chiang mai

Apparently NATO's borders extend to Venezuela...I never knew!

With an office conveniently located near nana plaza no less! 🙂 Different people have reported different things, some of the reports from his visit to the chiang mai expat club were less than stellar.

You cannot, you must file. It's highly probable that the first six month filing will not result in any tax being due since TEDA will absorb most of the income. 20k pm rental income, less 30% standard expense deduction = 14 x 6 months is only 84k, still in the zero rated band for tax purposes.

It shouldn't matter how the funds are delivered into Thailand. If the method of transport is hand carried cash, bank to bank transfers using TT's or electronic transfer via an ATM card, the end product is exactly the same, funds are remitted. There must be a case to say foreign credit card usage is different since that remits credit rather than cash but that could ultimately go either way.

I'm sure it will work out just fine, well done.

People who know anything about engines are either Honda or B&G fans, one is Japanese and the other American. I'm a fan of both but when it comes to cost and simplicity, B&G works for me. There are too many machines around that say they have Honda engines when many don't, the Honda label sells more easily here than B&G which is not that well known by many. The genuine Honda is around 30k as I recall and there is only one genuine model in Thailand, or so I'm told. A B&G machine is half that price with an engine that is equally as good if not better. Engine aside, most of the parts such as casing, wheels, control cables are generic so for me that's not an issue to worry about. There's an old joke about Honda engines here where somebody asks if the engine is genuine Honda and the seller say no, not yet, but in a year or so, by the time you've replaced all the parts, it will be.

I'm certainly not that and don't regard myself as anything close to it. It's just that you've tried to inform others with no small amount of authority on points that were completely incorrect. You've argued that there is a blanket expense for all remitted income, including investment funds and told members that CG is due on UK house sales, as well as other incorrect aspects of tax. If you don't know and have had no training or first hand experience, it would be better to say nothing, unless you state it clearly as an opinion.

It's a TRD Tax Code rule, just like self employed have to file interim returns every 6 months. If you don't receive any rent income, January thru June, no need to file.

Had a new concrete driveway laid two years ago, 50 square meters. Not a great job as it turns out, a very hot day and too much water in the concrete (delivered) and probably not an ideal cement ratio. The effect is what I understand to be called spalling, the top layer is flaking off and there are pits and pin holes all over the place. Resurfacing is not possible since there is an electric gate rail at the bottom of the slab and a mating slab at the top, it's not realistic to absorb the additional depth of concrete that would be required to resurface or tile. We have the undercoat and top coat paints but would like to smooth the surface before painting, if possible. A concrete grinding/levelling machine might be an option but the driveway is slopped some 15 degrees. Ideas? TIA

Forgot to add: if you receive rent from property and you receive rent income in the first six months of the year, you must file a six month or interim tax return so two returns per year.

We have a similar amount of grass to cut, around 250 tw. I've had a lot of success with buying anything that has a genuine Briggs and Stratton engine, as long as you get the engine part right the rest of it is simple enough. All the frame, wheels and other bits and pieces are most generic and easy enough to repair/replace but the engine is the key. The frames often need reinforcing over the back wheels because it eventually breaks with all the twisting and turning, other things like cables, exhaust units and covers can either be discarded or replaced. My current unit is 10 years old and due to be replaced. There's a place in Bangkok called VB Engines who are the main importer of B&S engines and their Raptor line of lawn mowers uses all standard easily available parts. As long as you change the oil frequently and reinforce the frame, 10 years life for under 20k baht is easily dooable. https://www.raptertool.com/ https://www.raptertool.com/17550616/รถตัดหญ้าสี่ล้อเข็น

Property that you own that you rent out and receive income from? Yes, there is a standard deduction, Category 5 income is allowed 30% of rental income as an expense, without proof or receipts, or, actual expense with receipts and proof.

Even Thai people have savings, there is no reason why foreigners can't have them also for tax purposes. But your house sale proceeds may not instantly become savings, honestly we don't know how the TRD will treat those proceeds under their interpretation of DTA rules. In a worst case scenario, the remittance of the sale proceeds would be taxed under Thai Personal Income Tax rules and you would need to invoke the DTA to offset the CG tax paid in the UK to offset any liability here. Operative phrase, nobody knows.

I fully agree.

One member reported that he had been called in to discuss tax matters by the Bangkok office and the issue of "savings" versus income was discussed. He reported that the officer considered that the value of the pre 12/31/23 account would determine whether its contents were income or exempt under Por 162. As that account was reduced in line with remittances, so would the level of exempt savings. Apparently there was no discussion about what might happen if the value of the funds increased. This is only one member and one officers view which is very simplistic. It does however underscore the importance of trying not to commingle Por 162 exempt funds, with income.

Love your DIY knowledge but you should remain silent on tax related matters.

We had a villa on the hillside in Patong, many years ago. The landowner next to us started to develop their land by clearing it and cutting as close to the boundary as possible. That left a cliff face next to our complex, the next time it rained, one block came down as the cliff collapsed. The problem is zero planning, zone control, enforcement.....the usual stuff.

The IMF library is a lot like my old attic, it contains everything but it's impossible to find anything! I linked an older version of that topic, there's a newer version dated 2020 which I will try and find and post...apologies. It talks about the legal framework for tax, the priorities being: Taxes are only ever demanded by laws Fair Play and Public Trust is vital Proportionality of taxes is essential Taxes cannot be retroactive Establishing taxpayers rights Importance of international agreements I'll go back and look for the updated version.

Equality in tax law is a key issue for government's worldwide, it is almost unimaginable that any government today would tax residents based on their nationality. An interesting read from the IMF library on tax laws globally and the top priorities of the laws. https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/nft/1998/tlaw/eng/ch2.pdf

Wow! But the statute of limitation on tax in the UK is what, 7 years, the US is 10 years. Here it's either 3 or 10, based on whether you've filed or not. 2 decades to prove savings doesn't seem necessary or realistic.

Not sure what you're saying here, that there's no such thing as savings, not even with a time limit?

Not for remitted funds from overseas it isn't. You are correct that the Western definition of savings is income after tax, less expense, but from what we understand/have guessed presently of the TRD mindest, those funds are more likely to represent income. Some people will try and say that there's no such thing as savings which I do not believe for one moment. Those people always want to trace the origin of the funds, even if it means going back many years. That is nonsense, I think, it's more likely that savings will be time boxed and anything more than say 5 years old, is savings, regardless of its origins. The problem then becomes the commingling of savings with other income, which makes it all messy. Fortunately the TRD has given us Por163 which means anything earned before 31 December 2023 is tax free so the historic savings issue is moot, for the moment.

If his wife is Thai she has a Thai ID card which is her TIN, ergo, she is known to the TRD from the day her ID is issued.

I thought it was ok to quote and link BP now that Thaiger is the owner?

My guess is he wasn't up to date on this, the article is dated late May. There were 11.9 million personal income tax forms filed for the income year 2023, submitted between Jan 1 and April 29, 2024, an increase of 3.34% from the same period last year. Edit to remove link