Flyguy330

Sorry Stat, I overlooked this question yesterday. It's a good question - about co-mingling funds from different sources in a bank account. I don't have an explicit ruling on that from the Malaysian tax authorities, however they gave me a written reply to a similar question which might be extrapolated to it. The savings I have overseas come from taxed income. I asked them if they needed me to prove the provenance of every penny I remit to Malaysia in order to prove it was from previously taxed income. Their reply was that it doesn't matter to them, as long as I can provide a tax paid cert or similar showing I paid some (at least 15%) tax on a sum equal to the remitted sum! I was so shocked by that lenient answer that I asked them to confirm it, and asked if they meant I could even backdate such a tax cert to my first pay cheque 40+ years ago. They replied YES! I know that sounds unbelievable, and I still don't really trust that answer, but I'm planning on 'experimenting' with it by remitting only small sums this year and I'll make a tax return showing tax I paid decades ago and see their reaction. I may be being over optimistic, but so far all my dealings on this with the Malaysian IRD have been very friendly, and they almost seem to be bending over backward to accomodate me and prevent me being caught by this remittance tax. Yes, I know, that sounds bizarre behaviour from a taxman, but that's the feeling I'm getting. I think it's possible that at Government level they've been told to ease off on expats doing remittances - or maybe even only retired expats. And meantime the review of the MM2H rules is still in the pipeline, and I'm holding out hope that the Government will conclude that it's not wise to apply a remittance tax to foreign pensioners if they seriously want to attract them here. Common sense might actually triumph! Fingers crossed.

Yes indeed, as a non tax resident that's possible. I'd be sending EUR to collect in Thailand, then bring them to Malaysia for exchange to RM there. I'm not sure it's even possible to convert currency into RM in Thailand - there are still currency controls in Malaysia dating back to the Asian Financial Crisis. The them PM, Mahathir Mohamed instigated them to stop international speculators (like G.Soros) from attacking the Ringgit. It worked too, it has to be said, though it's a bit inconvenient that they are still in place. It basically stops you buying the Ringgit OTC anywhere but in Malaysia. You can't hold a Ringgit account in banks outside Malaysia. Not that I'd really want to!

One other thing I want to comment on - there was some mention here that proceeds from a foreign property sale imported to Thailand are NOT tax exempt. In Malaysia such proceeds are indeed tax exempt, according to the Malaysian IRD themselves and every big accountancy firm confirms it. So you can sell a foreign property and import the proceeds without being hit for remittance tax. This rule could of course be changed any day. One other thing that I think gives Malaysia an advantage over Thailand is that foreigners can buy and own property (land included) in Malaysia Freehold, and without any funny business with 51% local owners and 'pre signed releases' from locals etc. Not many (any?) other countries in Asia allow this. Alright, Singapore and Hong Kong maybe. But Indonesia? Vietnam etc? You cannot own property freehold as a foreigner. I've known expat friends who lived here for years, owning property, and when it came their time to leave they sold up and then applied to export the proceeds. They got their monney out after the usual bureaucratic hoops were jumped through. I find that reassuring too. Not so sure about Thailand from the comments here. So I guess I will not be buying, if I need to stay at all. Thanks Ben Zioner. I hope you're right, but I'm waiting until next year to see what actually pans out. No rush.

Morning all, Stat, the remittance tax is being done by self reporting. In the past 12 years I lived in Malaysia I never had to file a tax return. Now I do. If I don't they'll come after me. They are quite well organised here in many respects, especially when it comes to getting taxes I think. I could of course lie, and declare nothing. But if you get audited and caught fiddling - the likely consequence is being kicked out of the country, which I definitely don't want. Anyway, I didn't go into the details very much in my last post, but there are legal avoidance methods. The Malaysians have stated that if you can show your declared remittances come from taxed income in a country with a DTA you can exempt them. At least for now. There's some rumouring that this too will change in 2026 (the Gov said that while they reversed their ealier promise of no remittance tax until 2026 they would still allow DTA exemptions until then). They also said that right now they'd apply a 15% tax, but in 2026 it would go to the FULL marginal tax rate in Malaysia (which I think is about 40% now - same as my home country). I can indeed prove that my cash imports at present come from saved income, and I have all the paperwork to prove that. But I'm still only trickling in funds, in case they announce yet another policy reversal.

I've been reading this thread since it started, though I haven't had time to read every page. Been busy with other stuff at times! I have a few minutes now and I'd like to make a few comments. My own story first. I'm an Irish guy based in Malaysia on an MM2H Visa. I first arrived in Malaysia for a short 1 year work assignment in 1992 before returning home. I met a lady here and brought her home with me. We became regular holiday visitors back to Malaysia and I liked the place a lot. The MM2H Visa program evolved out of a previous 'Silver Hair' retirement program and I decided I'd retire here on it when I became eligible. The MM2H program at the time was advertised as a tax free visa - which was the biggest draw of all. We moved to Malaysia in 2010 and have been very happily resident there, living completely tax free on my occupational pension. The tax saving is huge (about 40%) and the cost of living here is half or one third of back home. The weather is great. The food choice is superb. Property is cheap. Everyone (more or less) speaks english. I've never had a problem with the locals, they are generally friendly and polite. The country is modern - certainly KL is. The infrastructure is miles ahead of home. So what's the problem I hear you ask? Why am I on a Thai forum! The answer goes back to 2020 when Covid struck. Malaysia went into lockdown, and although I was fortunately 'in country' when that happened, many MM2H holders were 'locked out' and refused re-entry for almost a year. In addition the MM2H program was frozen and the interim Government announced they were reviewing the scheme. In October 2021 things began moving again, the lockdown restrictions on interstate travel were lifted and the new MM2H criteria were announced. They were horrendously demanding, and it was said they'd apply even to existing MM2H holders on renewal. They also moved the management of the program from the friendly Tourist Board to the nasty and corrupt Immigration Department. Applications for MM2H visas went through the floor. At the same time the Malaysian Government announced that on January 1st 2022 they were going to bring in a 'Remittance Tax' on all money sent into the country from abroad. They declared that this rule was forced on them by the OECD - and the USA - as a money laundering/taxation loophole solution. This was confirmed by major foreign accountancy firms in Malaysia (PWC etc) who said that it was part of a global push to ensure EVERYONE pays a minimum 15% tax EVERWHERE. They stated that Malaysia was being 'grey listed' by the international bank of settlements, and they could be completely black-listed and locked out of the global SWIFT system if they refused to comply. I know that somecontributors on this thread have poo-poed this excuse, but I do think there is no doubt the threat exists. Check this link: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/08/business/oecd-global-minimum-tax.html This news upset me a lot, and indeed it upset many Malaysians too - people who were living or working abroad and sending money home to support elderly relatives etc. Indeed the Sultan of Johor made a lot of noise about it, mainly because his state was the recipient of a lot of FDI from Chinese property buyers. The complaints grew so loud that - surprise surprise - the Government relented, and in December announced a 5 year delay on the implementation of their 'Foreign Sourced Income (FSI)' tax. We all breathed a sigh of relief. No change until 2026. In July 2022 I went home on holidays. When I got back to Malaysia one of the first news articles I read announced that the Malaysian Government had just 'gazetted' (ratified) the FSI law, and BACKDATED it to January 1st! A total reversal of what they promised, and with retrospective effect. This is another point that I've wanted to comment on while reading through this forum. Some posters have made rosy tinged comments about how 'stable' the rules are in Malaysia compared to Thailand. Do not be under any such delusion! Malaysian politics is a swamp and a nightmare. It is the worst thing about living in the country. There is a constant state of political turmoil. Just like Thailand. This is Asia. Things were relatively OK here until 2018 when the long ruling party UMNO were kicked out of Government. While that was widely welcomed, and there was great hope for the future when it happened, things have just spiralled out of control since then. I won't go into all the details - but stop believing Malaysia is in any way politically stable, or likely to be any time in the next decade. The other point to note is - they will change the rules of the game at the drop of a hat, and tough luck if you're caught out. Amazingly for me it was just around this time that Thailand announced the LTR Visa scheme. As you all know it included a 'Royal Decree' that LTR Visa holders would be exempt from tax in Thailand. On the face of it this was a perfect solution for me. If I could get the LTR Visa I could hop in and out of Thailand at will, reduce my spending in Malaysia, and even bring legal amounts of cash back with me on return to Malaysia. We do not want to leave Malaysia, especially since the DTA that exempts my Irish Pension from tax at source depends on the Malaysian tax residency remaining in force. I duly applied for the LTR Visa. The application process was superb. Great website, easy to complete, fast response from the BOI in perfect English, and a basic eligibility approval in 2 weeks. Another few documents were requested and provided, and I got my letter of approval in about 6 weeks since first application - the WP version. Everything was going ticketyboo, but a little nag in the back of my mind kept asking - if this 15% tax thing is being forced on all countries worldwide, how can Thailand be exmpt from it? I filed the thought away and enjoyed a couple of visits to Thailand this summer (BKK and Phuket). Had a great time - though I will say I found Thailand more expensive than Malaysia, less clean and organised, and the poverty of many of the people is much more striking on the streets. There's an air of desperation which I didn't like, and don't see in Malaysia. Of course you know the rest of the story. My nagging question suddenly became the news of the day last month. Thailand announced that all FSI would be taxable next January 1st! Forced on them by the Globalists! So the net is closing. All the 'little people' will be required to cough up. Wherever they are. There may be doubts as to the fine detail of all this, both in Malaysia (where a review of the MM2H rules is underway by the NEW government) and in Thailand where the rules seem to be a total grey area and may remain so forever. Sorry this was so long, I hope you found it useful, but the final takeaway is - don't believe that Malaysia is any better than Thailand when it comes down to rule bending and breaking.

Thanks for the replies. Opinions seem mixed. I’ll try them out anyhow since it may ease the cost of transfers from a UOB account in my home country to a UOB account in Thailand.

Anyone using UOB Bank in Thailand? Are you happy with them? I’ve read numerous threads about the other big Thai banks and there seems to be so much difficulty opening an account with them as a foreigner. I have a UOB account already in another Asian nation and I’m hoping that will make it easier to open one with them in Thailand. Any reasons not to use them here?