Mike Lister

I agree, but some caution should be exercised. The Revenue Departments around the world, know full well that Gift Tax is a loop hole that can be exploited, which is why many of them have imposed additional rules and constraints to prevent tax evasion. In the UK there is a minimum of seven years after the date of the gift, before it becomes not taxable. In the US there is a maximum amount of gifting value. I suspect is wont be too long before the Thai RD implements additional rules, probably after it sees lots of farangs making large generous gifts to spouses and family I imagine. :))

The Revenue has been expanding the tax net for quite some times, using a variety of different methods, not the least of which is Revenue staff watching the volume of sales at outlets and calculating total sales. As the digital age takes hold, it will be far easier to audit accounts for accuracy. My wife ruins a business and it's almost impossible for her to cook the books, all sales are electronic, all sales are paid for electronically and all purchases are electronic, it's a zero cash operation..

In case anyone is having withdrawal symptoms, fear not, we're still on the case! :)) We check the major tax consultancies daily and also do a news search several times a week, when anything new is announced, we'll let you know straight away.

As Ukresonant implies, just going through the process of gifting and then giving it back, doesn't meet the spirit of the Gift Tax rule. if it is a Gift it must be gifted and remain gifted.

A myopic view! It doesn't cost more than around 50K a month for a property owning foreigner to live comfortably in Thailand, outside of central Bangkok, that's more than twice the average national wage. Almost every Westerner I know here spends around that level and prefers to bank the rest and invest it or secure it as inheritance for spouse or family. THB 4mill. per year is not comfortable, THB 4 mill. is excessive by Thai standards and by resident expat standards. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1030220/thailand-average-monthly-income-per-household-by-region/ https://www.nationthailand.com/blogs/in-focus/40012593

Wow, she's in great shape for a 24 year old Suzuki, how old's the girl?

My other dream is that I'll walk into the bar and the Mamasan will say, welcome khun Michael, all drinks are free today and there's no bar fine charge, it's our once a month special to thank foreigners who live here for helping support our business throughout the year.

My dream in Thailand is that one day I'll be driving down the motorway and a police car will pull me over. The officer will walk up to my car and say, I'm sorry to have pulled you over sir but you perhaps didn't realise that you were exceeding the speed limit by 5 mph and that can be very dangerous. Please drive more carefully and have a nice day.

Chill....OK?

A Bloomberg piece, syndicated: "Record US stock rally in danger in a world of turmoil". https://biz.crast.net/record-us-stock-rally-in-danger-in-a-world-of-turmoil/

You've convinced me EK, I'll spend my days at Kantary Hills and my nights at the Marriot. 😋

Kantary Bay in that case, same but different.

Spot on, best post in the thread! It's an easy transition from farangland to Thailand, move to Pattaya or Phuket. Food that you're used to, plenty of English speakers, beach, plenty of bars and modern shopping malls etc. It's not the real Thailand but it's good entry point that lets people transition later, when they feel comfortable. I mean, nobody moves from Luton to Korat in one step, unless they have a, ahem, friend to guide them.

That's excellent news, you're the proof that by learning and bothering to make the effort to understand what's involved, that the problem goes away. None of this, "it aint going to happen" nonsense. No more, "I'm leaving tomorrow and going back home" rubbish. No more, "it's all scaremongering" bravado. And certainly, no more of this, "let's wait and see when they announce something". The different physiologies are all fascinating, mostly denial, fear or laziness it seems. Thirty minutes to read the document, thirty more minutes to digest things and the problem is fixed, what could be simpler. Talking of which, where bugger bogner these days, haven't seen him for a while!

You may be over thinking things and worrying unnecessarily. Your point about wanting to prove conclusively that taxes were resolved for a particular year is valid but it comes back to the issue of needing to file a null return. FWIW in the years that I don't file a return here, I simply get a one year bank statement showing all my transactions and file it in case it's needed in the future, along with any associated paperwork.

I stumbled across this and thought it was a nice concise summary which may help some people who still don't understand what's happening on the tax front. It's from a well regarded multi-disciplinary investment company in the region: This provision requires a person to pay income tax to the Thai Revenue Department under the following conditions: Individuals, who are categorized as: 1) Thai citizens; 2) A Thai resident who filed taxes in the previous tax year; or 3) Foreigners who reside in Thailand for one or more periods with at least 180 days in one tax calendar year. Receive income inside or outside Thailand via: 1) Income from employment (wages, salaries, remuneration, etc.) assessable under Section 40 of the Revenue Code; 2) Income from business operations is assessable under Section 40. 3) Passive or property income (interest, dividends, rental income, goodwill, etc.) based on Article 41 paragraph 2 of the Revenue Code. https://www.aseanbriefing.com/news/taxation-of-foreign-sourced-income-in-thailand-begins-in-2024/ Note that the above does not mention pension income, which may or may not be significant.

Kantary Hills or Marriot Rayong?

Yep, agreed on all points. Except, the responsibility for declaring income and filing a return, rests solely with the taxpayer. It is not impossible to think that a person might ignore all of this for three five, seven years or more and nothing will happen. But eventually, the RD will become more used to the idea that foreigners have to file returns and systems will be developed and information will start to flow. At some point, the RD is very likely to turn round and say, enough is enough, we need a return from this guy and whilst you're at it, find out about these past years also. Isn't that what you would do if you were them.

Probably on a block by block basis and probably via the Management Company or site manager, electricity usage stats maybe....dunno, guessing.

Now that I understand what's happened, this is seriously good news! Before my thyroidectomy, I would run/exercise and max out my BP at 145 (per sports watch), that was my ceiling. Now, that same exercise is showing 118 max.....same distance, same duration, same intensity. This means I have additional head room to exercise harder/further. I'm just slightly annoyed, after so many different doctors/hospital visits where chats were held about me needing to change my lifestyle/diet etc, because of my high blood pressure, I even had three different doctors prescribe high blood pressure meds, nobody suggested the thyroid might be responsible! Oh well, all's well that ends well.

Interesting piece of trivia here: "The merger between TMB Bank and Thanachart Bank to TMBThanachart Bank (TTB) was completed on July 5, 2021. TTB hence becomes a larger bank, having greater connectedness with the rest of the banking system and provides a greater volume of essential financial services such as loans, deposits, payment transactions as well as servicing a larger number of customers. As a result, this year TTB is identified as one of domestic systemically important banks (D-SIBs) in addition to the existing 5 D-SIBs, namely Bangkok Bank, Krung Thai Bank, Bank of Ayudhya, Kasikornbank, and the Siam Commercial Bank. All D-SIBs are robust, maintaining capital ratios significantly above the level prescribed by the Bank of Thailand". https://www.bot.or.th/en/news-and-media/news/news-20220221.html#:~:text=As a result%2C this year,and the Siam Commercial Bank.

Interesting article (no pictures) https://www.thebalancemoney.com/us-gdp-by-year-3305543 Year Nominal GDP (trillions) Real GDP (trillions) GDP Growth Rate Events Affecting GDP 1929 $0.105 $1.109 NA Depression began 1930 $0.092 $1.015 -8.5% Smoot-Hawley 1931 $0.077 $0.950 -6.4% Dust Bowl 1932 $0.060 $0.828 -12.9% Hoover tax hikes 1933 $0.057 $0.817 -1.2% New Deal 1934 $0.067 $0.906 10.8% U.S. debt rose 1935 $0.074 $0.986 8.9% Social Security 1936 $0.085 $1.113 12.9% FDR tax hikes 1937 $0.093 $1.170 5.1% Depression returned 1938 $0.087 $1.132 -3.3% Depression ended 1939 $0.093 $1.222 8.0% WWII, Dust Bowl ended 1940 $0.103 $1.330 8.8% Defense increased 1941 $0.129 $1.566 17.7% Pearl Harbor 1942 $0.166 $1.862 18.9% 1943 $0.203 $2.178 17.0% Defense spending tripled 1944 $0.224 $2.352 8.0% Bretton Woods 1945 $0.228 $2.329 -1.0% WWII ended, recession 1946 $0.228 $2.058 -11.6% Truman budget cuts 1947 $0.250 $2.035 -1.1% Cold War began 1948 $0.275 $2.119 4.1% Recession 1949 $0.273 $2.107 -0.6% NATO, Fair Deal 1950 $0.300 $2.290 8.7% Korean War 1951 $0.347 $2.474 8.0% 1952 $0.367 $2.575 4.1% 1953 $0.389 $2.696 4.7% War ended, recession 1954 $0.391 $2.680 -0.6% Dow returned to 1929 high 1955 $0.426 $2.871 7.1% 1956 $0.449 $2.932 2.1% 1957 $0.474 $2.994 2.1% Recession 1958 $0.481 $2.972 -0.7% Recession ended 1959 $0.522 $3.178 6.9% Fed raised rates 1960 $0.542 $3.260 2.6% Recession 1961 $0.562 $3.344 2.6% JFK ended recession 1962 $0.604 $3.548 6.1% 1963 $0.638 $3.703 4.4% 1964 $0.685 $3.916 5.8% LBJ's Medicare, Medicaid 1965 $0.742 $4.171 6.5% 1966 $0.813 $4.446 6.6% Vietnam War 1967 $0.860 $4.568 2.7% 1968 $0.941 $4.792 4.9% Moon landing 1969 $1.018 $4.942 3.1% Nixon took office 1970 $1.073 $4.951 0.2% Recession 1971 $1.165 $5.114 3.3% Wage-price controls 1972 $1.279 $5.383 5.3% Stagflation 1973 $1.425 $5.687 5.6% End of gold standard 1974 $1.545 $5.657 -0.5% Watergate 1975 $1.685 $5.645 -0.2% Recession ended 1976 $1.873 $5.949 5.4% Fed lowered rates 1977 $2.082 $6.224 4.6% 1978 $2.352 $6.569 5.5% Fed's 20% rate hike ended inflation 1979 $2.627 $6.777 3.2% Recession 1980 $2.857 $6.759 -0.3% 1981 $3.207 $6.931 2.5% Reagan tax cuts 1982 $3.344 $6.806 -1.8% Recession ended 1983 $3.634 $7.118 4.6% Tax hike and defense spending 1984 $4.038 $7.633 7.2% 1985 $4.339 $7.951 4.2% 1986 $4.580 $8.226 3.5% Tax cut 1987 $4.855 $8.511 3.5% Black Monday 1988 $5.236 $8.867 4.2% Fed raised rates 1989 $5.642 $9.192 3.7% S&L Crisis 1990 $5.963 $9.366 1.9% Recession 1991 $6.158 $9.355 -0.1% 1992 $6.520 $9.685 3.5% NAFTA drafted 1993 $6.859 $9.952 2.8% Balanced Budget Act 1994 $7.287 $10.352 4.0% 1995 $7.640 $10.630 2.7% Fed raised rates 1996 $8.073 $11.031 3.8% Welfare reform 1997 $8.578 $11.522 4.4% 1998 $9.063 $12.038 4.5% LTCM crisis 1999 $9.631 $12.611 4.8% Repeal of Glass-Steagall 2000 $10.252 $13.131 4.1% Tech bubble burst 2001 $10.582 $13.262 1.0% 9/11 attacks 2002 $10.936 $13.493 1.7% War on Terror 2003 $11.458 $13.879 2.9% Iraq War, JGTRRA 2004 $12.214 $14.406 3.8% 2005 $13.037 $14.913 3.5% Katrina, Bankruptcy Act 2006 $13.815 $15.338 2.9% Fed raised rates 2007 $14.452 $15.626 1.9% Bank crisis 2008 $14.713 $15.605 -0.1% Financial Crisis 2009 $14.449 $15.209 -2.5% Stimulus Act 2010 $14.992 $15.599 2.6% ACA, Dodd-Frank 2011 $15.543 $15.841 1.6% Japan earthquake 2012 $16.197 $16.197 2.2% Fiscal cliff 2013 $16.785 $16.495 1.8% Sequestration 2014 $17.527 $16.912 2.5% QE ends 2015 $18.238 $17.432 3.1% TPP, Iran deal 2016 $18.745 $17.731 1.7% Presidential race 2017 $19.543 $18.144 2.3% Tax Cuts & Jobs Act (TCJA) 2018 $20.612 $18.688 3.0% Deficit spending 2019 $21,433 $19,092 2.2% Trade war 2020 $20,893 $18,384 -3.4% Covid-19 pandemic 2021 $22,996 $19,427 5.7% Covid-19 vaccine

Added Point K) to the list if unknown issues etc at the end of the document: K) - confirmation as to how to distinguish between principal (funds from legacy investments, inheritance, original investment principal) versus earnings (interest, dividends, remuneration) from comingled funds, determination of applicable foreign currency exchange rates for tax assessment, etc.

The view of the tax professionals - Grant Thornton in this case, from their information link: "We find that the tax authority stills needs to further address several issues relating to how this new rule will be enforced. For instance, the applicable tax rates (whether there will be any flat tax imposed, different tax rates specifically applied for foreign-sourced income, or at the standard progressive tax rate), how to distinguish between principal (funds from legacy investments, inheritance, original investment principal) versus earnings (interest, dividends, renumeration) from comingled funds, determination of applicable foreign currency exchange rates for tax assessment, etc." https://www.grantthornton.co.th/insights/tax-alerts/

Updated Para 24 - awaiting link conformation but now have three separate confirmations: PROPERTY RENTAL INCOME 42) Most property rental income that is remitted to Thailand is considered to be assessable income and is taxable here, unless of course it has been taxed in the home country and/or the DTA prohibits its taxation (which seems improbable). "All rental properties are subject to a House and Land Tax, which is 12.5% of the annual rental income. On top of that, the rental income is taxable, and owners will have to pay Thai income taxes on the money. Thai income taxes are calculated using a progressive scale ranging from 0-37%".