Thaindrew

yep for 2024, but the proposals for 2025 go much further.

with the taxation system proposed for 2025 it doesn't matter how you spend it, only how you earn it

this seems the last loop hole for governments to close, living in 3 countries (179 + 179 + 7 days), so as to not be tax resident anywhere - it does have complications with banking when the bank ask for residency address and tax codes - but it is my short term plan to do the same - I also have 20 year Thai Elite Visa - other option is LTR visa but some of the requirements are high to achieve.

one big issue though is that Thailand is using the income tax system to tax "tax residents" on money that is not truly income, ie capital gains, you wouldn't pay income tax rates (up to 35%) on capital gains in your home country.

I suppose you could say they do and they don't, reading the CRS guide on the OECD website what actually gets recorded is "payments to your accounts" and "starting / ending balances". Since CRS support Global Tax Systems rather than Remittance Based Tax Systems. So for 2024 spending on credit cards, using debit cards may go below the radar (I heard from advisors both that they are included / not included). Whilst Thailand is taxing remittances, they can only try to tax what hits you Thai Bank Account (they can see also what hits any foreign account, but thats currently not relevant). But in 2025 if they move to taxing global income, for tax residents, then CRS will give them details of all payments made into your account(s) everywhere which they can consider as assessable for income tax unless you can prove prove them wrong.

China does tax worldwide income for tax residents, I lived there for 20 years and left when they changed to a global tax system

credit card and ATM transactions all are part of CRS reporting unfortunately

The wealthy will always have options - LTR Visa, Offshore banking, Blind Trusts, or just regular travel so as not to hit 180 days in Thailand ....

Losing your UK domicile Long-term residence abroad: You need to be able to demonstrate that you have a clear intention to live permanently or indefinitely in another country. Severing all UK ties: You need to be able to demonstrate your intention that you will never reside in the UK again. Servering all UK ties is not easy, property, bank accounts etc .... this is where they catch people back into the inheritance tax net. There are many legal cases, but this is one of the harshest - a UK guy lived in Germany for 20 years and actively claimed domicile. However when he died (in Germany) his will asked for his ashes to be spread at a specific place in the UK. The Inland Revenue won a court case to say that he was UK domicile because he hadn't severed all links.

Yes I used the rebasing method and paid an effective tax rate on the profit of only 3-4%. in Thailand they calculate based on land office docs, purchase price v selling price less any allowances for renovation, furniture etc (that in effect are passed on in the sale), but you need proper receipts.

becoming UK non-tax resident is fairly easy yes, you are out of the country for a period of time and have no earnings in the UK. Non-Dom is harder to achieve - proposed legislation seems to say that you can claim Non Dom if you lived in another country for 10 years straight and proactively choose that country as your place of domicile (not a mix of countries) - given the upcoming election we will have to see if that legislation goes through. As a non-tax resident you are correct that we don't pay any tax in the UK on foreign earnings but we are still liable for capital gains achieved in the UK (say from a sale of a property) and still liable for inheritance tax unless we can claim non-dom status.

the property I sold was in Thailand so the DTA wasn't relevant. I also recently sold a property in the UK and paid capital gains tax there but It only worked out as a low percentage (much less than Thai income tax rates) - I sold it last year just in case Thailand conspired to find a way to tax it !

capital gains are now taxed in Thailand as income, make a profit on a property sale and it taxed at income tax rates. the land office is sending sales paperwork to the tax office, who contact you to pay the tax

thats the 2024 rule yep, who know what rules they will apply in 2025 - and thats the problem

Capital Gains is taxed as income, just paid income tax on the sale of an apartment, they will let you offset any renovation costs and they also let me offset apartment management fees - this means it could go up to 35% on a tiered basis depending on the profit

yes its not applicable to everyone, and there are ways to avoid it, but it is an example of the differing implementation of rules to suit the Government only, "you are leaving the UK for Thailand, ok we will fix your pension, oh but we won't fix your asset value, that can continue to grow and potentially be inheritance taxed". To avoid that eventuality, should you have significant assets, you need to be come non-com which isn't that easy to achieve.

on the flip side though the UK Government will still want you to pay inheritance tax ... so you cannot have a few hundred quid in pension but please send us 40% of what you have when you die ... at least align all the different benefits / taxed

ATM withdrawals are reported as part of CRS to the country where you declare residency

step 2 .. oh no step 2 as no immigration officials left working

then they charge you 2000 too add a bag though

HSBC in Hong Kong is relatively easy to open an account with an no minimum balance. they also have a multi currency debit card meaning you can also hold THB and spend it directly in Thailand with the debit card without fees and with a small rebate.

I also recommend

well the statement was made in Australia where there is freedom of speech and not the same defamation law, they going to sue in Australia or is it all hot air?

and to add to that the lack of enforcement re wearing helmets, a while back in Phuket the police did start cracking down re helmets on a regular basis, and it was noticeable that Thais and foreigners alike started to wear them (better than the fine), then of course the police stopped the check points and went back to sitting in the police stations, and slowly everyone stopped wearing helmets .. and now everyone can drive passed a policeman, without a helmet, and not get stopped.

as always, lots of talk, no enforcement