chiang mai

All are required to hold 400k/800k in the bank each year, the tax filing/threshold is 60k....The vast majority of foreigners earn/spend in excess of that each year.

I'm not particularly interested in what the Chinese, Indians or Russians do but I am interested in what forum members do. And since a majority of those members are Westerners, I think their behaviour is likely to be very different to say the Chinese, Indians and Russians. Married Western expats who have homes here, retired and with families, those people are more likely to file than not, because it's part of their security and also their culture.

Yes it is irrational to think that! Only 25% of the Thai workforce file tax returns, the rest don't because they don't earn enough to pay tax. Resident foreigners on the other hand, ALL earn more than the tax threshold, by virtue of the amounts required for their visa's, ergo, I would expect the percentage of expats who file returns to be much higher, especially under the new rules.

Yes I do need proof, where is it, or are you just guessing and saying things that have no basis in fact?

There is no discussion and there is no vote, the rule change was made effective 1 January 2024, it's all been done and dusted and is now in effect.

You don't need to cal them any name, they are just people with opinions different to yours. You don't have a monopoly on correct options and you are not an authority on expat Thai taxpayer strategy.

How far under the radar can a resident foreigner be in Thailand! Immigration has all our bank details, the bank has our Immigration/visa details, everyone has copies of our passports, the BOT sees all our inbound and outbound TT's, the TRD gets details of tax withheld on savings accounts, etc etc etc.

I've no idea what you're talking about.

I've already explained it to you! Some people want a track record with the Revenue to show they are following the rules and to demonstrate they are small fry in the tax world and the world of remittances to Thailand. It's a matter of personal choice, it's not as though they are breaking any laws, they are in fact following the law to the letter. Now enough of this, we've been down this road endless times and you know all these things already.

Once again, stop calling people idiots just because they have a different opinion to you. Some people want to file a null return, some people want to be seen as small fry to avoid closer scrutiny.

I think it has merit, that is my opinion. And please don't call people idiots just for having a different opinion to you!

Government Pension - Civil service, military etc....not State Pension

One thing to keep in mind is that income that is both earned and remitted to Thailand in a year when you are not tax resident here, is free of Thai tax. Maybe you can play around with that concept and find a formula that works for you. An example might be to spend 179 days here, return to the UK, withdraw funds from the SIPP and ISA and remit them to Thailand but don't return to live here until 6 months later.

A wife and children are tax deductions, that was why I asked.

Sorry, I see that you say your state pension is due in 12 years which would make you 50 something. Ouch, your TEDA (deductions/allowances) are minimal, they don't start to increase meaningfully until you are over age 65 years. You are entitled to a Personal Allowance of 60k baht, plus 50% of your pension income, up to 100k baht. The first 150k of baht income is zero rated so off the top of my head, you can expect around 300k baht per year in TEDA, the rest will be taxable in stepped increments of 5%, 10% and 15%.

Your UK Personal Allowance doesn't carry across to Thailand, it is not recognised here. It is replaced by Thai tax deductions and allowances which can total a similar amount but will vary from person to person. Your ISA income and SIPP income are almost certainly taxable here, only UK Government related pensions (not state pension) is free of tax in Thailand. How old are you, are you married and do you have children here?

They want your soul!

Those questions have been asked and answered hundreds of times in the tax related threads in this forum!

And your proof of these things is where?

I disagree, BP has a very sensible plan.

If you mean that link you posted a couple of times, the one that talked about Negative Income Tax, that's something completely and totally different from what everyone else is talking about currently and has nothing to do with the need to file a return next year.

I agree with this assessment. Another poster made a valid point earlier when he said he would file, even though he had no tax to pay. His motive was that he wanted to identify himself to TRD as a small fish and to build up a track record as such....the idea has merit.

"How many expats have been bringing in their pension in the same year". All the expats who rely on the income method for their vosa's, that's a lot of people. And also all those expats who rely on their pensions every month for living expenses, that's even more people. FWIW lots of us have been filing tax returns here for the past decade or more.

I dunno, people building something and being successful. You talk about Lister stirring the pot but if it weren't for the likes of him and others, a lot of people either wouldn't know or they would be poorer for having paid money to some local accountant and still not knowing the answers.

Jealousy I guess