tax on it as that income has already been taxed. Ironically enough there is space on the Tax Return form to claim relief for charitable donations so your donation to the Soi Dog Foundation would (if they're an approved charity) give you some relief... https://www.rd.go.th/fileadmin/download/english_form/030265guide91.pdf

I've answered as best I can inline in your post...

Not 100% true as your overseas Will could (I know UK Wills can) be recognised in Thailand but believe it needs to be registered with MOFA before you die... https://www.samuiforsale.com/knowledge/inheritance-laws-thailand.html#:~:text=Legal foreign wills are acceptable,subject to a court procedure. There's a discussion on it here But saying that, I think most lawyers would recommended to have separate Wills for each Jurisdiction.

True, it doesn't say "Remitted Income" so I might be wrong about not being able to use Gifts as a way to limit tax on Income earned in Thailand, but that document (& the crux of this thread) is aimed more about Expat's being taxed on money remitted into Thailand for which Gifts can be used to limit how much Tax you need to pay. Edit: Having a quick look through the TRD document, it doesn't mention remitted income in there either so strengthens the argument that Gift's can be used to reduce tax on income earned in Thailand. Section 42 The assessable income of the following categories shall be exempt for the purpose of income tax calculation: para 27... https://www.rd.go.th/english/37749.html Edit: Just struck me that your question might be more around only domestic Gifts being eligible, this article is all about remitting money to Thailand & lists the same criteria listed many times before... https://www.xe.com/ar/blog/money-transfer/sending-a-large-money-transfer-to-thailand-what-to-know-about-taxes/ Gift Tax For many decades, Thailand did not tax gifts, just income. But that changed in 2016. The government not only imposed taxes; it also changed the definition of a “gift.” Any property, including money, which is transferred to another person, and there is no expectation of any tangible return, is a gift. Interest-free loans and property sales at substantially below market value are also gifts. In many countries, gifts also have relational components. But in Thailand, you can give a gift to anyone, at least for tax purposes, if it exceeds the following amounts: Inheritances above ฿100 million THB (about $335,000 USD), Non Transferable property rights above ฿20 million THB (about $67,000 USD), and Any property transfer, including foreign remittances, which meet the gift criteria discussed above. A number of exemptions apply. This list includes: Gifts from relatives under ฿20 million THB Gifts from non-relatives under ฿10 million THB (about $33,000 USD). Gifts made for educational or religious purposes (such as college tuition payment transfers) Although relationship does not enter into the definition of a “gift,” there is a relational aspect to the amount of the tax. Thailand’s gift tax is 10% in most cases, and 5% if the recipient is a descendant or ascendant. Most relationships via marriage, such as step-siblings, do not qualify for the reduction, at least in most cases.

PWC Doc attached in the post above...

Gifts can be used to avoid tax on remitted (not domestic) income as long as the relationship between the person giving/receiving the gift & the purpose of the gift fall within the approved criteria. Gifts cannot be used to evade tax on domestic income.

TBH the discussion about Gift tax has gotten a bit confusing (not helped by the fact I was travelling back from the UK so skim-read posts to catch up) but a few of the guys (e.g. @Lorry, sorry I'm not singling you out) seem to be saying that Gifts to your Wife are liable for PIT & need to be reported on your return

FWIW, here is where I get most of my Tax information from (due to the fact that the Global Bank I worked for used PWC to assist us when working in a number of different countries including filing local & UK Tax Returns for us). From page 13 of the attached PDF. Gift Tax Gifts that are given by a living person are subject to personal income tax under the Revenue Code. The income tax is levied on the value of the assets or the amount given to parents, ascendants, descendants, spouse or others that exceeds the prescribed threshold, which depends on the type of gift and donor. The assets or amounts given that do not exceed the threshold and will be exempt from personal income tax are as follows: Income derived 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 Baht 20 million in respect of each child throughout a tax year. Maintenance income or gifts from ascendants, descendants or spouse, in the amount not exceeding Baht 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 that are not ascendants, descendants or spouse, in the amount not exceeding Baht 10 million throughout a tax year. Income from gifts which will be used by the person who receives them for religious, educational or public benefit purposes according to the intention of the donor under criteria and conditions referred to in ministerial regulations. Income in excess of the above thresholds will be subject to personal income tax at the rate of 5% and will not need to be included together with other income when computing the annual personal income tax liability. Seems pretty clear cut to me that a legitimate gift (up to the limits mentioned) to your Wife, Daughter etc... is exempt from PIT so does not need to be declared on your Tax Return, and if that Soi Dog Foundation mentioned was a registered charity deemed to be providing a public benefit then donations to them would be exempt from PIT also. So, in a nutshell, it does matter who you're sending the money to & what the money is for but it's for you to assess that & report it accordingly, TRD will only assess it if you're audited. thai-tax-booklet-2023-24.pdf

Obviously you're free to believe whoever/whatever you like but the only ruling on Gift Tax I'm aware of was where Thaksin's wife was sentenced to 3 years for Tax evasion, part of which (IIRC approx. 15Million Baht) was a gift to their daughter as a wedding present (The fact that they argued this proves that there is an argument to be made that you can Gift money to relatives) https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSSP223799/ And before you argue "But she was found guilty"... I've read [can't find it now] that the TRD argument was that the gift was made 2 years after the wedding, so in their eyes wasn't a legitimate wedding present. This was one small (IIRC approx. 3%) part of an overall charge of 546 Million Baht Tax evasion Her conviction was overturned on appeal (Though I wouldn't read too much into this fact 🙂) https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-appeals-court-clears-thaksins-ex-wife-in-tax-case-2011aug24-story.html

Firstly, we are talking about tax on remitted income (not domestic) but in your example Mr Gifter does have to pay Tax on his Income (& would probably do so under PAYE) but when he gifts the post tax monies to his daughter as a wedding present he does not need to pay tax on it again. If Mr Gifter was working for 6 months overseas (still Tax Resident in Thailand) & remitted 5Million as a wedding present to his daughter then he'd have no tax to pay on it (or need to declare it), nor would she. However, if he were to remit the money to his landlord to pay for his rent then he & his landlord would need to declare/pay tax on it.

I disagree slightly with this part... If you make a legitimate gift (one you receive no benefits from) to anybody then you do not need to declare it on your Tax Return but they would need to file it on theirs if they/the gift doesn't fall into one of the eligible categories (E.g. I send my mate 1 Million THB because I'm a nice guy).

You only report assessable income and as (Legitimate) Gifts are not assessable income, you don't need to get a tax exemption for them as you don't need to report them. A "Legitimate" Gift is something that you (as the person making the Gift) receive no direct benefit from & your Landlord (as the person receiving the Gift) provides no direct benefits for, so if you're living there then it obviously wouldn't be a "Legitimate" Gift & if not declared would technically be tax evasion on both sides. Assuming you're not related in anyway to your "Landlord", if you sent them money & don't use their property in anyway (Live, Store your things, Reserve the property for future use etc...) then (technically) they should declare/pay tax on it but you would have nothing to pay/declare as you've not received any benefits from the monies.

As I understand it if you were sent 5Million THB as a Gift by your father then you would 1st assess this as a gift and decide not to declare it on your Tax Return (assuming you filed one). IF TRD somehow notice this large remittance & decide to audit you, it would be on you to prove that it was a gift which came from your father & not from one of your own overseas account [I use this example as I have exactly the same name & UK address as my father on one of my UK accounts so it would look like I was sending money to myself].

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Who said that? Not me. I suggested that they would flag people who are reported as having brought in a significant amount of money, what that limit is, I’ve no idea. As I said, I’m planning on bringing in 235K & not filing but if I brought in 2,350K then I’d file.