nigelforbes

I found an email from IFBU London dated September 2014: "If you reside in the UK then tax will not be withheld from your benefits. If you choose to keep your Thailand address then to stop the tax withholding, you must file a US tax return based on the fact that you hold an expired US resident alien card". It is of course possible that things have changed since then but I'm not aware they have, given that the IRS sent me overdue refund checks two years ago, I don't believe they have..

Indeed, go ask your bank to check, if they come up blank then it's down to the sender to check on their end. BTW three weeks is a very very long time to wait for non-receipt of International funds transfer, typically they are done in 24/48 hours, unless there are holidays or weekends in-between..

Here's one piece: Any US citizen or any person holding a green card has the obligation to file US tax returns and to pay all US taxes. In the case of a green card holder, this remains so even if the green card has “expired” and the individual has not returned to the USA for many years. https://americansoverseas.org/en/green-card-holders/

Yes, that's correct, I said 24.5% but I now see that it's 25.5% - the 85% rule is also correct https://www.americansabroad.org/information/social-security/ My initial source for the tax reclaim information came to me from IFBU in London and was then repeated by IFBU in Manilla. I just checked my gmail folder for the correspondence on this topic and oddly all emails to/from IFBU's earlier than 2018 have now been deleted, I really don't understand why, perhaps because they are automatically expired? Between 2011 and 2016 I filed 1040EZ NR forms to recover the tax and as said previously, that worked just fine. In 2018 I became UK resident for tax purposes once again which meant my SSc payments were no longer taxed at source. In June this year I switched back to Thai tax resident and my SSc payments are received here, oddly, without tax being withheld. I think this may be an error on Baltimore's part because of my flip flop of banks and they have assumed I'm an American. I'll continue to search for the offical word on this topic, if you need something more quickly you might try emailing IFBU Manilla at FBU.Manila@ssa.gov Page 29 of the following link confirms much oh what we've discussed and specifically refers to non resident Green Card holders and taxation. https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10137.pdf Finally, I've done a quick search for more information on this subject but can't find anything specific other than a statement that anyone who had tax deducted can file a tax return, although the statement wasn't qualified..

Tourism has two parts, international and domestic. International was/is worth 11% of the 2018/2019 GDP, domestic was/is worth about 8%. International just celebrated its 10 millionth arrival, a quarter of the 2018/2019 total. GDP in 2018 was worth USD 506 bill, it is forecast to be the same in 2022 (2019 was an anomaly). I'd say that's no fairy tale. https://tradingeconomics.com/thailand/gdp https://tradingeconomics.com/thailand/tourist-arrivals

You will never know which of the exchange booths has the lowest rates unless you perform two identical transactions at exactly the same time, there is no other way to tell. Web sites and rate boards are of no help because the value of the spot rate changes every second. So tell me, how do you know that you've received a consistently better rate, how did you know it was, how did you prove that? I'm sure you know already but for those that don't, this is how the forex works:

ALL currency exchange outlets use the same basic forex information system, there is only one source of the spot rate. The only differences between currency exchange service is the amount of mark up or commission that is contained in the spread, that's the difference between the buy and the sell rate. In the case of the banks this is about 45 satang either side of the spot rate. In the case of the currency exchange booths the difference is much smaller, often only about 7 baht either side of spot. It therefore makes sense to change currency at an exchange booth rather than a bank. But it doesn't make any sense to shop around to see which exchange both is the best because you have almost no chance of ever finding out, the rates shown on the boards are out of date the second they are displayed because the spot rate changes several times every second.

Pizza My Heart on Nieman Heiman is the current favorite for many, consistently rave reviews. I don't think anyone here makes a pizza I would put in the AAA+ class, something along the lines of Buddy's or Shields in Detroit. You can fine good pizza here but not truly excellent pizza. This is what AAA+ pizza looks like:

I finally learned how to get my BP down because I also suffer from white coat syndrome, sometimes my BP at test can be 170+! Sit upright in a chair in a comfortable position, loosen your belt and any tight clothing. Close your eyes and relax. Take the deepest breath you can and hold it for a couple of seconds then breathe out very very very slowly through your mouth. That process of breathing out slowly stimulates the vagus nerve which in turn lowers BP. It does work, ten minutes of doing that is very relaxing and brings my BP right down to levels I have never been able to achieve by any other means. On Blood Sugar: I flirted with Type II diabetes for a couple of years and tried all manner of things but still my A!C kept creeping up to 6.1 (6.0 was my personal limit). Four years ago I went nuclear! No alcohol, fast walking 4 kms five mornings a week, fruit for breakfast and a large mixed/complex salad for lunch along with a piece of protein such as grilled chicken or pork, dinner was something very small like cheese and biscuit or a small snack - no food after 6pm. Once a week I let myself go and eat what I wanted, which is the occasional burger or pizza but nothing drastic. After 6 months my A1C was 5.4 and the other numbers are some of the best I've ever had - I'm 72 and still following that routine and diet..

I'm shocked to learn that Nancy has passed away but am grateful that she did so in her sleep. She was a huge force in the CM expat community and also a friend I had known for many years. Nancy was originally from Michigan where she and her husband ran a successful garden center. Nancy was always willing to give advice and to help others, usually her advice was spot on. Her frequent challenges to CM Immi. rules and ways of working drew the attention of senior figures which put her at risk yet still she didn't stop championing the things that were right. This is a real loss to the CM expat community, RIP Nancy, my deep condolences to Roger, my thanks to Keane.

The OP's knob is probably smaller and far from standard size, some things you just know.

He doesn't have to be a US resident, why would he? I haven't been US resident since 1985 and I have collected US SSc for the past 11 years.

CIGNA Thailand is now owned by Chubb.

If the OP is eligible to receive US SSc benefits that would indicate he has lived and worked in the US for at least 10 years, that would further indicate that he has a green card (he doesn't say he doesn't), existing or expired or abandoned. And since he is eligible to receive SSc benefits, that means he has an SSc number, further evidence pointing towards a green card. SSc retirement benefits do not require US residency or the existence of a current Green Card. I abandoned my US Green Card in 1985 following 15 years in the US. Today, I receive SSc retirement benefits which are taxable at an effective 24.5%, as long as I receive them whilst not living in the UK.....in the UK there is no US tax is withheld, per the DTA. Every year I file a US tax return to reclaim the withholding tax, at least I did until 2016. Up to that point, the Treasury sent me a tax refund cheque every year. When Trump came into office strange things happened and my tax refund was ignored. After he left office and during covid several back dated years tax returns were processed and tax refund cheques issued.

My experience of banks investment funds here are that most of any potential profit advantage is lost to fees, either going in or coming out. My advice would be to buy into something similar overseas or offshore using Hargreaves Lansdowne or or similar.

Moderate exercise and a healthy diet can do wonder for these numbers, you just need to be consistent and stick with it. And, increasingly I read anecdotal evidence regarding other benefits of taking statins so perhaps worth considering later, after you've done some reading.

The effective rate is 24.5%, the OP is not a US citizen and is not recieving the SSc payment in his home country where a DTA exists. The tax deducted at source was/is recoverable by filing a US tax return although there is some uncertainty about this since during the covid years under Trump the rules regarding allowances and deductions for non-resident green card holders may have changed..

I was bored but also interested so I checked, how sad is that! Assuming the patient lived near to the village hall he was about 500 meters from the emergency room entrance, although he would have had to travel about 2.0 kms by road to get there. https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1UEAD_enTH996TH996&tbs=lf:1,lf_ui:2&tbm=lcl&sxsrf=ALiCzsbZZz4HdQPzO78ProcAXDCIUUb9Cg:1670918155585&q=nearest+hospital+Bodelwyddan,+Denbighshire.&rflfq=1&num=10&ved=2ahUKEwi50fKYj_b7AhUU7zgGHQ3JAbYQtgN6BAgPEAY#rlfi=hd:;si:;mv:[[53.272466345118275,-3.493323308323315],[53.26512586218304,-3.5120129407390865],null,[53.268796261182054,-3.502668124531201],16]

I disagree, I doubt it is even possible. Why? Thai's are xenophobic to the n'th degree, even when it comes to the Chinese this is true, although far less so than with farangs. There is a trade off between that xenophobia and getting rich, they love the money but ultimately their patriotism will win and any outsider will be the looser. All this will settle down before too long and will be forgotten by most people, as soon as balance and equilibrium is restored. Then it will be back to the old game of finding ways to persecute farangs, subtly of course, death by a thousand cuts.

Exactly. Organized Chinese crime has long been entrenched here, only their successful competition with local organized crime has highlighted the present concerns, they are being too successful and the locals have called foul. Oops, that was naughty, things need to be rebalanced and rebalanced they will be. There is nothing at all new about any of this.

You can't send THB overseas, it must be converted into the receiving destination currency first.

FARANG - So look PC Somchai, I'd really like to help you out here and show you my ID but I can't you see, you're not sufficiently senior. Is that OK with you, you don't mind if I just go on my way do you? PC SOMCHAI - Ah yes, you are correct, silly me I forgot I'm not a second lieutenant. Yes of course, off you go my lad, go enjoy yourself, let's just forget this whole business. Is that how it goes down?

You need to re read the posts, either that or take a nice lay down in a darkened room.

He's my idol, a man amongst men, even if he is from oop norf.

I have the full set, it took me years.