K2938

This is really useful. Where is this from, please?

Please kindly note that this answer refers to the situation BEFORE the announced planned changes in the taxation of foreign earnings. How things will be afterwards is therefore not really addressed in there.

And that is not only good advice for Thailand, but for any country really!

Thank you very much for your highly useful insights on Malaysia. Could you kindly elaborate what is meant with "unless you remit it to Malaysia from a non DTA country", please? Does this mean that (1) the mere and sole fact that there exists some double taxation agreement between Malaysia and country X makes all funds remitted from country X tax free in Malaysia for a foreigner or (2) it depends on what the DTA precisely says about these funds (which is how things normally work in the realm of DTAs) or (3) this is unclear? Thank you.

So what would you consider to be the "safest" banks in Thailand from a fraud/bankruptcy risk point of view?

It will not even appear in any gazette as it is not a law, but just a new interpretation of existing regulations

In the UK it is basically such that once you have mixed funds it is often impossible to separate them again and so you are taxed

Have a look at the UK non-dom remittance rules for mixed funds and you will see that things could also get hugely worse than what apparently happens in Malaysia.

Would Thai courts actually be independent enough to make such a ruling against a determined government? P.S.: This is not a rhetorical question.

Highly unlikely except for those income categories where the DTA unequivocally states that the EXCLUSIVE tax authority lies with the UAE which is usually only very few or even no income category at all. You can check the DTA. For all other income categories Thailand most likely will fully tax you and kindly give you a tax credit in the amount of any tax you have paid on this income in the UAE (zero) so you will de facto get fully taxed in Thailand. Welcome to Thailand

Wrong. Qdenga is now also approved and is the much better vaccine for those who did not have dengue previously.

So you did actually manage to speak to the person dealing with your case? The reason I am asking is because prior to this I thought this was not possible.

I will follow the law, but even reputable tax advisors have expressed their doubt about the effectiveness and efficiency of the Thai Revenue Department: "Although Revenue Departmental Order Por. 161/2566 overturns the longstanding exemption and establishes blanket PIT collection on offshore-sourced income when it is brought into Thailand, the effectiveness and efficiency of the Thai Revenue Departmentʼs collection of the tax due remain to be seen. Generally, PIT collection depends on taxpayersʼ faithful and full declaration of income in their PIT returns filed by the end of March each year." (https://www.tilleke.com/insights/thailand-new-order-closes-tax-loophole-for-offshore-sourced-income/)

You are an eternal optimist if you believe these things concerning life from 01 January 2024 will be fully announced BEFORE 01 January 2024😎

If you have time and are interested, then please read the Q&A provided by the Thai Revenue Department at the beginning of October. And you will see that interestingly in all their examples they always only talk about the condition of being tax resident at the time of earning the income. This looks highly suspicious and is unlikely to just be a coincidence. However, at the moment there is no certainty on this like on so many other things.

While the lack of details on the precise working of the remittance tax is deplorable, I do not think we can also blame the Thai Revenue Department for not accepting or providing tax returns in English. I do not think there is any Western non-English speaking country either which would allow tax returns in any language apart from its official one.

I do not think that based on the current state of knowledge this is necessarily true. That you have to be a Thai tax resident when you earn it, is clear. That you also have to be a Thai tax resident when you remit it to Thailand, is not clear at all (which by the way was also discussed in this thread further up).

If you scroll up in this thread or the main tax thread you will already see that the BOI interpretation of the Royal Decree is in the most minimalist way possible

No problem, as long as you legally enter Thailand. But only members holding a Tourist Visa, Visa on Arrival, or a 30-Day Exempted Tourist Visa are eligible to validate their Elite Visa within Thailand. So depending on how you enter, you might have to exit again before actually getting the Elite Visa into your passport.

What is your plan C with 5% tax or is this just what it comes out for you if you were taxed?

Even though there might be tax advantages with this, I would be very careful if it were significant amounts as you might well have trouble getting the money again out of Thailand and as your funds are much better protected in Western institutions

What is meant with "line Minister", please?

Not necessarily true. If you are remitting something which could be construed as being income or being partially contaminated with income from a prior year in which you were a tax resident in Thailand, then there are indications that you might be taxable when submitting these funds to Thailand even if at the time of remittance you are not or not yet a tax resident of Thailand.

Indeed. They are deluded about the future demand for their visa and act with more and more arrogance and disregard to their customers. This never ends well.

While making detection a little more difficult, this is highly unlikely to be a legal way around the remittance taxation. However, as there currently is no detailed guidance from the Thai Revenue Department nobody really knows