Klonko

AFAIK the known cases in question relate to contractual agreements concluded in Thailand and not to the application of international private law which Thailand is supposed to adhere to based on its accession to the HCCH (Hague Conference on Private International Law) in 2021. While the courts should ultimately decide in favour of separated property with respect to civil law for my marriage - fortunately that will never be necessary in my case -, I agree it may be an interesting discussion with TRD that gifts are given from my personal property to my wife's personal property.

I can conclude a notarised post-marital agreement for fully separated property retrotractively tp the date of marriage in my home country under my home country law, even when the marriage was concluded in Thailand. This choice of law is valid under international private law. If TRD or a Thai court will apply international private law correctly is another question. But this set-up is more robust for gift taxes and will be enforceable for my estate, because the distribution of my foreign assets will be processed in my home country and my Thai assets will go to my wife anyway.

I posted this already some time ago: in some home countries, it is possible for a foreign-Thai couple to elect fully separated property instead of conjugal property for income during the marriage, which makes gift remittances from foreign income more robust and distribution of the estate after death much easier.

Easy for TRD regardless of tax filing. (1) Source remittances, names and passport numbers from bank systems. (2) Source names, birth dates, and passport numbers for stays over 179 days from immigration systems. (3) Calculate potential tax liabilities deducting likely TEDA and customary DTA tax exempt income. (4) Filter and sort records for missing tax payments, start with the big fish and politely ask to explain discrepancies. I estimate that many cannot explain discrepancies with savings or DTA tax credits. (5) TRD collects taxes and fines. (6) TRD bosses are promoted.

While remittances from foreign income which is tax exempt in Thailand under DTA are not tax assessable income, remittances for foreign income with tax credits are likely to qualify as tax assessable income. There have been general TRD statements that income under DTA is not taxed in Thailand, and this certainly applies to tax exempt income,. However, these statements cannot be expanded to tax credits - contradicting the DTA - unless explicitly confirmed by TRD. In the current tax forms, I would enter as tax assessable income the remittance after deducting the DTA tax credit, but new tax forms are expected later this year.

I believe to remember, buried in the old tax thread, that income from employment must be filed regardless of (additional) tax payable, because the tax withheld by the employer is somehow checked against the emploees' tax filing, resulting in adjusting payments. I do not know if Thai pensions are also subject to withholding tax, but the tax filings seem to be further processed, which is not the case for foreign pensions. Assuming my recollection is correct, the TRD statement is probably only limited to Thai income and pensions.

Does the TRD not only relate to assessable income from employment, which is not relevant for retirees, due to the connex with tax withheld by the employer?

I have ceramic coated 5 vehicles so far. It depends both on the ceramic coat as well as the application. Done properly (and more expensive) it makes a big difference vs waxing.

If you are one small fish among many in the pond, you are likely not to be targeted and my view would also be not to file tax returns if no taxes are payable. But if you are remitting millions from savings or against DTA tax credits, I would deliberately show tax assessable income and file tax returns in order to ensure that I will never have to document such remittances after nine years. I may even deliberately not reclaim withholding tax on bank interest and end up with an additional small tax payable. Leaving 5 digit THB on the table for TRD may be the better strategy than paying 0 tax.

Tax consultants state truthfully that tax returns must be filed even if no tax payable. It is i the law. But they do not opine on the tax practice by TRD which is relevant to most people. I am almost sympathetic with tax consultants not to elaborate on the alleged practice, because it would mean loosing potential mandates. But you cannot use the tax consultants' statements to argue such tax practice by TRD does not exist. In the opposite, we know that at least many do not file taxes and have not been fined, and the silence of the tax consultants on this practice rather supports the point of view that tax returns "must" not be filed when no taxes are payable. No tax resident, except may be yourself 😉, would probably like TRD to abandon a tax practice contradicting written tax law but beneficial to the tax resident.

Statements of the big 4 or other tax advisors are driven by the quest for new mandates and may be biased. Written tax law and TRD practice has been and can continue to be contradictory. It may however still be in the interest of the taxpayer to file tax returns in order to limit tax audits.

+ max THB 25k for health insurance per person

I think you are too harsh Mike. There is value in Celsius' (slightly ironic?) post because IMHO, unless it can be qualified as gift of the daughter supporting her family, it is indeed illegal tax evasion which, however, will probably only be detected if TRD matches ATM drawdowns with stays abroad.

In many other countries, even renting out only one apartment you will have to file taxes in Thailand before you are finally tax assessed and may have to wait one year or more before you can reclaim tax credits after having paid full Thai taxes. Of course, you can use your estimated tax credit for filing taxes in Thailand and hope that you do no have to provide documentation to TRD before your foreign taxes are finally assessed. I would rather wait with remittances until I can prove tax credits.

German abbreviation of DTA.

As per Thai tax law foreign income which has been taxed in a foreign country, has been remitted to Thailand and is not tax exempt but tax credits can be claimed under the applicable DTA, is subject to Thai taxes. Please let us know the official statement of TRD that such income is not tax assessable income with tax credits against tax payable but completely exempt from Thai taxes contradictionary to DTA wording.

As long as TRD does not ask for proof and you are willing to pay fines.

I fully agree for DTA tax credits but would feel very comfortable to remit DTA exempt income as of now, which unfortunately I do not have.

I know, but this can be less than the actual cost to income - ratio, and there is no consistent definition of gross income across countries. E.g. in my home country, there is net rent and gross rent. The difference concerns costs which are ultimately passed on to the tenants. Income taxes are paid on net rents after deducting other costs and mortgage interest. Typical loan to value ratios for rental property is up to 60% I would like to neither discuss these subtleties with TRD nor pay a tax rate on fictional income.

In addition, Thailand may calculate net rental revenues (expenses, mortgage interest) different from your home country, adding to the complexity of correctly filing taxes in Thailand. The DTA route may be so cumbersome that it is only viable for larger remittances, which also would make tax agent fees bearable. I see the advantage of a tax agent less in doing the filing but ensuring that all possibly required documentation is at hand and negotiating with TRD in case of an audit.

The difficulty lies not in DTA exempt income, but in handling DTA tax credits, in particular if the tax credits only partially offset Thai tax payable.

100% legal 😂. But cheap. Thai friend paid THB 10k for car driver's license in Banglamung two years ago.

May be it is wise not to remit DTA protected income in 2024 but keep it on a (non interest bearing) foreign account until TRD practice can be better anticipated.

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Nobody knows what the threshold for tax audits will be in five years time. You will have to prove that remittances were not tax assessable income. If you do not have the documents ready, it is your problem. Following a risk based approach, I would file taxes if non tax assessable remittances exceed THB 2m and generate tax assessable income resulting in a 4-5 digit tax. TRD can tick a box, may - looking at my CRS data - realise that I can reduce my tax payable to zero, and may leave me in peace. Main advantage is to limit possible tax audits to 3 years.