Mike Lister

The filing system is mostly online but paper copies are still available. I take my spreadsheet to the revenue office and ask the staff there to enter the info the system which they are always happy to do. I've never filled out a paper copy so I don't know where they should be mailed but I'll find out.

That's very interesting....thank you.

My crystal ball is on holiday in The Maldives, I'll ask when it returns. 🙂

In total you will likely be eligible for about 500,000 baht in deductions and allowances plus some of your income is likely to be tax free, according to the DTA. Please read the last couple of posts in the thread I sent you and you'll get the picture.

The reason your age is important because if you are over age 65, you are entitled to a further 190,000 baht in deductions that younger people are not. There are many other TEDA, [perhaps you should read the following:

I'm wrong! I've just read the gold price results from Chinese retail investors. https://www.mining.com/web/golds-record-setting-rally-may-have-its-roots-in-chinese-frenzy/#:~:text=Stock image.,explanation may lie in China.

Apparently, the answer to why gold price is rising and who is buying, is, the Chinese retail market, the small guys, not the big ones. https://www.mining.com/web/golds-record-setting-rally-may-have-its-roots-in-chinese-frenzy/#:~:text=Stock image.,explanation may lie in China.

Expats here are constantly talking about the need for a Plan B on most things in Thailand, which is very sensible of course. I think adopting a wait and see approach on the tax issue and not trying to second guess what might happen in the future, is a sensible Plan A. But any plan B related to the tax issue requires an understanding of what your personal exposure might be, which is why I think information discovery is important and I think that's what these threads are about, it's certainly what the tax guide is about. That's not being proactive, that's setting the scene and having sufficient information to execute a Plan B, if Plan A requires it. I don't know about others but all my Plan B's in life are based on a Plan A worst case scenario.

I see China's gold buying efforts as a different agenda to USD value. I think China has seen what the US has done to Russia by freezing their USD assets and are determined not to be caught out the same way, if they decide to do something that displeases the West. So I don't see that as a lack of confidence in USD, I think it's more about developing a Plan B for the future.

Thanks for this, much appreciated.

Yes, very much so, that piece of mind knowing you've drawn a line under the year is important to many people, it is to me also. Which spawned another thought....how far back can the TRD request an audit, is it 7 years, anyone know? In other news.....I just filed my UK tax and I will pay 86 Pounds tax. It could have been zero but I wanted to pay a token amount so that, in keeping with previous years, I can demonstrate that I both file and pay. Line drawn under year.

I did and they are very inexpensive by comparison. They are also the wrong size and don't have anything in stock but apart from those things they're perfect. 🙂 I know they can be had far cheaper than my local supplier wants to charge, which really is why I've posted here.

An interesting and not by any means unique or rare example of how providing information in the Tax Guide is helpful to many. A member contacted me because they were concerned about the impact of the new tax rules and wanted to understand their liability, they had been fretting about it for some time. This person is retired and like me, has income from multiple countries and also significant savings overseas that are used to supplement their living expenses here. Their living expenses are in the region of 100k baht per month so they were concerned that the tax impact could be significant. After we went through the details, we found that the pension income from country A is exempt by virtue of a DTA but the pension income from country B is taxable. The savings resulted from the sale of real estate in their home country and earned before 1 January 2024. The combination of those things, along with TEDA of 500k, means that person is nowhere near to paying tax on any income in Thailand, their assessible income is less than 250k baht per year, this means they can import a further 250k if they wish and still be free of tax. So here we have a member who was concerned and had been worried because of a 1.2 mill. p.a. lifestyle and the associated tax implications but it turns out there aren't any. This kind of story is very common, people are afraid because they don't know and when they find out the facts, that fear goes away. What can I say, read the guide and if you don't understand your situation, PM me and we'll try to figure it out together. But please note, this thread is not intended or able to assess overly complex or high income tax positions, those people can afford paid for tax guidance.

I think it's great that some people are comfortable with what you've described and many will be. But I think it's important to remember that the AN membership is very diverse and contains a lot of older members on limited incomes who always want to play by the rules in Thailand. Many of the messages I've received over the past four months are from people whose priority was to abide by the rules and breaking them is a real fear for many. You and I can agree the realities of how "rules" work here sometimes but that doesn't remove their fear. Frequently, media sites such as AN are the sole source of English language information on topics such as tax and immigration rules for many people. This is why I think it's really important to present facts or near facts rather than to advise or suggest/recommend, because one size doesn't fit all. Another aspect of course is that you might be surprised at how many members consider that the risk of a potential 2,000 baht fine is not one they can afford or want to take. Lastly, if ever you do get down to District 1 & 2 Revenue offices in Chiang Mai, it's a few hundred meters from Rajavej and there's loads of parking available, all the time.

A local store stocks them but they're pricey at 5,800 for 120 cms wide....we have six of them! In the past we've found one off shops/suppliers where they can be had for half that price hence now looking for similar.

They wont send you one automatically, if you want to file you will have to go to the Revenue office and get a form or file.

You were told incorrectly, you can reclaim the tax on that interest. If you are unable to get a TIN easily, I suggest you tell the TRD officer that you want to pay tax on property rental income and can they tell you how to do that, I imagine they will be more responsive. Also, you dont say what type of TRD office you applied at, you should make the request at the District Office and if that doesn't work, go to the Regional office.

Any income earned before 1 January 2024 is free of Thai tax, when remitted to Thailand.

You don't need to do anything if you are not tax resident in a particular year, no notification is necessary.

Looking to replace a 120 cm external bamboo roller blind..... Any shops/outlets in Chiang Mai spring to mind? TIA

I don't know how constructive or useful it is to pit the views of one tax consultancy against another or even to pit two opposing members views against each other, when for the moment nothing can be confirmed. The position of the Tax Guide is that the interpretation of the RD code by Dogmatix in his earlier post, confirmed by the PWC handbook extract, also posted several times, is as good as it gets for the time being, until the TRD comes along and speaks differently. I'm therefore leaving the wording in the document on this topic, as is, but will point out to members that I have added a disclaimer on the first page, explaining the difficulty we have in arriving at an agreed definitive end point on all aspects.

Sriphat OPD appears to utilise two floors of the IPD building which comprises one bed rooms, floors 11 and 12 as I recall. Having worked previously for Mt Sinai Hospital in Miami Beach, I am aware of what a high quality. good standard private hospital room looks like and there is no question in my mind that the two are very close. By contrast however, my wife had surgery in Suan Doc some years ago and the room there was private but wasn't even even remotely close to the quality of the Siphat rooms. I imagine that the other floors of the IPD similar may be very different.

Please see Dogmatix quote from the TRD on this point, it mirrors the PWC quote. p

Your point is well taken and the example of taxpayer is also very good. But isn't this exactly what the large tax and accountancy firms have done, Big 4 firms almost certainly won't rely on what others say, they will do as you have done and gone to the original source of the information and make their own translations. Some posters have suggested that the likes of PWC and other large firms have a bias and only want to scare people into using them for assistance with tax. That's ridiculous of course since the Big 4 aren't interested in consumer tax prep or advice, they want large commercial clients. It follows therefore that reading documents such as the latest PWC handbook will provide reliable answers to many of the questions and issues being debated here, without resorting to reinventing the wheel case in point, the quotes posted several times regarding who must file a tax return, but argued as incorrect.,

Historically, now is about as good as it gets. If me, I'd at least trade 50% and then wait on the remainder to see what happens next,