Mike Lister

Internal bank transfers in the US use the ACHA system (Automated Clearing House Association), each state has their own network, all of which are interconnected. The Michigan ACHA system is known as MACHA, in Delaware it's DACHA, in Nevada it's NACHA, and so on. The Federal Reserve or US Central Bank is linked to the ACHA system which it uses to clear checks between financial institutions within the US. Global ACH is the US alternative to SWFT, the system is used by many US banks to transfer and settle internationally, because it is linked to the Federal Reserve Bank. SWIFT is the Society for World Wide Interbank Financial Telecommunications. It is a membership based system where typically, the head office or main branch of each bank has a SWIFT address which will be used to send and receive. SWIFT is a secure messaging system, it doesn't actually transfer funds, it merely confirms that transfers will be made which are then actioned and settled using the country's Central Bank as a separate step. Any bank anywhere may use SWIFT, all they need is membership and a SWIFT address. SWIFT is faster, is typically used for larger amounts and has a large network with very high security. ACH is mainly US based, Global ACH is much slower and covers a smaller footprint of global banks and is mainly a USD based system. Transactions are typically high volume, low value. So, US banks can send or receive funds from overseas, via the SWIFT system, as long as the bank is a SWIFT member. This will vary from bank to bank based on its size and profile but many are, all the bigger banks most typically are members of SWIFT. Which system those banks use will depend on the volume, value and currency of the transactions involved but it is completely incorrect to say that US banks don't use SWIFT.

So now you understand what everyone else thought, really! Well, what I think, regrettably, is that it's time for you to visit the ignore list. Bye.

You haven't read the policy details have you!

Creative and innovative, no? ????

They are two separate things, for goodness sake, it's a list of items, nothing suggests they are linked or connected!

Airports around the world charge a myriad of fees in different disguises, Departure Tax, Passenger Service Charge, Airport Tax, Arrivals Tax and doubtless others. So?

That's completely wrong, I'm amazed anyone actually wrote that. American banks do use SWIFT, here's a list of their SWIFT codes, from SWIFT. https://www.theswiftcodes.com/united-states/

I do not suggest that CRS and international taxation standards are connected, they are two different things.

That was from another posters earlier post, I was trying to understand its validity also.

That is not the way things are done here. If the RD doesn't receive a return from a person who has filed one in the past, the automatic assumption will be that there was no need for one to be filed. Unless of course there is significant information that makes them dig deeper and in the future that might just be bank transfer information where the transfer was sizeable or frequent and sizeable. In the US and the UK there are penalties for not filing, penalties here are not enforced. I have filed returns here some years, some years I haven't, every year the RD sends me a return to fill out but most years it has been ignored. For the past three years I have filed a return in person at the RD and nobody has ever been interested in missed returns from the past 25 years.

You are quite correct, I agree with everything you have written. However, the tax return is not needed because the RD don't want to see it because it's effectively a null return and nobody has to pay anyone. This is more an issue of practice rather than correct process.

Yes, but in practise there has never been any follow up if you don't file which has always been tacit approval not to file. Even last year when I filed at the RD District 1 Head office in Chiang Mai, the tax officer thought I was nuts for filing a return when I didn't have to pay tax and didn't get a refund. Her exact words were, "you don't have to do this".

"Thailand is attempting to become a fully paid up member of CRS Reporting and fall in line with international standards on taxation",

Don't troll me boy!

Likewise, everyone I know is tax resident. I did meet a tourist once but I try to avoid them most days.

Post whatever you think that is because I don't see anything that changes that statement.

I wrote: "Only the funds that are remitted to Thailand are liable to Thai tax, at the time they are remitted". (meaning, funds that remain outside Thailand are not liable to Thai tax) That is completely true, as Sherrings confirms. https://sherrings.com/assessable-income-foreign-sources-thailand.html

Correct.

I think what you mean is that you will be required to file a tax return and account for the funds (or not) if they are taxable. There is no automatic default that you go and pay tax on the money.

I transferred in over 8 million, 15 years ago, nobody said anything, a million a year is nothing by comparison. An American chum purchased three condo's about 12 years ago and transferred large sums in the space of a week. His Thai wife got a call from BOT and asked her what they were doing and she explained they were buying condo's for investment.....oh, OK then, end of. That was 25 million in three transfers.

The banks act as agents of BOT, the Central Bank, and send details of ALL inbound and outbound remittances to BOT daily, it's the only way BOT can manage the forex market in Thailand and its currency. As far as your wife is concerned: she lives in the US and spends less than 180 days per year in Thailand hence she is not Thai tax resident.

I think what that says is that the pension money is assessable income under Thai tax law which must be declared to tax in the tax year it is imported, notwithstanding the fact any DTA may require that money to be treated in a certain way, eg disregarded.

Tell me that you don't think the banks will automatically take tax off your funds transfer and hand it over to the Revenue for you to try and claim back later, please tell you don't think that!

They will, at least the vast majority will. What are you going to do, write to your MP/Senator or go demonstrate!

You talk about income, I only talked about savings so yes, entirely accurate.