Mike Lister

On to ignore you go Pouatchee, life's too short to play your games. Goodbye.

It's not my guestimate, it's fact as confirmed by Udonjoe. there's even a link to the pdf confirming it. Older thread, with top advice from the late Udonjoe (posted above) https://aseannow.com/topic/910961-marriage-visawife-dieswhat-happens/ From the link above: "An extension of stay based upon marriage remains valid until it expires after the death of a spouse. See: acknow_con2stay.pdf"

The international PST will increase by 4%, whereas historic inflation here was over 8% at one point. Even AOT has costs and bills that must be paid and they are not immune to inflation. I suppose they could have increased the landing charges, that would have filtered thru to ticket costs but what other options do they have for dealing with increased costs!

The OP doesn't indicate the value of his property or how easy it may be to sell. If there is sufficient value in the property, transition to a retirement visa becomes easier plus it might even allow him to move into a care home here in Thailand. Then there's the interim period and how to manage that. One solution might be hired help, if the budget will stretch to it. Other than those things, I'm struggling to come up with options, perhaps others have ideas? On the positive front, at least you have some time to plan and explore options and this is not a right now issue.

From the link above: "An extension of stay based upon marriage remains valid until it expires after the death of a spouse. See: acknow_con2stay.pdf"

I agree that the marriage visa cannot be extended or renewed under those circumstances.

Sorry but I don't regard your link as an authority on this subject, it's a two person law office and one is a foreigner who is not allowed to practice law in Thailand. Secondly, the link only says that the spouse visa may be problematic, if the holder visits immigration, it does not say the visa ends when the spouse dies.

I'm sorry to learn of your circumstances and hope you find a workable solution. I'm pretty certain that your marriage visa remains valid, until the expiry date, in the event that your spouse passes mid visa.

Everyone manages their finances differently, for many expats in Thailand a key determinator is the amount of THB they have on hand in country and the source of their pension. I made the decision several years ago to invest in THB and time has shown that was the right thing to do, as a consequence I have several years worth of Baht living expenses on hand and am not dependent on transfers from overseas. That said, both my UK State Pension and US Social Security are paid directly into my Thai bank account. The US SSc pension is tax exempt in Thailand by virtue of the DTA so that is not an issue as far as Thai tax is concerned. The UK State pension is taxable here but is falls under the threshold for Thai tax which means that also is not an issue for Thai tax. All that remains are my overseas investment accounts and UK property ownership and rental income. My investment account is contained in a SIPP which means it is not UK taxable, I am able to transfer from the SIPP to my Thai bank account, variable amounts each year that will keep me under the Thai tax threshold (or above, if I'm willing to pay Thai tax). The rental income remains in the UK, that also can be transferred based on my willingness to pay Thai tax in any given year. When I decide to sell my UK property, the purchase price value will be free of Thai tax because it was earned prior to 1 January 2024. The profit on the property sale will be subject to UK capital gains which means UK tax will have been paid on it hence it also can be transferred. All those things are ring fenced and separate, each has a clear audit trail and the value of each can be easily established, at any time.

My thoughts are that you should try reading any of the numerous threads that already exist on this subject rather than add yet another one! Try this one, start at the end and work back. https://aseannow.com/topic/1306896-thai-government-to-tax-all-income-from-abroad-for-tax-residents-starting-2024/

That's not the way the tax system works in any country that has at least a reasonable semblance of an economy, tax is not deducted when it is remitted and then left to the tax payer to prove that it wasn't taxable in the first place, that's ludicrous. Thailand needs capital inflows and overseas investment, it's not actively trying to prevent those things! Nobody would do business in a country that operated that way and Thailand's economy doesn't need it to resort to such extreme measures, Yemen, yes, Myanmar, yes, Thailand, not a chance.

That is simple not correct. A substantial portion of those 6 million returns that do not pay tax are returns that are required to be filed, because the filer is self employed, the most common filing status in Thailand. My wife for example is self employed and operates a business that turns over 1 million baht per year. She, like all others in her category, must file an interim return at 6 months and a full return at year end. She is allowed to deduct 60% of her sales as input costs, that means she has assessable income of say 400,000 baht. Deduct from that amount, 60,000 for her Personal allowance, 60,000 for her mother who she supports, circa 5,000 in social security payments, 100,000 she pays into a retirement mutual fund each year and that leaves taxable income of 175,000. The first 150k is zero rated so is not taxable, that leaves her with 5% tax due on 25,000 or 1,250 baht tax per year. In reality, her income is over 600k per year but the generous tax deductions mean she pays virtually no tax. It's really not difficult to legally earn 600k per year and pay zero tax. EDIT TO ADD: My numbers above are approximate, before somebody takes me to task on minutiae. I think the mutual fund deduction is capped at something like 30% of assessible income so may be lower but nevertheless, the example overall makes the point well.

There is no 2 year seasoning period, where did you come up with that! The criteria for filing a Thai tax return is income (including remittances) of over 120k Baht per year. What you get in return for filing taxes is exactly what you get when you don't, plus, if ever a tax clearance certificate is required, you'll be eligible to get one.

It's worth remembering also that many many countries impose taxes or surcharges on tourists, Venice has a daily tax just to visit, Nepal has an absolute minimum tourists must spend every day, European cities frequently impose a hotel surcharge on tourists, even UK tourist spots such as Devon and Cornwall are considering similar. If a country attracts tourists, I think it's right that they pay more than locals to support the things they have come to see. Tourists may pay indirect taxes but they don't pay direct taxes which is an equal source of support in Thailand for places such as national parks.

You don't seem to understand that many longer term expats want to help others by passing along information they've learned over the years, especially those who are seeking help. If any of that causes you problems, remember, nobody forces you to read any of of it. If you point your cursor over the posters name, a box will appear that contains three options, one of them is "ignore", press it and you'll never even see posts from people you don't want to read.....which is exactly what I am going to do now with you, goodbye.

You only have to prove that it was earned BEFORE 1 Jan 2024, how hard can that be.

Well, if you said that to me I might believe you the first time but if you keep saying it to me repeatedly, I'm going to ask you to account for your past transfers and prove to me that what you say is true, that's why you need your baseline and an audit trail. That's pretty much how audits and tax reviews work everywhere,.

And? So? Anyone who has lived here for any period of time, understands fully that this announcement is classic Thai government, get the message out there and we'll deal with the detail later. If people don't understand that or if they want the government to behave differently, in a more structured and complete manner, probably shouldn't even consider being/coming here because it wont happen in this decade and perhaps not in the next. They understand all that, most posters here don't, that's the problem, it's all about expectations management.

It will be whatever you say it is, you just have to be able to support what you say it is, with evidence. If you keep saying it's all old savings that predates 1 Jan 24, they may look more closely, I would. You seem not to understand basic accounting. Every pot can contain many things but they can all be separated on paper to determine what is principle and what is interest or income, it's what companies do when they compile a balance sheet, you just need to do similar. If you have 100 in a pot, 60 of which is old savings and 40 of which earns interest, you can transfer 60 safe in the knowledge it's old savings that you can prove. When you get ready to transfer the 40, you need to know what part of it is principle and what is income.

I don't see that anyone is trying to persuade anyone else to do anything, apart from wait and see and stop being so paranoid about what is not known. Given the low levels of taxation in Thailand, it may well be that for some people, becoming tax resident here is to their advantage but I doubt that many will be persuaded of that because most people don't understand taxation in any detail. All many see is that Thailand is trying to tax their transfers and that's as far as their understanding of the subject will let them go. That said, fair and balanced debate along with research into the subject is useful, but there again, fair and balanced and social media don't go hand in hand.

I don't understand your question. Every financial instrument or account can have its boundaries clearly defined and separated from anything else that sits in the same pot. You may have old savings, new savings, new interest and other things, all in the same account but the amounts therein can be clearly defined for accounting purposes.

If you read my earlier post you'll see a link to the UK Embassy in Thailand which explains the process in detail. If the body is not claimed, it will be cremated in a paupers cremation, along with other unclaimed bodies.

Yes yes and yes. What I wrote initially was that a POA may or may not be accepted, not a POA on behalf of the deceased but a POA by anyone else connected to the affairs of the deceased et al, eg, a POA by the deceased's relative overseas, to manage specific actions. The statement was more a general one about the acceptance of POA's in Thailand rather than being specific to the death of a foreigner. Another example of this is some banks refusal to accept customer generated POA's, something we encountered this year when establishing a Living Will. I included this point in my initial post, just in case an overseas relative thought it would simply be a matter of completing a POA to accomplish some tasks.

I know, it's almost worth dieing, just to get one.

Yes indeed they do but I wasn't thinking of POA's by the deceased, I had in mind POA's generally such as for the release of the body or the handling of any of the deceased's affairs.