Thaindrew

for a while its going to be the case that we will bring the minimum amount of money into Thailand as possible to live to minimise tax exposure based on the statement "the portion of income from foreign sources that is brought into Thailand". Over time how RD apply the rules will become more known in terms of offsets / allowances, how they deal with inbound funds for property purposes etc. At least, at this stage, they aren't proposing to tax all global income, otherwise there may way be an exodus

RETIREES AGED 50 YEARS AND OLDER WHO HAVE AN ANNUAL PENSION OR STABLE PASSIVE INCOME you have to be retired for the wealthy pensioner LTR and thats the only one you can do $40K plus $250K Global citizen need the $500K invested Work from Thailand LTR need to work for a company with turnover of $150M over 3 years thats limiting factor to many

$80K is a fairly hefty pension to be getting but not impossible for sure. But you also need to be retired for 2 years to apply as you need to show two years passive income at that level and I am about to retire.

its already sliding .....

LTR is a good option, but I find I can qualify for each of them apart from one sticking point in each ... like work for a company turning over $150M in 3 years ... or having $500K assets but you cannot include your villa as you cannot legally own the land ..... which version did you manage to get?

pensions are taxable in the UK but with a threshold, the problem is that the Thai threshold is much lower at 150,000 Baht so you could be assessed for tax in the Uk and pay little or even no tax in the UK, but that means that Thailand could claim the difference as you couldn't prove you've paid tax on all if it based on their threshold - its going to depend on if they use "assessed for tax" or "paid tax" in their considerations.

"gifts" to spouse are listed by the RD as tax free for up to 20M Baht, not clear if thats also changing under the new rules or if that tax free to the sender and the receiver

I am sure Thai Elite and LTR are scrambling to understand the impact on them and their existing members, and are grappling with the issue that there may be no new members if funds bought in to pay for or support these visas ends up taxed.

thats ok if you can prove you have paid tax on that 800k yes going forward, else you bring in to Thailand and the new rules suggest it could be taxed if you cannot prove you paid tax on it or bring it from a tax haven. Many Elite Visa Holders have been working in tax havens and so can prove they have been assessed for tax but not necessarily paid tax.

they can only "export" $50K each per year so not enough for property purchase so a lot does come in via a company such as a lawyer.

they have to make bringing money in to support visas exempt surely, 900k for Thai Elite Visa already includes 7% VAT, they couldn't / shouldn't find another way to tax that at income tax rates as its the end of the road for these expensive visas. LTR does currently state that overseas income is not taxed, Elite vaguely said the same ... but that was based on 2023 rules and they could be using the "earned in previous years" rule to get away with that claim. I have already asked Elite for clarification, LTR need to so the same as far as 2024 is concerned

the property market lobby must be working hard to push back against this being an implication of the new interpretation of the rules, it would kill the property market or kill the current level of pricing

yep, still waiting for a reply .....

the point is over 180 days you are tax resident, now they are not enforcing tax returns, but now they are clearly saying money coming into the country needs to be included in an assessment of tax, thats likely to mean if you are here over 180 days you need to do a tax return

71000 baht actually

the 180 day rule in the black and white line yes, sure to be some grey areas as well unearthed later I suppose as with the previous loop hole

or even tourists that stay a combined 180 days over several visits as happens, of course at 180 days its wrong to truly call them tourists but they are on standard tourist visas and extensions

LTR visa states tax exemption for overseas earnings but of course that was stated pre this redefining of the current tax law Thailand Elite are vague on the subject, but agents are claiming its a "tax free" visa - I have asked for official confirmation.

Thai Baht is also dropping ...

based on bringing in 780,000 a year, which is what a person on a retirement visa has to bring in officially, so reasonable that RD set that as a minimum, then tax is 71,000 a year, less than 10% but its still a nice chunk of money.

I can see them potential saying that you haven't declared enough money to live so how are you living as a way of taxing you above what you have declared as bringing in. That's fraught with danger given the way other government office like immigration deal with things. I suppose as a minimum you'd have to bring in and declare at least 65000 baht x 12 a year as living expenses to match what they insist people on retirement visas bring in (ignoring agents in the whole process for now). But what would the tax be on 780,000 Baht, not small for sure !

correct, it all relates to "tax residents" which is in absolute terms anyone that lives here 180 days in a tax year

guess many will reduce their time to less than 180 days and Thailand will lose half the money that those individuals used to spend here, and also lose the money currently spent on long term visas such as with Thailand Elite, why pay 0.9m baht up to 5m baht when staying here on the visa for over 180 days is going to cost you in tax

yep thats an article from a news site, its not an official translation of the re interpretation of the law by the RD

HK is not considered part of China for tax purposes, you can see for example that Thailand has DTA agreements with both separately. If I stayed in China more than 180 days I would have had to declare my HK income for tax assessment in China. I got out before my obligation commenced initially spending less than 180 days there and now I just do a few business trips back there each year which is easy enough as I still have a valid resident permit