chiang mai

The new tax forms will have new instructions, all of which will yield clues,

Heads up PM, our moobahn flooded today for the first time in living memory and we've got some pretty geriatric heavyweights here. Round one was a draw but a massive panic with waste deep water, round 2 is scheduled later today when water is released from the Mae Tang reservoir.

Cross posted for exposure and information purposes: I started building my taxes spreadsheet last month so I will know in advance where I will end up at year end and have time to adjust things as necessary to minimize tax. My finances are fairly simple, three pensions from two countries, rental income, investments and savings. I file a UK and Thai return (or at least I may file a Thai return). By mixing and matching my income sources, I can earn a decent amount of income each month but avoid any tax, at least I can the way the rules are written currently. The first nine months of the year are behind us so I have those actual numbers, the remaining three months are estimated and monitored. Somebody somewhere may get something useful out of this to help them better understand their tax situation or maybe even help provide some tips regarding strategy.

On a different aspect: I started building my taxes spreadsheet last month so I will know in advance where I will end up at year end and have time to adjust things as necessary to minimize tax. My finances are fairly simple, three pensions from two countries, rental income, investments and savings. I file a UK and Thai return (or at least I may file a Thai return). By mixing and matching my income sources, I can earn a decent amount of income each month but avoid any tax, at least I can the way the rules are written currently. The first nine months of the year are behind us so I have those actual numbers, the remaining three months are estimated and monitored. Somebody somewhere may get something useful out of this to help them better understand their tax situation or maybe even help provide some tips regarding strategy.

Indeed. But some people don't think it's trustworthy. I do however know one person who consulted with a Big 4 company and judging from the information they fed back to me, it was a total waste of money and time. Which is why I think people should calm down and wait until we see what is announced later in the year.

I forgot to say that BOT does intervene in FOREX markets continuously, they are required by IMF rules to do so. The managed peg rules require them to intervene to smooth out the peaks and valleys in the exchange rate to keep the rate in an optimal range, where ever it is practicable to do so. ASEAN rules also require BOT to keep the THB exchange rate, within a range specified in the ASEAN agreement, of other ASEAN currencies. This practice is in line with other Thai economic policies where costs to consumers, exporters and importers, is smoothed out over time, the Fuel Subsidy Fund being another good example of this.

Why do you even begin to suggest that getting the 30% deduction for expenses on overseas rental income, may not be possible, did you read something to suggest it wasn't or is it just your mistrust and fear? If that were correct and the 30% deduction is not allowed, perhaps the 50% deduction on foreign pension payments is also not allowable and there is no tax relief on any remitted pension!!! Regarding my rental income: even if I remit 535 to include the 96, the fact I am within TEDA and the remittance is only partial income is remitted, I remain on the safe side of the rules.,

I stand corrected, I just fact checked that and you are right.

Export/Import bills are settled in USD and USD has been extremely strong this year. It takes a long time for the effect of currency movements to filter through to consumer prices because orders and availability on shelves are often 6 months apart..

Do you think the driver really sits that high up!

I disagree, everyone needs guidance on these things and the central bank governor is the one to provide it. Just as everyone listens intently to the Fed Chair, folks need to listen to Bailey and other central bank governors for clues.

Obviously the TRD is interested in home country deductions, if a DTA is invoked, but I have never mentioned DTA's or ever referred to them. I have zero interest in reading about DTA's especially US/Thai DTA's and filter them out because they don't concern me and I have no interest. If you believe that Thai's have never reported overseas income on their tax returns and that the TRD Code doesn't cater to overseas income, you must think you are living in the Wild West, in which case I wonder why you're still here! I don't think you're baiting in what you wrote above, I just think you're naive and looking for the same level of support and detail in Thailand that you might expect in your home country, and this aint Kansas! That level of detail exists somewhere, it's just that we don't know where or what it is. As far as your examples are concerned and trying to convince you, I hope somebody else is willing AND capable of doing that. His inputs may be relevant and useful for you but I don't read anything by Gant any longer because he is 100% US centric and way out of his depth prescribing advice to non US citizens who are tax resident in Thailand and is incapable of being civil.. FWIW I have already calculated my rental income from the UK and the 30% standard deduction fits almost perfectly, for me, this year. I earn 535 per month rental income on a retirement flat bolt hole which has a single expense of 96 for the Service Charge. I (could) remit 535 -96 to Thailand and that would be considered my gross rent which would be subject to a 30% deduction for expenses. For UK tax return purposes, 535 - 96 falls within the Personal Allowance and is not subject to tax. In fact, I only remit to Thailand a small part of that UK rental income, which also falls inside the TEDA limits hence is not taxable. I hope those things help, bye.

You'll be just fine with the paper copy in English, that can't be refused at this stage.

There is very little risk to anyone who modifies any motor vehicle, because there's no enforcement at any level....just look around at some of the things you see being driven on the roads. Motor bikes with sidecars are illegal, straight through exhausts are illegal, weird brake light arrangements are illegal yet look at how many of these things are seen daily. Until there is effective enforcement, this problem wont go away.

Not again Redwood! YOU KNOW very well, because you've been told many many times, that the TRD has said they will issue the new tax return forms and instructions, at the end of the year.......it's only October currently.

True, but what about the other 2,000 or more bus company owners who now doing exactly the same thing, as we speak!

All over Thailand, at this very moment, welders, mechanics and several hundred DIY'ers in every city and town are removing traces of their previous money saving, short cut bodge jobs and owners of bus companies are sweating profusely in the hope the work can be completed before they are found out. The activity is likely to increase GDP this year by half a percent. It's the Inspection and certification authorities who took backhanders to certify these vehicle, who have blood on their hands, not the driver of the fated bus.

You have not responded to tell us which of my earlier statements are not factual, which judging from your most recent response to Mike, doesn't appear to be the issue any longer. The statements I made are factual, it's just that you are skeptical and don't fully understand how the existing TRD Code can be applied to your overseas income. I don't fully understand why you don't think is can be applied to overseas earnings since many many Thai's will have been reporting overseas earnings in virtually all the income categories, probably for decades. The fact remains, however, that not everything is as crystal clear as everyone would wish. Perhaps this is because the system is fairly new to us and we don't have practical experience of it and everything is theoretical at this stage; perhaps it's because we compare the Thai system with the experiences from our home country tax system and conclude the Thai system is incomplete. A more probable answer is that these discussions on tax are held in a vacuum, with virtually no Thai Tax expertise as input. That seems to be why all the arguments for and against keep bouncing off the knowledge boundaries, with some of us saying that's all there is and interpreting what we have, whereas others like you are in disbelief and insist there must be more. I have to revert to the fact that Thai's have been reporting overseas income for years hence the balance of probability is that, these problems are about our/your comprehension and understanding rather than the system itself being uncapable of handling overseas income.

That's a completely different issue, pegging is IMF rules which doesn't effect the convertibility of a currency, a pegged currency can still be exported and exchanged at will. Anyway, YUAN is not hard pegged to USD, it dropped the hard peg in 2005 and has managed the currency against a basket every since. And VND is not hard pegged either, Vietnam uses the crawling peg which means VND fluctuates within a range. There are several different methods of managing currencies under IMF rules: Hard peg Crawling peg Managed floating peg Floating peg Horizontal peg Perhaps easier to read this: https://www.imf.org/external/np/mfd/er/2004/eng/0604.htm

Versatility and range of options mostly. I worked with Iveco/Ford for a year and they did the same thing, produced bodiless trucks that the aftermarket fitted out according to what the customer wanted, there was something like thirty five different configurations, far too many for the manufacturer to make and sell.

The chassis and drive train will be but the coach work will have been replaced a couple of times in that period. Truck and coach companies sell the chassis/drive train and the after market constructs different bodies.

We had lunch there yesterday, they were already prepping but the water was still low.

Er, not really. THB is not freely convertible, it cannot be freely exported except in very limited amounts, more generously to neighbouring countries but not further afield. And whilst THB is traded on international markets, it is not traded for delivery. In fact, overseas banks are restricted as to how much THB they cam hold, without being cut off from transacting via BOT. BOT has been relaxing these rules over the years but it is still a controlled currency.

The US Dollar Index has been strengthening since Sunday, from 100 to 102 today. I guess this is a flight to safety in advance of Israel's attack on Iran.

Sriphat is around 35k per eye, RAM is more expensive. Prinz Hospital in Lamphun charges 25k per eye using an ophthalmic surgeon who works at government hospitals.