ianwuk

Hello Everyone.

Is there anywhere in Bangkok where you can recycle old smartphones for cash?  I say recycle because these are the phones that I want to sell but I don't think anyone wants them because they are not Android or iPhone.

• Microsoft Lumia 950XL -  Single SIM & factory unlocked + Continuum display dock and all chargers and cables.
• Microsoft Lumia 640XL  -  Single SIM & factory unlocked and all chargers and cables.
• HP Elite X3 (dual-SIM) - -  Dual SIM & factory unlocked with display dock and (I think) all chargers and cables.

Even better would be is there any place in MBK or anywhere like that where I can take these phones to (all working and in good condition - just no original boxes) to get cash for them?

Many thanks.

This may sound a silly question but I wanted to know if Bangkok Bank allows you to add any international account to their online banking service to send wire transfers too.

I am currently with Kasikorn bank and they only allow you to add international accounts that are in your name. So, for example, I can't add the bank account to pay off my UK student loan every month because it isn't mine and belongs to a business.

Is Bangkok Bank the same? Does anyone know?

Thanks.

26 minutes ago, Oxx said:

 

No need.  The British Bankers Association states that there are two banks offering accounts to non-residents.  One only offers to non-residents living in the European Union, the other to "selected countries", which doesn't include Thailand.  No UK bank will open an account for us non-residents in Thailand.

If you do find anything, please let me know.  I am in the same situation as you right now.

15 hours ago, orientalist said:

I was thinking of Santander, Jersey, which has a brochure covering non-residents, but interest is 0% unless you deposit a lot.

 

http://www.santanderpb.je/documents/interestratesintl01092016.pdf

I sent them an email and they said no, they will not do business with Thailand.

Back to the drawing board.

On 7/30/2016 at 0:32 PM, Oxx said:

 

Unfortunately, it's now impossible for non-residents to open a UK bank account (at least, without lying). I really don't know what the realistic options now are.

I am in a similar situation.  I am currently with Nationwide International but I am now looking for other options.  Is there anything else out there we can switch to?  Nationwide themselves have FlexBasic, can we sign up for that or must you be a UK resident?

I signed up for a Nationwide IoM account.

So now I just have to wait to hear from them and HMRC on how to proceed.

Thanks so much to everyone who replied and contributed. It is much appreciated.

Regards.

Ian

Hello.

Thanks for the phone numbers.

Sorry, what I meant was, about having a UK account set up inside my Kasikorn one is that I can use Kasikorn online banking to send and receive money from my Kasikorn account to my parents UK bank account. So, I am assuming, once the IoM account is set up I would just add that account inside Kasikorn online banking the same way and should be able to transfer money to it from my Kasikorn account.

Thank again.

Ian

Probably

However you have just given information we didn't have.

Your parents can make payments for you and you can pay them.

HMRC wants money with the correct reference they don't care where it comes from.

I understand. However I will probably end up doing this all myself. Hence the silly questions and such.

Thanks for replying.

Hello.

Thanks for the phone numbers.

Sorry, what I meant was, about having a UK account set up inside my Kasikorn one is that I can use Kasikorn online banking to send and receive money from my Kasikorn account to my parents UK bank account. So, I am assuming, once the IoM account is set up I would just add that account inside Kasikorn online banking the same way and should be able to transfer money to it from my Kasikorn account.

Thank again.

Ian

Thank you for the email address Brewster. Ironically I was just given the same one from the UK Future Pensions Group after contacting them.

I already have a UK account set up inside my Kasikorn bank account so I am assuming it worked on the same principle. Thank you for taking the time to reply Jadee.

Regards.

Ian

Ianwuk, I am a long term expat still working outside the UK.

There is no need to report any overseas earnings if you are non resident for tax purposes in the UK, and have not earned any of that money in the UK.

I pay class 3 stamp, annually in arrears, the info on how to send the money is on the HMRC website.

Be aware that this figure of £155 is only if you've paid all of the secondary state pensions (SERPS, etc). Many people will not get the full amount despite having more than 35 years of contributions. The UK papers report on this issue regularly.

The suggestions above about writing to HMRC are undoubtedly the best way forward.

Good luck in your quest, SM

Thank you for the reply SM.

I appreciate your reply. I am waiting for the reply to my forms I recently sent off about paying voluntary NI payments (I ticked class 2 but, as mentioned, it will be probably class 3). I just hope I can then set up payment via Kasikorn bank easy enough and then I can start contributing National Insurance again in case I ever wish to return back to the UK.

Thanks again.

Ian

Don't expect a reply before June or July at the earliest. But if you do get an early reply post here how long it took.

Don't expect to be able to pay from Kasikorn bank easily. HMRC require exact payments. There are fees for receiving money and Kasikorn can't tell you exactly how much will be charged.

Do yourself a favour and do as I suggested and open an IoM account.

Paying voluntary NI has little, or nothing, to do with returning to the UK. It's about getting a UK pension

Thanks for the forecast. I have one question please about setting up an IoM account. But it is a silly question. When I am signing up for the instant access account that they offer it asks me for the amount, so I fill that in but it asks for an anticipated deposit date and I am not sure when this will be as I am not sure if Kasikorn will allow me to transfer the money to my new IoM account, assuming I get one.

I am new to this whole thing and so I am finding it a little complex. That is why there is all my questions and I thank you very much for taking the time to reply but am I correct in assuming Kasikorn will allow me to make a direct deposit in to the new IoM account that I get? If they do, do I then get the IoM account details to give to Kaiskorn to allow for the initial deposit to take place once I sign up to Nationwide IoM?

Many thanks.

Ian

Ianwuk, I am a long term expat still working outside the UK.

There is no need to report any overseas earnings if you are non resident for tax purposes in the UK, and have not earned any of that money in the UK.

I pay class 3 stamp, annually in arrears, the info on how to send the money is on the HMRC website.

Be aware that this figure of £155 is only if you've paid all of the secondary state pensions (SERPS, etc). Many people will not get the full amount despite having more than 35 years of contributions. The UK papers report on this issue regularly.

The suggestions above about writing to HMRC are undoubtedly the best way forward.

Good luck in your quest, SM

Thank you for the reply SM.

I appreciate your reply. I am waiting for the reply to my forms I recently sent off about paying voluntary NI payments (I ticked class 2 but, as mentioned, it will be probably class 3). I just hope I can then set up payment via Kasikorn bank easy enough and then I can start contributing National Insurance again in case I ever wish to return back to the UK.

Thanks again.

Ian

Is it correct also that I do not need to file a self-assessment for tax on foreign earnings too?

If you are resident then you should report your UK and foreign earnings. If you aren't resident then you should report your UK earnings, but if you only have UK earnings that aren't subject to tax then then they usually tell you not to bother reporting them unless there is some significant change.

If you have recently left you should probably continue to report everything until they tell you otherwise. If in doubt, ask them.

I have emailed them to ask for more information. I left the UK about ten years ago now. I was just wondering if/what was applicable to me. I have no UK earnings or property in the UK or anything like that.

Thanks.

Ian

On the offchance, I also contaced a law firm here in Bangkok about this, Anglo-Thai.

They said this:

If you continue a connection ("Tie") with the UK then it remains both your domicile & residence. Therefore, if you want to remain eligible for a (full) state pension then:

• you must submit annual Self Assessment Forms; and
• pay voluntary national insurance contributions.

By 'tie' they are referring to the fact that I go back to the UK every year for ten days in December to spend Christmas with my family.

They have no idea what they are talking about.

Morons.

There is certainly no requirement to complete a self-assessment tax return in order to get a state pension.

They are wrong about the "tie" and residence also. And domicile is irrelevant when it comes to pensions and income tax (unless you are trying to claim "non-dom" exemptions, which are not worth having for most people). And you only need to pay the voluntary contributions until the point where you have 35 years' worth (currently: the figure may be changed by future governments).

Thank you for the reply KittenKong.

Is it correct also that I do not need to file a self-assessment for tax on foreign earnings too?

Thanks.

Ian

Do they have an email address for contact? I just sent them an email through the contact form once I had logged in to my Government Gateway account for the first time (registered one today). When I try to enroll for self assessment tax the web page says that I do not have access. Nothing is ever simple. From my understanding though, my UK residential status now should be non-resident which surely means that I do not need to submit a self-assessment form?

Any advice is much appreciated.

Thanks.

Ian

On the offchance, I also contaced a law firm here in Bangkok about this, Anglo-Thai.

They said this:

If you continue a connection ("Tie") with the UK then it remains both your domicile & residence. Therefore, if you want to remain eligible for a (full) state pension then:

• you must submit annual Self Assessment Forms; and
• pay voluntary national insurance contributions.

By 'tie' they are referring to the fact that I go back to the UK every year for ten days in December to spend Christmas with my family.

They have no idea what they are talking about.

Morons.

There is certainly no requirement to complete a self-assessment tax return in order to get a state pension.

So, now for another incredibly stupid question from me (I apologise).

I was looking up self assessment tax forms and how to file and they have a section that says that if I earn foreign income then it may need to be taxed under UK law. Is that only if you are resident to the UK and you work abroad for certain parts of the year (e.g. on an oil rig). I assume it would not apply to me? Sorry, just a little confused.

On the offchance, I also contaced a law firm here in Bangkok about this, Anglo-Thai.

They said this:

If you continue a connection ("Tie") with the UK then it remains both your domicile & residence. Therefore, if you want to remain eligible for a (full) state pension then:

• you must submit annual Self Assessment Forms; and
• pay voluntary national insurance contributions.

By 'tie' they are referring to the fact that I go back to the UK every year for ten days in December to spend Christmas with my family.

They have no idea what they are talking about.

Morons.

I also, from my limited research on this, think that this is not correct either.

I am just going to see what happens when I get a reply back to the forms I recently sent off to the UK.

Regards.

Ian

So here is a quick update.

I posted the NI38 form and the form to get a pension statement.

On the offchance, I also contaced a law firm here in Bangkok about this, Anglo-Thai.

They said this:

I am not sure I have ever been asked about it.

Another question which may be related.

Now that I am no longer in the UK, should I have been paying UK tax whilst away (e.g. filing a tax return each year?). I don't have any UK earnings any more and so I never thought about filing a UK tax return for each year that I have been away.

Many thanks.

Ian

As I was renting out a UK property, I completed a Self-assessment return each year, which normally resulted in a small tax refund. I sold the property 7 years ago, but they continued to send me a Self-assessment form which I completed showing my negligible interest from my UK bank account. Last year they told me I no longer needed to complete the return.

Thanks Henry.

I don't have anything like that so what does it mean for me?

Regards.

Ian

Another question which may be related.

Now that I am no longer in the UK, should I have been paying UK tax whilst away (e.g. filing a tax return each year?). I don't have any UK earnings any more and so I never thought about filing a UK tax return for each year that I have been away.

Many thanks.

Ian

Hello.

I had a very quick look at Nationwide International. There list of accounts offered all seem to require a heavy minimum investment first (understandable) which I do not have.

http://www.nationwideinternational.com/accounts/accounts_sterling_glance.htm

Thanks.

Ian

Really!!

You forgot to scroll down

You don't have £1

Instant Access savings account - competitive interest rates with convenient access

A straightforward savings account that combines security and flexibility allowing you immediate access to your savings

You can open an Instant Access account with as little as £1 and pay money in or take money out whenever you want

Interest on closure option allowing you to choose exactly when you want to receive your interest

Monthly interest option for those requiring a regular income from their investment

I did see this account. I just have to figure out how to get money from my Kasikorn bank to it for the initial deposit.

Thanks.

Ian

Paid 3 years I think. Actually, my mum paid them without telling me, bless her. But missing about 30 years. I am 53 now. Don't suppose it is possible to pay the missing years (and yes I could afford it - just) or even worth it?

Garry, this is what I am trying to do too.

Start off by reading the attached form and go from there.

Regards.

Ian

That's the best way forward really. Read the leaflet and then complete the form. What you complete on the form at the end will also drive what you are able to do next, when they respond, including whether you are able to pay the cheaper class 2 or can only pay the more expensive 3.

Filing the form in doesn't commit you to anything. When you get their response that will help you to assess what you want to do next.

The other things you probably want to do which compliment this if not done already are:

1) Get a pension to show how many qualifying years you have

https://www.gov.uk/state-pension-statement

2) Check your NI contribution records

https://www.gov.uk/check-national-insurance-record

Cheers

Fletch

Hello Fletch.

I completed the form for a pension statement. I will send that and NI38 (voluntary NI contributions form) on Sunday.

I already got a National Insurance statement using the second link you gave. The results of that is what prompted this topic in the first place

Many thanks.

Ian

Paid 3 years I think. Actually, my mum paid them without telling me, bless her. But missing about 30 years. I am 53 now. Don't suppose it is possible to pay the missing years (and yes I could afford it - just) or even worth it?

Garry, this is what I am trying to do too.

Start off by reading the attached form and go from there.

Regards.

Ian

NI38_CF83.pdf

Hello.

I had a very quick look at Nationwide International. There list of accounts offered all seem to require a heavy minimum investment first (understandable) which I do not have.

http://www.nationwideinternational.com/accounts/accounts_sterling_glance.htm

Thanks.

Ian

Are you going to live long enough to get your pension ? And by the time you are 70 will there still be a government pension in place for OAPs I have my doubts ! Live today as if it is your last , tomorrow is another day !!!!!!

You are very correct. Who knows what will happen and the current pension rules may even change again. I guess I just want to be prepared. Sad really.