Mike Lister

An interesting defence, the local Thai's weren't applying for TIN's so I thought I wouldn't apply either.....that should work out well for you, let us know how it goes.

That's nothing to do with the data breach, those are are all AMLO and KYC style questions.

Not necessarily, many have legacy income that is now invested or banked from years ago. I have enough money in country to keep me going for at least five years, even without touching income.

Sin sod is only payable if the wench in question was never married before and is a virgin.

The time gap doesn't make any difference in this comparison, the quality is self evident, 5 star is 5 star which unless you've actually experienced it, is perhaps best not commented on. Yes, I have sought medical care in local hospitals and I've been with my wife when she had surgery at the government hospital. The decorative condition of the patient rooms was poor, as were the furnishings etc but I could not fault the medical care. A nurse/medic explored a wound on my foot in expert style and with great efficiency, meanwhile, chaos and bedlam was ongoing all around me. Children screaming, a dozen patients laid out on gurneys, blood spills on the floor, chaotic and a nightmare by western standards but the medical care I received was excellent, as was my wife's.

I worked for Mount Sinai Hospital on Miami Beach in the 1980's, I do know what a good quality hospital looks like. In November last year I spent five days in Sriphat University Hospital Chiang Mai whilst having my thyroid removed, the standard of service, the quality and training of staff and the facilities were at least on par with Mount Sinai, if not much better in some areas.

That growing up part has got some way to go yet, probably not in my life time.

Whereas I would suggest it's only a storm in the minds of a few. Your statement that "there will and must come more clarification from the TRD" is interesting....I'm betting not, why would there be. Were you imagining that instructions will be mailed, slots made available for tutorials in prime time TV? The TRD Code has existed for decades, albeit it is tweaked from time to time. A small change was made to one rule last year and it was announced, what more needs to be said. The locals must be watching all this farang angst and giggling in embarrassment, they don't see any problem whatsoever. "If farang no understand, why he not go TRD office and ask or read Revenue book", they must be saying. They would have a point! A big part of the problem is that many foreigners are expecting a process similar to "back home", which I'm pretty certain aint going to happen.

The TRD doesn't give that sort of advice, that only happens back in nanny pampered land where it's assumed that people can't tie their own shoe laces without being told how. It's down to us to work these things out and I think many of us have. When I posted my reply that you quoted, I didn't write out in long hand all the words that would make my statement 100% grammatically and factually correct. At this late stage in the game, we are after all 8 months in to these discussions, it has to be assumed that most people understand that the "threshold" refers to assessable income. If some people don't understand that, they are latecomers who have some reading and catching up to do.

I filed and I don't have Thai income.......:)

No, not all pension income is exempt, it depends on your DTA.

Re 1: What do you imagine locals do, however do they get by!!! Re 2: That's a seriously funny statement, the closest I could get to the reality is that Thailand is classed as Developing rather than Developed. The 12 successful coups and structure of the parliament, hardly classes the country as a democracy, not when 72% of the population voted for a party that was then beaten into second place.

"There is no general requirement to obtain a TIN by September", as in, everyone must obtain one.

There is no requirement to present any documentation when filing a return, only to do so, if and when instructed. If that instruction is given it seems likely they will specify what they require.

Nonsense! The definition of tax resident has been well understood and documented in the TRD code for decades! The fact that foreigners mostly chose to ignore their obligation to Thai tax and this was not uniformly enforced, doesn't change much of anything. FWIW I've been filing Thai tax returns for several years, solely on the basis of remitted funds from overseas.

Here's the details that are known:

Really, that's the first I've heard of that. Are the letters addressed to individual taxpayers or just anonymous mailings?

That's fine, but don't be fooled into thinking the TRD doesn't know how this is actually supposed to be organized or run in practice. Not all the details of all financial transactions from all countries is well understood, but the framework and the majority of the basics are very well understood.

I don't understand why anyone thinks the official source does not provide the necessary information, only somebody who has never read it or bothered to look might think that.

The Thai tax law has always required tax residents to file a return, all that has changed this year is the year of remittance rule. Of course they can go back 10 years.

The tax guide is linked below, if anyone has further questions:

As the tax guide states, the threshold varies based on marital status and source of income. The penalty for not filing a return where no tax is due, is a possible fine of 2k baht. More importantly, not filing once the threshold has been breached, exposes you to back audits spanning the past ten years, instead of the normal three. Penalties for not filing where tax is due, are draconian.

Ignorance of the law is not usually a good defense in any country, least of all here, I imagine. The average person may not be a member of AN but they might be expected to read newspapers, read online forums/periodicals, have a visa agent and/or they might be expected to have a bank account, all of which would inform them of what changes have been implemented. Waiting for an official notice to appear in the mail box, seems to me to be bloody minded rather than practical or sensible but each to their own.

I can clarify that the law has been put into effect and that all tax residents are expected to comply with it. If individuals are waiting for personalised invitations or instructions to be pushed through their mail boxes, it may prove to be a very long wait. In the meantime, the rules will not have been suspended, neither will the expectation of compliance with them. Perhaps those waiting for such notification should pinch themselves and remember where they are and try to recall when was the last time they had a personalised invitation from government to do anything! As she said, Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Kansas any more!

The TRD Code states that a Thai tax resident must obtain a Thai TIN, within 60 days of exceeding the minimum threshold (60k, 120k or 220k) regardless of whether tax is payable or not.