Mike Lister

After consultation, I'm going to take the unusual step of granting the ops earlier wish and closing this thread, simply because it has all the hallmarks of being nothing more than aggressive and confrontational and serves no useful purpose. If anyone wishes to open a different thread with a similar objective they should feel free to do so.

Extremely useful and helpful insight, thank you for posting.

Immigration and Revenue are two different parts of government that are not connected, there is no reason why a visa agent should tell anyone that there is an income tax requirement of visa holders, unless Immigration were to impose a requirement. It is the responsibility of visa holders to understand and abide by the laws of the country, nobody else.

By all means, it's just that the OP has already requested the thread is closed but I decided to leave it open for more replies hence he may not return.

Yes, but most people understood that months ago. The game today is to raise awareness and inform, rather than to try and solve individual tax issues.

Perhaps you should read this:

A tax resident is ANYONE who remains here for more than 180 days per calendar year, I suggest that most expat retirees here are tax resident.

Me! I made the statement that thousands of foreigners filed tax here every year but that there were no official numbers from the RD stating how many so any figures had to be anecdotal. I went on to say that there are over 300,000 Westerners in Thailand, another poster suggested that 1% or 3,000 might be accurate. The OP is therefore trying to disprove that thousands do file taxes here but already the thread has demonstrated that some Italians and Norwegians do, because it means a lower rate of tax. I imagine the OP is hoping that 299,001 people will show and say they don't or that no more than 999 will say they do.

I saw that also, I remember it very well. I think that whinge was passed upstream and used an excuse to impose a tax on tourists, to cover their unpaid medical bills, I think that's what happened.

I think you're probably outside of the scope of questions this forum can easily answer, simply because everyone has different circumstances, amounts, age, transfer amounts, maturity dates. The two choices I can off offer you are, wait and see what news is announced by the Thai RD eventually, or, seek specialist advice.

Another piece of the RD tax jigsaw: When to Apply for TIN (Tax Identification Number) "Within 60 days from the date he derives assessable income". https://www.rd.go.th/english/21987.html

In response to a posters comments in another thread, I have updated Para 3 to include the following: "If after reading it, anyone remains unclear about what has been written in this document, they are welcome to raise questions to see if anyone can provide clarity. Alternatively, the cost of using a qualified Thai Tax preparer to complete your tax return and answer all your questions, somebody who is a CPA, is unlikely to be expensive. I regret that we are unable to recommend specific people or companies".

You're right, the subject is off topic, I was just covering off your statement about currency exchange rates when you said, "and most especially so against the AUD".

That was in my mind also, I think "maybe" the declaration he signed with the broker "may" cover that aspect but TBH I don't know for sure. One think is certain however, he should!

A big part of the problem is that AUD is a proxy for the Chinese economy, when that improves, your ex. rate will improve. https://www.afr.com/markets/currencies/investors-short-the-a-as-china-takes-centre-stage-20230821-p5dy27

"The waiting time for probate almost doubled from April 2022 to April 2023, with reports citing cases of probate taking more than eleven months and practitioners advising clients that probate will take at least nine months". https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/102/justice-committee/news/198600/justice-committee-launches-new-inquiry-into-probate-amid-concerns-over-delays-and-consumer-protection/

I'm sorry if I've come across that way because I certainly don't believe they do, in fact, far from it! I believe that most remittances will NOT have tax consequences, unless they were intended by the remitter who wants to be taxed here rather than in their home country. That series of posts from the same poster all involve transfers of funds from his offshore brokerage account which in the absence of any details, must be presumed to be income. He's simple looking for ways around paying tax, using various convoluted scenarios that simply wont work.

I think this is one of the many differences between the private and government hospitals, government hospitals just want to practice medicine and treat people rather than focus on making money. I hope you're nearly fully recovered by the way, a big hand for Sansai hospital too.

I mostly agree with that T&G but not about the Baht, against USD and the Pound it's very close to fair value, the Oz Dollar on the other hand has faired less well.

I'm sure that @Sheryl will be along to comment.

Several posts recently have suggested that unpaid hospital bills, left by foreigners, are a major financial problem in Thailand, at least one hinted at how easy it was to simply walk out without paying. I know this can be a big problem when it comes to workers from nearby countries, particularly in Phuket involving workers in construction and fisheries, but I think instances of non-payment amongst Westerners is quite rare, despite what the sensationalist media might suggest to the contrary! I had five days in hospital in November and had to leave a deposit and a credit card number before hand, my experience in Bangkok, fifteen years earlier was exactly the same. In both cases the deposit matched the estimate and the final bill, or near enough. Plus every hospital I visit has my passport details on file which means that Immigration at the airport is very likely to be aware of the unpaid bill and refuse permission to leave. Years ago, an acquaintance became involved in a legal matter and tried to travel to Singapore but his Thai Immigration record had been flagged and he was turned back. Unpaid medical bills by citizens of other Asian countries will be quite high I imagine, by Westerners they will be tiny, the habit of taking out health or travel assurance alone make this more probable.

You don't say if you have a Thai will or not, it's sensible to have a different will for every jurisdiction in which you have assets. You say that your assets are located in an offshore brokerage, where exactly because that may make a difference to probate. Typically, a brokerage house will require you to specify who you want to leave your assets to, have you done this? Assuming yours is a UK or Australian will, I do not know how long probate will take in those countries but I have read that probate in the UK is running to over a year in some cases because of the lack of poorly trained staff.

I think we might leave it run for a while, it's been useful and interesting to learn that Norwegians and Italians file tax returns here, in order to take advantage of lower tax rates.

Please do not cross post the same question in different threads, this thread will be closed

Last one on this subject, after which there will be no more please! If you are tax resident in Thailand and you receive something of value, be it goods, services or cash, for which you originally made payment, anywhere, that becomes a taxable event in Thailand when those goods, services or cash are received in Thailand. You can send the money via Timbuctoo or have somebody else make the transfer for you wearing a mickey mouse mask but ultimately it becomes your taxable event.