Mike Lister

Yes you will but no they are not, at least not in my opinion. The Thai bank charges for the spread between buy and sell on most currencies, historically, has always been far better than anything found in the West. That spread for paper money is always going to be large because if capitalises on tourists who want to exchange cash. But the TT rates are significantly better. USD paper money buy = 36.49 USD paper money sell = 37.22 USD TT rate buy = 36.82 USD TT rate sell = 37.12 As you can see, the total spread for paper money is 0.73 whilst the total spread on the TT rate is only 0.30. https://www.bangkokbank.com/en/Personal/Other-Services/View-Rates/Foreign-Exchange-Rates

Too many members fail to understand all the possible charges associated with these accounts, banks are in the business of selling products that make money, nothing is for free, even if it seems that way. The model that most members seem to have in their minds is that they will deposit foreign currency into a FCY account and then when the exchange rate looks promising, convert those funds into THB and spend them. But what if the exchange rate never looks right and the funds just sit there, is there an annual charge and what about the loss of interest that would otherwise have been earned? And what if your circumstances change and you want to send that foreign currency back overseas, can you and at what cost and, as we heard from one member, does it have to be exchanged into THB first and then foreign currency purchased again, before it can be remitted! As for withdrawing foreign currency in cash, USD or GBP or similar, what is the process the bank goes through and what is the cost, even if the currency in the first place!

Let me backtrack on this by saying that UK State Pension MAY not be taxable, where there are no other income streams and the total falls within the Personal Allowance. Case in point moi! In some years, my sole UK income is my UK State Pension which is less than the Personal Allowance hence it is not taxed.

Does anyone understand even a little bit, what the heck is going on in markets currently because I don't! S&P way over valued but pushing higher, despite the yield curve remaining inverted and bond yields touching 5% and inflation coming in hot!!! I am reminded of the phrase, "markets can remain irrational longer than you can remain solvent". https://finance.yahoo.com/news/wall-street-humbled-fast-reversing-203427974.html

The issue of commingled funds and the risk they carry has been on the table for many months. Para 69 says this about them: 69) Funds from various sources that are all contained in the same bank account are referred to as commingled funds. Trying to account for them separately can be difficult, unless you keep complete records that show the individual sources of those funds. Much of this comes down to individual discipline and the ability to retain and file receipts and statements. 70) Some tax authorities have policies regarding commingled funds, policies such as LIFO, (last in, first out) which is primarily an inventory management technique but could be used with commingled fund accounts. The UK says that capital and gain entering a mixed or commingled account, loses its identity and that any remittance from the fund, is income first, capital second. We are not aware of the TRD policy regarding commingled funds or even if one exists. If you hold funds in this way, the two options open to you currently are, keep detailed records that describe all the feeds into a commingled account, or separate the sources into their own accounts.

Nobody suggested you were/are evading tax. But posting threads and asking questions about tax evasion on AN Forum is against the rules, which is why the thread was closed. How each member chooses to address the issue of tax in Thailand is their own very personal choice. I personally would not adopt your approach because I am more risk averse. I wouldn't want to do nothing and then several years hence, have an IO ask for my tax ID. After I'd satisfied the IO's request I' would have potentially opened myself to scrutiny by the TRD who is perhaps beginning to wonder why I've been in country fir so many years and only now obtaining a tax ID, what ever has he been doing for the past X years they might wonder. But that's just me, others mileage may vary.

A member asked in another thread (now unfortunately closed): "please explain how the Thai tax authorities can differentiate between income and savings in an Australian bank account". The answer is, they can't and they won't, it's not their role to do that, that's your job! YOU have to declare on a tax return, exactly what the funds represent, savings or income. If you say savings, and only you know, you must be prepared to prove that fact with documentation, if subsequently asked. @Lacessit

A couple of points. The first is that there is no indication whatsoever that Thai banks will woth hold tax on international transfers, I think that is a one in a million chance of happening! Secondly, please don't discuss ways to evade tax in Thailand or the thread will have to be closed.

Yes I agree, it's at the bottom of the pile.

Except the UK State pension is not taxed

I quizzed my wife about similar, years ago. It turns out she was recruited as freelance hence responsible for her own taxes, although I don't think she understood that at the time.

I keep two Thai bank accounts for that reason, one for receiving income, the other for investing, Imm money and savings. Separating funds in the UK or overseas level would also make good sense.

We hear some months ago that the TRD is recruiting one new lawyer to work at each of the TRD regional offices, they clearly see the problem too!

Never mind

I believe you must use the TRD office in the Region and District where you live. You might call the TRD Help Line and ask them to tell you which office that is, based on your post code.

It doesn't get much more anecdotal than that!

If we do agree that's fine, it's just that I took the following to mean that you didn't believe it would happen. "But pretending that this has happened already or that we know how the varous local revenues will seek to enforce this is simply false. Until next years filing deadlines, no one really knows what they will do in practice". I maintain that the law change has already happened and that enforcement will either come as a result of more audits or a link to Immigration for visa renewal purposes, I see both those things as probable but the latter more so. What they will do in practise, I think, is process tax returns from people who submit them and audit the ones that look suspicious, just as they do now. Over time they will increase the number of audits and will begin to look at Thai bank reporting of international bank transfers and start to examine if those people filed returns and declared the funds. Perhaps they will write, perhaps they will call or perhaps a new visa rule will negate much of that because foreigners will have no choice but to file or leave

The TM30 example is a good one. That law was created in 1979, used for a short time then suspended and then suddenly used again without warning a few years ago. The big risk for us is that some of these so called dormant tax laws follow the same path. Although the TM30 laws and the requirement to report a foreigner's stay have been in place since 1979, the government has only recently begun to enforce them more strictly and added this as a requirement to the 90-day reporting and visa extension. https://thailand-elite.com/what-is-tm30-all-about/#:~:text=Although the TM30 laws and,day reporting and visa extension.

A new version of the document incorporates most of the points discussed this week and has been posted in the OP in the Simple Tax Guide thread..

I'm sorry but what you wrote is not correct! The rule change (or reinterpretation of the rules) has been made last year and is in effect from 1 January 2024 and everyone is obliged to adhere to it, Thais and foreigners. Everyone is obliged to follow those rules, there is absolutely no doubt whatsoever about that. What is in question is two things: 1) the precise rules and processes that TRD will adopt for all types of income from all countries, that is what many of us are attempting to discover presently. 2) The degree to which the TRD will follow up and audit individuals for conformance to the new rules. This may not become fully apparent for a couple of years. The risk is that some people will adopt a wait and see attitude and when no major announcement is forthcoming they may be lulled into a false sense of security and believe the new rules have been scrapped when really they have been operationalised since 1 January 2024. How you handle this rule change is you choice but it is not true and is very misleading to say that just because all the details are not known currently, it hasn't happened and will not happen. If this rule change is ever walked back, everyone will hear that news, quite unmistakably.

Yes I'm certain, it's confirmed, I swear on the bible! The UK residency system is different because it uses a system of ties to determine tax residency. 90 days is only useful under certain circumstances and is only one small part of that picture. https://www.litrg.org.uk/international/residence-and-domicile/uk-tax-residence/statutory-residence-test#:~:text=Broadly they are as follows,which you should also consider).

Yes I'm certain, it comes from the TRD. NO country in the world uses 182.5 days to determine tax residency although some do use 183!

I have returned a previous point to the list of unknowns because there are too many mixed messages regarding what is the correct answer: P) - Returned to the list: The issue of whether income earned in a year when tax resident but remitted to Thailand in a year when not tax resident………….is it taxable? Many contradictory reports on this, even from within TRD and tax consultants themselves.

I have returned a previous point to the list of unknowns because there are too many mixed messages regarding what is the correct answer: P) - Returned to the list: The issue of whether income earned in a year when tax resident but remitted to Thailand in a year when not tax resident………….is it taxable? Many contradictory reports on this, even from within TRD and tax consultants themselves.

Firstly, my apologies about the earlier link, I knew it was not the right one but forgot to remove it before I ran off down the the TRD office to find the right answer. Your quote above is the Head of Office of the TRD in Bangkok but it is not recommended that you mail returns there. The advice I have received from both TRD and from others mirrors what is written in the following link: "In order to file a hard copy personal income tax return using form PND 90/91, taxpayers must do so at any Revenue Department Area Office along with any additional tax that is owed in cash, by cashier’s check, or by QR code, and that must be paid within seven days of the date the tax return was issued. The deadline is March 31; after that, late filers will be charged an additional 1.5% monthly surcharge (or fraction thereof) on top of the unpaid tax. Those who apply will have access to interest-free installment payment plans for up to three months. The penalty for submitting documents late ranges from THB 200 to 2,000". https://franklegaltax.com/2023-tax-return-filing-in-thailand/ Mailing returns to Bangkok is not advised because the mail system is not sufficiently robust and Bangkok is not geared up to receive them in large volumes.