Mike Teavee

On 12/22/2023 at 5:40 AM, thaibeachlovers said:

Bell Bus had a van service from North Bus Station to the place wanted in Pattaya, included in the fare. It's on the internet.

I recommend Bell Bus, great service & IIRC only 190B. 

But the bus between where you want to go & the Bus station is an extra 110B, worth it IMHO as it turns it into a door-2-door service. 

On 12/26/2023 at 9:14 AM, scottiejohn said:

For 22 years! 1960. his DOB to 1982 the DOB of Prince William!.

What about Princess Anne? Does she not get a look-in? 

41 minutes ago, ballpoint said:

Thai Time 😂

1 hour ago, Happy happy said:

Question: if someone is on a retirement visa and who is considered a tax resident how much income can that person bring in annually to Thailand before being liable to Thai tax? 

Everybody gets a 60K personal allowance & the 1st 150K is taxed at 0% so the bare minimum would be 210K 

Then add on additional allowances for things like > 65 (190K), buy health insurance (25K), Life assurance (100K), have kids (30K each) etc… 

31 minutes ago, BenStark said:

 

You can install Firefox or Chrome, if you know how.

 

Google is your friend

I agree (& have done) but that’s not for somebody who just wants something to work out of the box 😊

55 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

 

My Mecool search revealed devices costing 75 quid from the UK.

 

How about the boxes on lazada for 1000 baht and up that are Netflix compatible and show users photographs with Netflix on the onscreen menus?

 

I haven't got any box from 3BB, nothing but their modem/router.

I bought a Mecool 2 Plus from Lazada for 2,180B 

I added WizzTV (approx 3,600B for 1 year for the Plus version with built in VPN) & now have more movies/TV Shows/Live events than I can shake a stick at, worth every satang 👍🏻

I do keep a Netflix subscription (though downgraded from 419 Premium to 169B… The 250B per month saving goes a long way to paying for WizzTV) so the GF still has subtitles when we’re watching movies. 
 

The  only downside of the box I can see for you is the Browser is a bit limited & as it’s Android TV you can’t just install Chrome on it but the inbuilt web browser has been fine for the couple of times I’ve wanted to use it. 

Edit: WizzTV does come with approx 600 Netflix movies/shows with more being added all the time, but GF was well into a couple of Thai Soap dramas at the time I bought the box so switching that off was more than my life’s worth… 

2 hours ago, Mike Lister said:

I get +190k, +100K, +60, +150k, 500 k in total for being over 65 on a pension.

I understand the 190K (> 65), 60K(personal allowance for everybody) & 150k (taxed at 0%) but can I ask what the 100K allowance is for? 
 

I get 60K +25K (Health Insurance) +150K = 235K 

10 hours ago, tgw said:

the problem when arriving in Pattaya Nua is local transport, although I don't really know about current prices.

That's the easy part...

As the bus pulls into Pattaya Nua Bus Station book a Bolt it will be there in 2-3 mins.  Approx. 70-80B (for a Car) to Wongamat Beach so I would imagine similar into Central Pattaya, cheaper if you're ok with taking a motorbike.

Failing that there's a group of Baht Bus drivers there that will drop you off at your hotel for 50B (100B if you're going to Jomtien), but you sometimes have to wait for these to fill up (usually not a problem when the Bangkok Buses come in). 

As others have said, 1,700b is reasonable for a door-2-door service booked by a hotel but if you want to do it cheaper you could book it yourself with Cherry Taxi Services, prices start at 1,400b from DMK... [The hotel will be using somebody like this & pocketing the 300b].

https://cherrytaxiservice.com/services-rates/

Watching today's Fabulous 103FM News report & there's a story in there that people have been reporting Immigration (am guessing Chonburi/Jomtien) asking for proof that Income has been taxed at source when doing retirement extensions (presumably using the 65K Income Method)... 2 minutes in...  

It does go on to say that it's unlikely any income taxed at source will be taxed again BUT makes no mention of what happens if the income hasn't been taxed (Obviously if it is Income & hasn't been taxed then the person remitting the money should have filed a Tax Return & paid tax on it in Thailand). 

11 minutes ago, Ben Zioner said:

Here, was clear right from  the beginning.

 

That doesn't say that everybody will have to file a Tax Return, it just highlights what I said about income earned from 1/1/24 being Tax Assessable if remitted in later years. 

28 minutes ago, Mike Lister said:

Poster @Ben Zioner seemed to have different views.

I suspect the answer is somewhere in the middle ground, the Schema can be found here https://www.oecd.org/tax/exchange-of-tax-information/common-reporting-standard-xml-schema-user-guide-for-tax-administrations-june-2019.pdf so will see what it says :) 

Edit: I've looked at the Schema and as far as I can tell it's all about reporting the "Closing" Account Balances (not transactions) & given that the mandatory CRS reporting requirement is annually it's likely that once per year all finance organizations will report the closing balance for all accounts that they hold....

Even if it was reporting daily it would be considered "Amalgamated" (Not transactional) data. 

Whilst on the OECD site I also noticed this...

In light of the rapid development and growth of the Crypto-Asset market and to ensure that recent gains in global tax transparency will not be gradually eroded, in April 2021 the G20 mandated the OECD to develop a framework providing for the automatic exchange of tax-relevant information on Crypto-Assets. In August 2022, the OECD approved the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF) which provides for the reporting of tax information on transactions in Crypto-Assets in a standardised manner, with a view to automatically exchanging such information.

https://www.oecd.org/tax/automatic-exchange/common-reporting-standard/

Which I guess would rule out any plans to use Crypto to somehow get around being seen to remit money into Thailand.  

Probably recommended when it came out 3.5 years ago but I must have missed Series 2 dropping so have been back to watch series 1 & am really enjoying it. 

We Hunt Together https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10661302/

A gripping twist on a classic cat-and-mouse story, this British drama series explores the intoxication of sexual attraction and the dangerous power of emotional manipulation as two conflicted detectives track down a pair of deadly killers.

4 hours ago, Mike Lister said:

Yet others persuade us that CRS is one one thing, which they they know because they are a consultant who works with such data every day and are expert. But when others post confirmation that CRS is something else entirely and they are invited to debate the matter and fight their corner, they hide under rocks and in dark corners. It is not so much a question of who is right and who is wrong, it is more a question of what is correct. Will my transactions be recorded and be capable of being viewed at the detailed level asks poster A. Oh no, how can it be, CRS is consolidated data. Hmm, not so says another, here's the record layout from CRS. Personally, even though I'm not an "expert" tax consultant, I'm going with the latter because there is evidence and the poster is credible but I'll leave it for those involved to argue the toss. We have no horse in this race but it would be good to understand the truth, especially when it comes from the mouths of "experts", allegedly.

Can you imagine the amount of data that would need to be exchanged if every country signed up to CRS shared detailed information about every transaction made! 

Added to that, how are you going to Identify Individuals? - Can't be on Passport number as my UK bank doesn't have my passport details (I don't even think I had a passport when I opened the account & if I did, I've had at least 5-6 new ones since & there's no onus on me to tell them), can't be on a Tax Identification Number as my UK Bank doesn't know my UK or Thailand TIN, so you get into the realms of trying to match by names (I sometimes do/don't use my middle name), dates of birth, addresses etc... Which again, is not practical given the amount of data involved.  

It must be consolidated data exchanged with maybe a mechanism to request the underlying transactions but you still have the problem of being able to accurately identify all transaction for a single individual.

1 hour ago, paddypower said:

there must be a fair % of posters who have been reporting for a visa extension,  on the pension income basis. Surely a few of you can make the time to kindly describe what proof of income you have been asked for in the past?  To be brutally honest,  it appears to me that there is so much space devoted to the proposed tax. Yet, I bet anyone that it will get dropped (either by way of a public back-tracking, or by the usual Thai way - inertia).

Hi Paddy, 

As this thread is about Tax & is not in the Extension Forum (https://aseannow.com/forum/1-thai-visas-residency-and-work-permits/) it could be a lot of the guys who are using the 65K Income method might not be reading it. 

I'm sure if you started a topic in that forum (Or maybe a Mod could use your above post to start a topic on your behalf) you'd get a much better response to your questions.

FWIW everybody I know that's on a Retirement Extension either uses the 800K in the Bank or uses an agent to "Assist With The Finances" but I did look into switching to the 65K pm Income method when it was first announced & decided it wasn't for me as I don't have a regular/monthly income so I would need to amortize it from other Income.  At that time I don't recall Jomtien IO wanting to see anything more than the monthly Xfers but I could be wrong and/or it could have changed since then. 

HTH

MTV

15 minutes ago, paddypower said:

this may have been covered already - but I cannot find a reference to it. I am switching from the 800k TD to the income method for my OA retirement visa extension, early next year. An IO officer quotes one set of requirements and the official IO website quotes another set of rules:

IO: (i) to prove your pension income, you must present copies of the foreign bank account into which the pension payments are received.

(ii) not interested in copies of Thai bank account, showing incoming funds for the 12 months

(iii) not interested in Inward Remittance Notices for the year

(iv) your Thai dividend income does not count in the earnings calculation.

(v) from another source (my Thai tax accountant) rental income from a Thai property does qualify, if it is a professionally managed property, if not you are classified as working and risk losing your retirement visa status

Note: this is irrelevant to me - I have rental income but I do not need to include it in my income calculation. I just mention it, because it was surprising to learn this.

IO publised regulations: documents required, as proof -

          proof of 800TD, or a combination of TD and income equalling at least 800k in the previous year.

          ''income'' is defined as  - ''pension, interest & dividend income'' .

any feed-back would be appreciated.

          

Do you have a link to the IO Website you quoted?

I thought for the income method you had to prove you were remitting at least 65K every month from overseas (Income earned in Thailand doesn't count).

Different IO offices may have different policies about whether they ask you to support this with proof of overseas income but some are only interested in the 65K being remitted (i.e. You could be sending it from savings).

7 minutes ago, Yumthai said:

No. Only resident citizen are subject to tax on their worldwide income.

Alien (resident or not) are subject to tax on their Philippines-sourced income only.

I thought that was a little ambiguous which is why I put "Might"

This seems much clearer...

US Expat Taxes in the Philippines 

As a US expat living in the Philippines, it’s important to know your tax obligations in both the US and the Philippines. As a resident of the Philippines, you are subject to income tax on all income earned, including income earned outside of the country.  

However, the Philippines does have a tax treaty with the US to prevent double taxation on your income. It’s important to keep track of all income earned and any taxes paid to ensure compliance with both countries’ tax laws.  

Additionally, US expats in the Philippines may be eligible for certain tax credits and deductions, such as the foreign tax credit, which can help reduce their overall tax burden. 

https://www.greenbacktaxservices.com/country-guide/expat-taxes-for-philippines/

1 hour ago, JimTripper said:

 

I may take a trip to the phillippines to see what's up. Hearing good things about Dumaguete.

 

I don't want to file at all, even if I don't end up owing.

Be careful as if you spend more than 2 years in the Philippines you would be considered a "Resident Alien" & so might be subject to tax on your worldwide income...

Liability for income tax

The liability of aliens for Philippines tax is determined by their residence status. Generally an alien who is present in the Philippines for at least 2 years is a resident alien. An alien who stays in the Philippines for less than 2 years is considered a non-resident alien.

There are two classifications of a non-resident alien:

1. engaged in trade or business in the Philippines
2. not engaged in trade or business in the Philippines.

A non-resident alien engaged in trade or business (NRAETB) is one who stays in the Philippines for an aggregate period of more than 180 days during any calendar year. If the individual stays in the Philippines for an aggregate period of 180 days or less, the individual is considered a non-resident alien not engaged in trade or business (NRANETB). The taxable income of citizens, resident aliens and NRAETB is defined as gross compensation and net business income less personal allowances. The taxable income of NRANETBs is their gross income.

Non-resident citizens and aliens are subject to income tax on Philippines-sourced income only.

Resident citizens are subject to Philippines income tax on worldwide income. Non-resident citizens and aliens are subject to Philippines income tax on their Philippines-sourced income only, such as employment income and passive income

https://kpmg.com/xx/en/home/insights/2021/07/philippines-thinking-beyond-borders.html

Just now, TheAppletons said:

 

  Pretty sure the OP was asking about visa agents in CM.....hence his phrasing of the question "any agents up here" and his posting of the question in the CM sub-forum.

Sorry we posted at the same time, I realised he was looking in CM so deleted my post :)