Etaoin Shrdlu

Gym = bar Exercise = twelve-ounce curls

I think existing information exchange agreements, often contained in dual taxation agreements, would compel the UK tax authorities to provide relevant information if an investigation rose to the level of Thai authorities formally asking for it. I don't think UK authorities would refuse to cooperate based upon how some people may regard Thailand, but they could decline to cooperate if proper procedures were not adhered to. I agree that a formal request for information exchange is unlikely in the case of Thai tax authorities investigating a pensioner over minor tax affairs. My guess is that the RD would simply present a bill for amounts they believe are due, with the presumption that any overseas credit card use constituted the inward remittance of untaxed funds and place the burden on the taxpayer to prove otherwise. Credit card transaction details can likely be obtained from the Bank of Thailand since they involve foreign exchange. Again, what the RD chooses to do and what they technically can do are often different things. In order for someone to decide on how compliant they wish to be, I think they would need to know both what actual practice is going to be as well as what the worst case scenario is. I don't think we know yet what practice will be under the new interpretation of the rules.

I agree. I think tax authorities are aware of this issue. Those that have the most potential to be affected are those who manage to escape taxation in their home countries due to residency or domicile status and then also manage to escape Thai taxation by threading the needle timing-wise under the old rules. Of course some pensions may be excluded by treaty and there are generous deductions under the Thai tax regime, but for those with significant remittances of untaxed money, this could be an issue.

In the scenario you mention, you're extinguishing a debt that has been imported into Thailand with money that has not been taxed by Thailand. This could cause the payment of the debt outside Thailand with money that hasn't been taxed by Thailand to be classified as assessable income. Same as in the UK: https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/residence-domicile-and-remittance-basis/rdrm33520. I think it is possible that the RD could take the same or a similar position. This is just too easy a loophole for the RD to ignore. Perhaps not with expats' credit cards, but on a larger scale with corporates and wealthy individuals. Problem is that we'd all be swept up by this whether intentionally or not.

I can only read the OP as a windup. Others seem to have a different take on it.

Yes, I know.

Why spoil a perfectly good reply by reading and comprehending the original post first? No fun in that!

Calling immigration sounds like work. You might need a work permit to do that.

I owned a condo in the Thonglor area for many years. I was able to sell it within a few weeks of putting it on the market with a real estate agent. The building was close to thirty years old at the time of sale, so it wasn't new. A Thai bought it. I have now lived in a house in a mooban in in Bangkok for over twenty years. There are always several houses in the mooban with for sale signs visible, often with real estate agents' names and logos on them. Some of the houses have had the signs on them for years. Occasionally one will be sold, but it seems to take a long time. If I were looking to purchase a residence that I wanted to sell at some later date without too much of a delay, I would choose a condo in a popular building near a BTS or MRT station. I think houses are harder to shift for a number of reasons.

Kiryas Joel in New York comes close.

Did you grow up in Radnor?

I was visiting the US when I went into a Chase branch and opened the account. I know this isn't helpful if you aren't planning on going to the US, but it is better than not being able to open an account under any circumstances with only a Thai address. Before I opened the Chase account I did look into trying to open an account in the US without traveling there. If I remember correctly, TD Bank would open an account without me having to be physically present. This could be initiated over the phone using one of their toll-free numbers.

By ported, I meant establishing an IRA account with, or rolling an IRA account over into, a financial institution outside the US.

Some types of accounts can't be ported outside the US, such as IRA and 401k accounts. Really wealthy people probably don't rely so much on these accounts, but for middle-class Americans they are anchors to the US financial system. Then there are the US tax laws, particularly regarding ownership of some foreign financial products.

That's true, but that would also be the case for a bank that specialized in catering to expats. Nobody is safe while the legislature is in session.

Besides the issues raised by the Patriot Act and KYC requirements, licensing and regulatory issues in the expats' countries of residence may still be a deterrent. And as unlikely as it may seem, banks are also afraid of being sued by an account holder in a foreign country under laws and regulations they are not aware of. Yet some banks will still work with expats. I was able to open a checking account with Chase using only my Thai address and mobile phone number along with a copy of a bank statement with my Thai address on it. Their mobile app works just fine on my phone with a Thai SIM and I can perform internet banking on my computer.

Women pilots are fine. No need to parallel park aircraft.

I hear female pilots are good with a joystick.

The dogs or the owners?

In the mooban I live in, there are basically four types of dog owners. The first type is the owner that never walks his dog or dogs. There are many of these, including at least one that doesn't let their dogs out of their house. This owner has at least four, but they are small dogs. There is also one family that has six huskies that spend almost all of their time in the house or yard. Instead of walking their dogs, they put them in their car and drive around the mooban with the windows down. I'm not kidding. The second type, of which there is really only one or two, walks their dog, but does not pick up the dog's poop. Everyone knows who they are, but this being Thailand nobody says anything. The third type picks up after their dog and advertises this by visibly carrying one or two plastic bags. This is the majority and I am in this group. The fourth type not only carries a plastic bag to pick up the poop, but also carries a bottle of water to dilute the dog's pee. There is only one of this type of owner in our mooban. This is a Thai that has lived in the US and probably picked up this practice there.

My dog walks me three times a day, but I haven't been able to train him to clean up after me yet.

In the US, the IRS considers debt forgiveness as being income to the debtor and is taxable. This is an issue when President Biden proposes relief for student loans. I could see how the RD could consider repayment of a loan that was remitted into Thailand but repaid with funds outside Thailand in a similar vein, or at least examine the provenance of the funds used in the repayment.

My comment is about the RD's ability to obtain relevant financial information under existing international tax agreements. Enforcement, if any, would be undertaken within Thailand under Thai laws. I think that enforcement of a Thai court judgement would require the re-litigation of the issue in the second country's court. This would be impractical with the exception of very large judgements. But I am not a lawyer and have to defer on this to those with legal training and insight into this issue.

The RD would request this information from the person they were auditing as a first step. As a second step, the RD could request assistance from the auditee's home country tax authorities who could obtain this from the bank or other financial institution and send it to the RD. I don't think data protection laws would prevent tax authorities from obtaining information from financial institutions under existing international tax cooperation agreements. Privacy in financial matters, at least when it comes to tax, has been pretty much dead since the IRS busted open the Swiss banks about fifteen years ago.

That may very well be the case.