chiang mai

Indeed the average wage calculation does not include informal earnings, which can only be estimated or guessed at, on a case by case basis. I also doubt most Thai's have calculated their tax liabilities each year to determine whether or not they must file a tax return. But, what I wrote was, "IF the average wage is 15k per month, most married couples have enough in exemptions and deductions to qualify to not file return", which remains true. A very rough calculation suggests that if the value of informal earnings was included in the average monthly wage, this would boost the official figure by around 100%. BUT, the majority of informal earnings involves farmers and agricultural worker who earn half of their counterparts in the formal sector (see below). This means the majority of informal workers would still be under the tax filing threshold and wouldn't need to file a return. (Average monthly earnings is based on the 38 million people in the work force, this excludes very young, very old, sick etc. 38 million multiplied by 15k a month gives us THB 570 bill/USD 16.75 bill. or THB 6.85 trill. pa). The size of Thailand's informal economy is estimated to be 48.4% of GDP (THB18.7 trill.) or Please credit and share this article with others using this link: https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/general/2745121/call-for-better-integration-of-the-informal-economy. View our policies at http://goo.gl/9HgTd and http://goo.gl/ou6Ip. © Bangkok Post PCL. All rights reserved. More than half of informal workers, 55.4%, are in the agricultural sector, earning nearly two times lower than their counterparts in the formal sector. Please credit and share this article with others using this link: https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2708701/over-half-of-thai-workers-in-informal-sector. View our policies at http://goo.gl/9HgTd and http://goo.gl/ou6Ip. © Bangkok Post PCL. All rights reserved.

Almost once in twenty years. I planned to start splitting my year between Thailand and the UK but that plan fell apart in year three when covid came about. Today, I wouldn't even consider that idea again, I'm here and here is where I will burn.

If the average wage is 15k per month, most married couples have enough in exemptions and deductions to qualify to not file return.

Nobody's tax position changes as a result of NIT, it doesn't mean foreigners will pay more.

I am more than pretty sure, I am certain in my own mind that is the case. The logical reasoning has been set out numerous times by various members, ATM withdrawals and electronic funds transfers are only the transport mechanism, just as carrying cash on a [lane is the transport mechanism. If TT remittances are potentially tax assessable, so is every other form of transport.

It's only a proposal at this stage, there is nothing definite, despite the wording of the article. Changes to the tax system of this magnitude require laws to be debated and passed, it can't be done at the drop of a hat.

I don't know what they are talking about when they say the tax base is 30%. Only 11% of the workforce files tax returns and only 6% pay personal income tax, mostly through PAYE type schemes. What the 30% is I have no idea. VAT and Corporate tax are the two biggest source of tax income but VAT is an indirect tax that everyone pays.

You raise a good point. The last issue of that guide is dated 1 June and there have been no updates since. The author, Mike Lister, last posted on 20 July, almost three months ago and nobody seems to know if/when he will return. The update you mention certainly needs to be made, as I suspect do several others. Perhaps Mods/Admin can either, a) update the guide and repost, b) advise that ML will do so at some future date or c) if the guide has served its purpose and can now be unpinned? FAO @Captain Flack ,

Nonsense and spin of what I wrote! Adoption of negative income tax doesn't affect how much or how little tax I pay here, that's a totally separate issue. Don't adopt NIT and I pay X in Thai tax, adopt NIT and I still pay X in Thai tax.

Then do so and demonstrate and confirm the posters claim. I thought a quick look see at some facts would be enough but if you want to make a project out of it, be my guest.

That's not what the statistics suggest.

Failure to file where tax was due and payable, can ALSO result in back audits being extended from just three years to ten years. Some people will say that pointing this out is scaremongering but it is part of the reality and the risk profile that everyone must consider.

My advice to you is that you do not select a tax accountant until after the TRD has released the new forms and related instructions, in November or December. As I have written elsewhere recently, many if not most tax accountants here have no more information about the gaps in our collective knowledge than the entire forum membership does. Feedback from members meetings with Big 4 accountants have confirmed this.

The subject is negative income tax, not Expats!

There are people who doubt the moon landing or holocaust ever took place or that the earth is round, also! There will always be somebody somewhere who doubts anything that is said that is based on logic and precedent and balance of probability and anecdotes and consensus. Such people will only believe a statement if it is a direct quote from the TRD, we have such people in this forum.

Once again, if negative income tax is implemented, everyone in the country will be required to file a return, including expats. Expats will not see any benefit from that but many of Thailand's poor people will. Many Thai people are exactly the same as foreigners in so much as they do not understand how much tax they will pay on their income. If they would figure out the answer to that question, they would understand that negative income tax will increase their earnings.

I'm a fan of negative income tax because I think it is of great potential benefit. For one thing, it provides a massive incentive to declare earnings and will reduce the extent of the grey or informal economy and help eliminate poverty. It is a win win scenario

Not so. If adopted, the system would mean that EVERY Thai tax resident would have to file a tax return each year, regardless of assessable income levels. But as the article says, it is some way off, potentially never.

Now I've had some sleep and looked at this again, I agree with @Eudaimonia @Lorry and @Mike Teavee. If (for example) you are going to sell your overseas property and remit those funds to Thailand, before returning the following tax year, both the sale and the remittance must be completed in the same year that you are not Thai tax resident, if you are to escape Thai tax. There always was some uncertainty about whether only the year of remittance or year of sale, made the event taxable. Increasingly, it now appears that both the year the transaction took place, AND the year of remittance are equally as important. In practical terms, I don't think this is a major event that makes a lot of difference. A person who was going to use the non-residency option. to remit funds to escape Thai tax. always needed to be not tax resident for the year anyway. This new finding doesn't mean they have to spend more or less time outside the country, only that they complete all related activities in the same year.

Many thanks for that GM, I thought I remembered there was a "short form" for reclaiming tax paid on interest. @anrcaccount take note, TRD form 10 is my "thought bubble".

The UK wants a tax return from me every year, even though no tax is due and even though the assessable income level is below the Personal Allowance. Now we hear that Canada wants the same things, all of which is in line with what the Thai tax law says. But of course, this all flies in the face of common sense, or at least so we are told!

I need a nice lay down, in a darkened room.

There is a full theatre and stage on the top floor that few people realise is there, excellent accounstics and views from every seat. We went to a number of events there, including to see/listen to the Bangkok Philharmonic which was surprisingly good. Sorry to see it go, it wasn't modern but it was the first mall and special in many ways.

Over the past few decades, as people from every country have become more mobile, they have seized the opportunity to deposit and invest offshore and play the not tax resident card in their home country. I was doing this with great ease in the 1990's and early 2000's and there were no issues, even the banking sector cooperated fully. The trend now is for governments to play catch up and harness some of that wealth and close down the tax residency escape clause. China is now starting to tax wealthy citizens who invest offshore and has now told them to pay tax on their estimated wealth!. That Thailand is making similar moves to tax offshore income of citizens is a natural step, expats are seeing a long standing loophole closed but they are by no means the target. Almost certainly, the lions share of any increase in the tax take will come from Thai citizens, not from foreigners.

"If a Thai resident earns foreign-sourced income in 2024 and brings it into Thailand in the same year or any subsequent year, they will be subject to PIT on that income, regardless of whether they are resident in Thailand at the time". Using that interpretation, that means any tax resident is taxable on foreign sourced income, even if they are not tax resident.....say what!!!