Klonko

True savings, e.g. balances of non interest bearing accounts before tax residency in Thailand or from inheritances (potentially subject to Thai inheritance tax) are not tax assessable income if remitted to Thailand. Other remittances of commingled foreign sources such as from financial investments with interest, dividends and capital gains or from property sales with realised gains may, and in my opinion will, qualify as at least partially tax assessable income, depending on the possibly never known accounting method applied consistently across TRD offices.

Very easy for 50+ transactions per year in a managed portfolio with varying withholding taxes 😉.

I only stated that taxing global income will be even more not "workable" than the current system which indeed is in limbo as regards practical implementation.

i beg to disagree. Processing tax returns with foreign rental income, investment income and DTA tax credits all over will add complexity.

Nobody knows which data TRD can source in the future. Tax audits are possible 10 years in arrears if no taxes have been filed. I assume that all electronic data about me may be retrievable. I compare it to blood samples from anti-doping tests which are stored for many years to be available for further analysis by later developed anti-doping tests. AI will probably make retrieving and evaluating my data very easy.

Make your own pasta. 100g flower (imported Farina), 1 organic egg, little salt. Make dough and process for tagliatelle or ravioli with a pasta machine. You will never buy prefabricated pasta again

They will ask for all documents to be stamped and signed off by a very senior person of the document issuing entity (cf. insurance certificates) and translated into Thai certified by the ministry of foreign affairs. Sorry, could not resist to add to fearmongering.

The most probably unclear or cumbersome requirements for filing taxes for and respective documention of foreign income is an at least as heavy deterrence to stay longer than 179 days in Thailand as the tax itself, even at a lower than 35% marginal tax rate.

This indirectly affirms my feeling that neither LIFO nor FIFO will prevail but a pro rata accounting method is likely to be used for many purposes and I am glad that I had set up a segregated non interest bearing account for pre 2024 savings for future remittances.

FIFO (tax free remittance up to the initial investment) or LIFO (remittance only tax free if relevant income/capital gains have been transferred from the investment "account" to another offshore account prior to a remittance) or another accounting method (pro rata would make tax free remittances rather impossible) has not been decided yet by TRD, and may be never clarified generally. I doubt that TRD will establish a general standard across all offices. Ideal solution would be to let the taxpayer choose an accounting method going forward, else tax planning will remain difficult or impossible until court decisions may give guidance.

If the money is traditional support (e.g., as per TRD statement, not used to buy a Ferrari) and not covering your own expenses in Thailand.

You have to name your home country. You do not need to file taxes for (interest) income in most countries if you are not tax resident in these countries, unless you own real estate or a business therein. In some countries, you can at least partially recover withholding tax by submitting proof that you are tax resident in Thailand. You can get respective confirmation from TRD. As regards inheritance from abroad, you may have to file a tax return in the estate country and/or in Thailand depending on relationship and amount. DTA may not prevent double taxation. BTW, if you earn interest on your foreign accounts, remittances from these accounts may qualify as assessable income in Thailand.

To date, only large businesses seem to be in scope of the contemplated global income tax. In the long run, I expect Thailand to formally adopt the global norm of taxing all residents not only on remittances but global income. However, given examples such as Portugal, this does not necessarily result in the 35% marginal Thai tax rate for retirees. Applying the existing Thai tax rates and rules to global income could make Thailand for some residents a higher taxing country than their home country, in particular for capital gains. I doubt that Thailand will ultimately kill the goose that lays the golden eggs respectively drive away retirees spending annually a couple of millions bath in Thailand. If I will be ever - I bet this will not happen in 2025 - taxed on global income in Thailand, the resulting tax rate is not more than 20% as a fair contribution to my country of residence, foreign (withholding) taxes are fully recognized, and the tax filing and documentation is not too cumbersome, I will likely remain tax resident in Thailand. Filing taxes for global income could be a nightmare, especially if documentation needs to be translated and if the nomenclature does not correspond with Thailand. Else I would search for a third domicile to comply with the 179 days rule. However, similar to the global income tax becoming a worldwide norm, the days of not being tax resident in any country will be counted, too, and possibly I will have to reluctantly move back to my home country as main domicile at a higher age. For the time being, I am relaxed and do not worry.

I am not mixing up anything and I am consistent with your post because, if read thoroughly my statement implies that it is 50% tax assessable income because it it not a gift for 50% though declared as gift.

Gifts made outside of Thailand and remitted to Thailand up to THB 10/20m by the receiver are not safe per se. If the gift comes from conjugal property such as income from personal property under Thai marital status, IMO 50% of the remittance are tax assessable income of the receiver. I have set up a gift scheme for myself, but I will watch closely and decide before year end if my scheme is still viable. If viable, I will remit tax assessable income to my account resulting in a tax netted by the withholding tax on my Thai bank accounts. If not viable, the income tax on the "gifts" will also be netted by the withholding tax. I deliberately forego a refund of the withholding tax. To file or not to file is an open issue. My gift scheme gives me 50% more years I can live off savings before I have to use the 179 day rule. If gifts are used without the required assertions from TRD, I recommend being prepared for taxability as plan B. Hopefully, more TRD guidance will be available before year end. Re f): THB 10/20 mill

Therefore, if the spouses' properties are subject to Thai marital law, a "gift" remittance between spouses from foreign income from personal property comes from joint marital property and IMO 50% of such remittance should qualify as regular tax assessable income of the receiving spouse. If the spouses' properties' are fully separated under applicable foreign law, such remittance remains fully tax exempt within Thai gift rules.

As regards gifts to spouses and conjugal property, and assuming that gifts are not tax assessable income of the giver when derived from funds which would become assessable income of the giver if remitted to the giver's Thai account: Conjugal property may be an angle for TRD to make the gift at least partially tax assessable income of the receiver. Even if the giver uses income from own (not conjugal) foreign property, this income is conjugal property and 50% of the remitted funds are a "gift" of the receiver to her/himself. To be on the safe side, the giver can only use funds from own property, possibly prior savings which may not become tax assessable anyway when remitted to the giver's Thai account. Some people may be able to choose another marital property status. My Thai wife and myself will not have conjugal property but separation of properties. While this is not possible under Thai law itself, we can agree on separation of properties under my home jurisdiction, which choice is recognised in my home country and should be recognised in Thailand under international private law, although our marriage was concluded in Thailand and our main domicile is Thailand. We do not have separation of properties in order to establish a more favourable framework for our envisaged partial gift scheme, but because splitting conjugal property, which includes any income from own property in Thailand and abroad, would be practically a nightmare especially if I live as long as some of my family members, and my wife will be financially well secured anyway. The separation of properties will make our partial gift scheme more robust as side benefit. Financial planning is not limited to taxes. I recommend spending efforts on marital property and estate planning as well.

I respectfully disagree. It is easier to follow one thread and identify posts which may be interesting for me. Further, posts could often not be clearly assigned to a specific thread. I returned to this thread after a one week break and was quickly up to speed again. For example, this thread contains a lot of UK, US and Australian specific issues which are not relevant for me. But the respective discussion of accounting methods and DTA entails information and ideas which can be helpful for me and which I would miss if the thread is split up. For newbies, separate threads will soon have 50+ pages each and old information will practically also not be retrievable. A feasible way to provide structured access to the information buried in 300 pages is to expand the tax guide, but I do not dare to ask for such undertaking.

Very clear before my post. Exclusively recommending professional advice for any gifts is a restrictive approach. It is your tax guide and your choice not to elaborate on publicly known parameters. Based on my experience with a reputable Thai tax consulting firm last year, which did not provide specific answers to specific questions, I would not expect too much clarification beyond the known parameters (traditional gift) and each one has to make his or her own assessment. Given the Ferrari example it is not necessarily a domain of the wealthy.

Although I consider Mike's approach to gifts as too restrictive and have set up a structure with a gift component for myself, IMO your structure is tax evasion.

The THB 1m gift is not subject to tax if it can be classified as traditional gift. In your example, it depends on the circumstances if it is a traditional gift. AFAIK inheritances are taxable regardless of remittance to Thailand.

As regards tax exempt gifts, I start with the most recent TRD statement known to me (video). Key requirement for tax exemption is traditional support i.e. gift given as moral obligation, regardless if remitted from a foreign or Thai bank account. It may be that support for the spouse is assumed to be a moral obligation without further scrutiny. Remitting money to a child for buying a Ferrari is not a tax exempt gift. Mike is correct that gifts are not a general remedy for tax optimisation. In my case I have been supporting my wife with THB 40k monthly from my Thai account until last year. She used the money for joint expenses, personal expenses and family support. Since this year, I am remitting the equivalent of THB 60k monthly to my wife from my foreign income account. I still contribute more to our joint expenses from my Thai account. There is a risk that the remittances to my wife are not (fully) considered as gift but as her tax assessable income. Worst case THB 34k taxes. However, given the information available, I consider this risk as low and would not expect substantial fines as IMO I have classified the remittances to my wife as gift in good faith. I could remit to my wife from my foreign savings but, as long as TRD does not apply stricter standards, I will keep the savings for future remittances to my Thai account, which protects me from taxes for many years without recourse to a non-Thai tax resident year. Tax planning regularly requires a risk based approach, because the eventual tax rules are not known.

The Deputy Director of the Legal Affairs Division of the TRD (Swiss Embassy Townhall February 27, 2024): Gift tax.mov

AFAIK Thai tax residents are subject to inheritance tax on inheritances received regardless of the domicile of the testator, the country of inherited real estate (often not protected by DTA), and the remittance of inherited funds to Thailand. However, exemption thresholds are high and inheritance tax rates low. Better to file for inheritance taxes if necessary, at least when you plan to remit inherited funds to Thailand.

There are a some people who think that the gift tax rules may only apply to gifts from funds which have been subject to Thai income tax assessment. TRD has publicly stated that, while foreign income of a Thai tax resident remitted to himself is tax assessable, traditional gifts [remitted from the benefactor's foreign account to the beneficiary's Thai account] are not subject to income tax. To date, I have not seen any official statement to the contrary. In my case, I now support my wife directly from my foreign account, after having used my Thai account until 2023. "Traditional gift" usually derives from a moral obligation.