anrcaccount

Absolutely nothing has changed, 99%+ of expats don't pay tax, no new enforcement, status quo , relax, sabai sabai.

You made 2 mistakes. The first was bothering to file for thai tax at all. The second was once you decided to file, you tried to do it yourself instead of using an accountant accustomed to dealing with the TRD Anyway, if you do nothing there'll be no consequences. No need to do anything as drastic as spending less than 180 days a year in Thailand. Relax.

Says me, but I would also term this the reality, vs the law, which like many others in Thailand, ain't enforced. It hasn't been enforced for the many years Thais and foreigners have been remitting billions of baht in technically assessable 'same year earned foreign income', and there is no sign this has changed, now that 'post 2023 year earned foreign income' is technically assessable.

I doubt even 1% of people in your situation have actually paid tax in Thailand. Despite all the chatter on here (most of which has ended now) , the status quo of many years remains: Thai TRD is only interested in taxing those who work for a Thai employer or run a business in Thailand. A very minimal amount of 'technically assessable' remitted foreign income is actually taxed. That's the reality. If you want a bank account, an agent can open you one, for a fee. Just pay it and get it done, don't waste your time traipsing around branches.

Spot on. You know, every single Makro staff member takes off the mask as soon as they leave Makro. It has nothing to do with their health, 100% compliance only.

IMO “several millions” will be completely under the radar. Even 50-100M remitted unlikely to raise any serious flags IMO. Thousands of properties are purchased by foreigners ( and many more by Thais) every year for 30M+, never heard of a single audit due to foreign remittance.

Much more trouble than it’s worth, for a mere 2600 THB. Stop, think and you’ll know what to do next.

Have, but not wukking naaaaaaaaa

Thanks for the report, I can follow your reasoning, and good example provided of regular transfer of income, yet remain no tax payable. You could also use other planning strategies such s gifts or remittance of original capital to achieve the same or arguably more optimal result. Anyway, thanks again for providing your logic, although I don't share your perspective. I cannot agree with you having to inform/educate a Thai official of the 'rules' in order to proactively file. Additionally as another comment states, Thailand doesn't reward proactive compliance/doing things 'by the book', as you know the reality is often very different to the theory. I'm interested, did you file previous years ( if you remitted your pension directly it was also technically assessable then) ? If not, why this year?

I haven't been back since and don't have a tax number. I am under the impression that the TRD's new interpretation of the tax laws concerning expats doesn't require a change of law and that we are tax liable. My pension comes from Germany, it isn't taxed there as they assume I am taxed in Thailand, as far as I can make out German pensions aren't covered under the DTA. I have worked out that I would be liable to pay 28 - 30 k in tax. The thing is, if you think you're liable this year, you were liable every other previous year your pension was remitted directly to Thailand. All those years you did nothing, right, and no consequences. On a practical and operational level there has been no change from the TRD and the "new interpretation" is simply theory at this point. Status quo remains.

Why did you go to the TRD? Did you go/file any of the previous years you've lived here? I'm willing to bet nothing will have changed, if you hadn't decided to take yourself to the local TRD.

Ah, the single infographic TRD released more than a year ago, OK, sure, an official source, I cannot argue with that. But I am talking about the real world. What I can say, is that we must have had 20+ reports on this forum all showing the TRD isn't interested in dealing with foreigners proactively trying to comply with their interpretation of the "facts / rules " by voluntarily trying to pay tax on their remittances. What I have not seen, is a SINGLE report of anyone actually *successfully* paying any significant amount of tax on a foreign remittance. The first case that's published of anyone paying tax on their funds transferred to buy a house or condo, will be very newsworthy. There must have been thousands of foreigners who did exactly this, using 'technically assessable' income, sometime in 2024. Yet, we haven't heard of a single case on here. Ask yourself, why not? No way all those funds transferred in were non-assessable, absolutely there will be big amounts that are will be technically assessable. Did no one buy a home / condo / even a car last year? Where's the reports of someone trying to declare the gain on the sale of property ( or other investments) sold overseas, remitted to buy property in Thailand? Tax filing season is almost finished, and guess what, I bet 95%+ of foreigners not working in Thailand won't file a return, just like last year, and the 10 years before that.

Sure, they could ask, but you'd still be within the law. There's nothing relating to the timing of when any assets were bought/sold. Source of remitted funds = proceeds from sale of capital , no gains have been remitted. Checking the 'source of the source' is completely outside of their remit. Lest we forget, remember the video with the TRD rep, you can also: sell your stocks/any other asset for gains> buy a watch > then sell that watch> remit to Thailand non assessable Classic!

Completely compliant with remittance guidelines. No Thai tax payable on remittance of capital.

I agree with your logic and reasoning, but it is still unclear how the TRD views this. Consider someone who simply worked a salaried job for 20 years in their home country, and over this 20 years paid all their spare income into the mortgage on the property. They then sold this property (for a significant capital gain as it was owned for 20 years!) and transferred the proceeds to Thailand as a tax resident. How can Thailand even consider taxing this income, earnt prior to 31-12-2023, just because it is parked in a mortgage offset account , but funds in normal bank accounts are exempt? Absolutely ludicrous. Same goes for income invested into stocks / funds instead of parked in a bank. As I've pointed out before, if they actually tried to implement this, it could be worked around by simply rebuying any stable asset with the proceeds of the original asset sale > Selling that asset at cost > and remitting the proceeds to Thailand > no capital gain, no tax. Anyway, in full agreement with your view. If the TRD are in any way serious about taxing remitted foreign gains, they will 100% need to provide detailed clarity on the point of what constitutes 'income earned pre 2024'.

Not necessarily at all. No hysteria present. Many people sell a property or stocks in their home country, and then purchase real estate in Thailand. Many of the sales and subsequent purchases, would have happened in 2024, therefore any capital gain on the sale, theoretically assessable upon remittance to Thailand. But I suspect few to none would be declaring this, despite this situation likely occurring many thousands of times in 2024.

Gifting in Thailand is still a legal tax loophole, as much as getting a loan from your offshore assets as collateral or getting an LTR visa that exempts from tax your foreign sourced remittances. Correct, gifting is completely legal . The gift recipient need not 'report' anything to the TRD , and thus I can tell you already what this members report will be - no Thai tax payable on the gifted funds for the giver or the recipient. Other 'loopholes' include remitting 'income earned prior to 31-12-23' ( which is still very open in definition as to what exactly that means) , and this one here, which is quite nice IMO: Selling an asset overseas for capital gains> Rebuying an asset immediately and then selling that at cost> Remitting the proceeds to Thailand. Remittance of original capital is tax free.

CRS is just one of many "pieces of information' used selectively ( misleading) by this firm to scare expats into using their services. This is why remittance taxation is completely flawed, and almost nowhere in the world uses it. It's wildly impractical. It's unreasonable to expect self declarations to be accurate, when so many scenarios and exceptions / exemptions exist, and the official tax authority is mute, a complete absence of clarity. Remember, 95%++ of foreign expats have never had anything to do with the TRD. If the TRD want that to change, they need to do more than release 2 internal directives and publish 1 infographic. 'Just trying to provide information" ? Are you really that gullible? This firm sprung up in October 2023, riding the coat tails of the media reporting on the internal POR/PAW directives, to see if they could make a business out if it. If they were 'just trying to provide information' , why weren't they doing it before then? Yes, filter the information very carefully.

But that is incomplete. If the withdraw was from a fund composed on non-accessable money, then it would not be a tax event to withdraw it in Thailand. But there would need to be records showing that in case of audit. It's more than incomplete, it's also incorrect, and deliberately misleading / non factual. One of many examples of the dishonest marketing used by this firm, specifically designed to create FUD ( fear, uncertainty, doubt) in the minds of expats in order to drive them to use their services. It's quite sickening really , IMO. Lets be clear: The CRS only reports aggregate account balances and not individual transactions with a few specific exceptions ( types of income). ATM withdrawals are not included, nor any transactions that pay to a third party , like 'paying school fees'. So, no, the TRD are not 'aware of these financial activities' Let's also be clear: No significant tax has ever been paid on foreign remittances to Thailand. No one has ever paid tax on a foreign ATM withdrawal or credit card transaction. The law hasn't changed, the only official change is 2 internal interpretative directives, posted nearly 18 months ago.

Ah, yet another report of someone filing a return BUT conveniently owing no tax. Also, another report from someone who already has a TIN and a filing history. What about the thousands ( tens of thousands) of foreigners who remitted THB millions in 2024 to buy property....or even expensive vehicles? None of them are paying tax, right? Yet to see a single report. Reality is evident in the "blank faces" , status quo remains , Thailand ain't seriously interested in taxing foreign remitted income. No one who previously didn't file, should be worried if they don't file now. Yet to see a single report, that changes that opinion.

That sounds like an explanation they could accept. Thank you for the advice. They will accept the explanation. It's just a box ticking compliance exercise for the banks. In the extremely unlikely event they do not , there are many agents and legal firms in Thailand, that will get you a Thai TIN, starting at about 3000 THB. This gives rise to no obligation to file a Thai tax return or pay any Thai tax, but you will have the TIN.

Yup, and of the 5% who technically do owe Thailand something, 95%+ of them ain't filing either!

Whoosh, obviously the sarcasm of this post went straight over your head. Get it now?

Yes, you're absolutely right. 95%+ won't file.

Well said. I suspect he'll be waiting a long time, for a call that will never come!