K2938

1 minute ago, leedm said:

Thanks.  On the BOI website it says over 150MM USD in revenue, any idea what that actually means, is it annual turnover or gross or net profit or something else ?

Revenue = annual turnover

3 hours ago, leedm said:

First question is,  will they consider the US companies turnover when determining the criteria.

Initially some people got away with arguing that the ultimate parent company turnover counts.  But the BOI then changed this and did not allow it any longer.  So unless the BOI has changed its practices again, that would unfortunately mean a no for you.

5 hours ago, Ben Zioner said:

Yes, and my gut makes me think  that  once they've explored all ramifications of their initiative they could  come up  with a two percent tax on all remittance and cash foreign card cash withdrawals with some tourists queueing at Suvarnabhumi to get their refunds...

Why only 2% if the marginal income tax rates in Thailand for many wealthy people are much higher.  2% would be a gift which will not happen

7 hours ago, redwood1 said:

Lets say you have 500,000 dollars you saved in a foreign bank. And you saved a little each year, over lets say 15-20-25 years..

 

How do you prove that each years deposit was taxed?  Well unless your a CPA superman......You will not be able to prove it....

 

This whole tax plan is like a ship that has sunk before it even got out of dry dock...

That is the whole intention of it????  Technically called contaminated/commingeled/mixed funds.  And if you cannot prove what is what which you most likely will not, then all gets taxed.  At least that is how it works in some other jurisdictions I am familiar with.

16 minutes ago, StayinThailand2much said:

https://aseannow.com/topic/1307547-calls-for-clarification-of-new-tax-regime-which-appears-to-target-expat-foreign-income-sources/

Thank you for this.  Without wanting to be disrespectful of the article, I would suggest that this is more in the clickbait category.  Moreover, the article does not claim that the prime minister said this measure would particularly target foreigners and any potential interpretation of the situation given in this article by the journalist is not what the prime minister said.  So rest assured that foreigners are not the target, but the unintended collateral damage.  But thank you for posting this.

1 hour ago, StayinThailand2much said:

The prime minister was quoted as saying that 'foreigners in Thailand are the target due to some "inequalities". (A post on this news forum quoted a related newspaper article a few days ago.)

I do not recall this and it would be silly since taxing the few foreigners will not lead to huge tax revenue.  Can you please check the quote you refer to and post it here, if it exists?  The only thing which the prime minister said I think is (quoted from Bloomberg):

“Some people may not be happy that I am digging in to this area, but inequality is a big issue,” Srettha said, referring to the growing wealth gap because of tax loopholes. “The principle of tax is that you must pay tax on income your earn no matter how you earn it.”

So nothing about foreigners.  They are not the prime target, but the unintended collateral damage.
 

2 hours ago, MistyBlue said:

I inadvertently phrased my response as a question rather than a statement, apologies I wasn't asking a question.

 

I disagree with your interpretation.  Thailand does not have a remittance tax.  It has a tax on income that is earned in an assessable year whilst a tax resident, which is then payable when that income is remitted to Thailand (this is not the same as a remittance tax and may not actually end up being payable depending on the tax treaties).   This seems consistent to me with the BOI responses being quoted, I just think you're interpreting the responses incorrectly.

 

Time will tell...

This email from Thai Elite posted by somebody else on the internet by the way also talks about taxation of SAVINGS, but the future will tell...

P.S.:  As I am just reposting this, I cannot personally confirm the accuracy of this email, but I do not really suspect that anybody would fake this

24 minutes ago, MistyBlue said:

But isn't that only if you derive the full 250k (the income/profit etc. that was made excluding initial capital) in the assessable year.  You would have to be a tax resident in the assessable year the income was made for it to taxable, it would only be tax on the profit/income made during that assessable year.  The tax would then only be paid in the year it is actually remitted.

@MistyBlue, I happily admit that I cannot guarantee you the validity of my answer at this point of time where many things are still in flux.  I can only say how I would interpret what the BOI has said.  And this is now moreover not only my evil suspicion, but has also been confirmed by @hwas post above about his conversation with the BOI:

So based on what we know today I would answer your question with a clear no.

As it would appear that the authorities have not really thought through all this and as this would greatly decimate the number of wealthy foreigners living in Thailand and bringing in money which is something the authorities should be interested in (read: LTR and Elite visa holders), things might change again in the future.  But right now my best guess to the answer to your question unfortunately would be a very clear no.

6 hours ago, Pib said:

If the new rule does go into affect 1 Jan 2024 then they would only be looking from that date forward...and as said earlier on income, interest, dividends earned since 1 Jan 2024 (not before that) if not already shielded by a DTA.

Unfortunately my suspicion mentioned above with the caveat "if I read this correctly" now also appears to have been confirmed by the BOI as just posted by @hwas on the main tax change thread in this forum.  So I am just cross-linking this in case there are people not following both threads:

1 hour ago, ukrules said:

I think the point is - the previous year/years tax benefit which has often erroneously been referred to as 'the loophole' was never ay any point anything to do with the Thailand Elite visa.

 

The Thailand Elite visa is just a way to stay here permanently and take advantage of those tax rules.

 

Well the tax rules are apparently changing due to this proposal (we shall see on that) by a new previously non politician PM who's been in office for several weeks but it's certainly nothing to do with TE and I'll bet the folks over at TE were just as surprised and annoyed by this new proposal as the rest of us.

 

Lets face it - it will destroy their entire business model.

 

Oh yeah, my point - there's nothing to grandfather for TE as the tax thing was unrelated. It's like saying get a TE visa and take advantage of cheap 'insert cheap thing here' in Thailand - then the prices increase - nothing to do with TE.

Indeed.  But there is a strong incentive for the authorities to work out some sort of special exemption for the TE visa because otherwise the number of further TE visas sold will most likely totally collapse as many people justified the high TE visa fees by the tax advantages.  And since the Thai government makes big money from selling TE visas, they have an incentive to work out some sort of special exemption to keep this money flowing.  But strong incentive does not mean it will necessarily happen, so we will see what the future brings.

8 minutes ago, Pib said:

Money you simply transfer is not taxable now or possibly under this new tax rule beginning 1 Jan 2024..it's interest and dividends you earn from assets like say 5% interest on a 250K savings acct.

I wish you were right, but that is unfortunately not at all clear at the moment as the 250k savings are surely income of some prior year.  And if by comparison you look at other countries taxing remitted funds, then in some of them this would be a taxable event, in some it would not.  So how things will eventually be construed in Thailand nobody unfortunately knows at the moment.  The fact that the LTR exemption does not appear to cover this is therefore a real potential problem.

26 minutes ago, hwas said:

Received this from BOI today, tax exempt only for prior year:

Greetings from the LTR Visa Unit.

 

We want to clarify that the tax exemption for overseas income will commence from the month you receive the LTR Visa onward, which typically falls within the next tax year. 

 

Any income earned in the period prior to holding the LTR Visa will not be considered for tax exemption.

Thank you for posting this.  So if I read this correctly, this would unfortunately mean that the tax exemption under the LTR visa - if even this is maintained - is really of the minimal possible amount as it ONLY covers income earned while holding the LTR visa.  So if you now get a LTR visa and then transfer let's say 250k USD from your foreign savings to Thailand to buy some real estate or fund your general living expenses, then this will NOT be exempted as these 250k USD are NOT income only received AFTER holding a LTR visa.

1 hour ago, hwas said:

We want to clarify that the tax exemption for overseas income will commence from the month you receive the LTR Visa onward, which typically falls within the next tax year. 

 

Any income earned in the period prior to holding the LTR Visa will not be considered for tax exemption.

Thank you for posting this.  So if I read this correctly, this would unfortunately mean that the tax exemption under the LTR visa - if even this is maintained - is really of the minimal possible amount as it ONLY covers income earned while holding the LTR visa.  So if you now get a LTR visa and then transfer let's say 250k USD from your foreign savings to Thailand to buy some real estate or fund your general living expenses, then this will NOT be exempted as these 250k USD are NOT income only received AFTER holding a LTR visa.

33 minutes ago, jonny on the spot said:

Im pretty much sold on Malaysia for my 6 months a year if this tax thing happens. I suppose its just a case of being careful, it can happen in London if you unlucky just as easy.

The problem with Malaysia is that the conditions of their Second Home Visa are very onerous and expensive and if you go there for 6 months without a visa you will probably get into trouble even if you leave some time between the different stays.  Or what visa are you thinking about using for Malaysia?

1 hour ago, Misty said:

"Please be informed that normally, your overseas income will be subject to Thai personal income tax only when you are a tax resident (staying in Thailand 180 days or more in a tax year) and have brought such overseas income into Thailand in the same tax year that you are a tax resident and have received such overseas income.

Thank you for posting this very useful email from the BOI.  May I ask if you received this email before or after the announcement of the new taxation of foreign remittances from Jan 1, 2024 onwards?  If it was after, then it seems rather weird that the BOI continues to claim that "normally, your overseas income will be subject to Thai personal income tax only when you... have brought such overseas income into Thailand in the same tax year that you... have received such overseas income" which obviously will not be the case any longer from Jan 1, 2024 onwards.

1 hour ago, Dogmatix said:

The Royal Decree potentially exposes LTRs to random visits from RD officials with outstretched hands examining bank remittances and making the owner prove it was income earned only in the prior tax year and not in years earlier than that which are assessable under the Royal Decree combined with the reinterpretation.

I wonder if "prior year" in the English version of the Royal Decree for LTR visa holders really means "prior years" and the whole thing is just a translation mistake.  This is just a guess, not something I verified myself.  But somebody should.

12 hours ago, Hummin said:

For most my best guess, it will continue as it have done, but for those who already have tax number, it will be easier to squise a few more baht from. 

 

The very same who claimed a tax number on long stay visa, have done it to save paying tax to their orign country. 

 

It is a very good reminder, that what we have today, might not continue the same way in future. 

Currently having or not having a Thai tax number should not make any difference whatsoever.  If you are legally staying in Thailand which I assume applies to most on this forum, then the Thai authorities know about you regardless of if you have or do not have a Thai tax number.

1 hour ago, Dogmatix said:

Inheritance tax in Thailand is exempted between spouses and otherwise only payable over l million baht. 

If you allow me to correct your typo:  The inheritance tax threshold in Thailand is actually not 1, but 100 million baht.  And if the assets are not in Thailand and you are not a Thai national and you are only on a non-immigration visa such as Elite, retirement etc., there is no inheritance tax regardless of value.

1 hour ago, Happy happy said:

So sorry if this has been asked already above.

It is:

1.Can someone with a retirement O visa (800,000 in bank method) change it to a Elite 5 year Visa?

2. And if so, is the holder of such Elite Visa exempt from income brought in from overseas?

1 - yes, if you apply, get approved (which most people do) and pay the sizeable Elite visa fee

2 - depends on the as yet unpublished details of the new regulations from Jan 1, 2024; based on what has so far been published no

1 minute ago, K2938 said:

You can find it in the discussion below this post:

7 hours ago, mrmagyar said:

Could you link to the facebook thread please? Or tell us which page it's on?

You can find it in the discussion below this post: