The Cyclist

I think @smedly was referring to expats in Thailand with legitimate sources of income from their home Countries. Not local Thais.

Right. So the only question I have out of this whole debacle is:- If it is not assessable income, do I need to go and get a TIN and file a tax return on my non assessable income ?

Interesting Foreign tourists sought out an RD Office, filed tax returns and threw money at the RD. Who would have guessed at such stupidity. Or is the auther conflating a rise in indirect taxation, VAT etc, due to a rise in tourism with a rise Income tax reciepts. Any rise in income tax reciepts from 01 Jan 2024 will most not likely happen before July 2024 and more likely to happen between Jan - March 2025.

Do you think the Thai Gov / RD gives a 2nd thought to your affairs ? You do reside ( at least sometimes ) in Thailand ? What should happen, is more often than not, somewhat different here in Thailand.

Perhaps it has sought opinions from stakeholders and postponed for a couple of years, and just forgot to announce it. Hence the sound of silence.

Do you know the difference between a new Law and a new interpretation of an existing Law ? Same as you did any other day, month, year.

Interesting I was late to the party and thought with the ongoing hysterics it was set in stone rather than a mere proposal. Which makes everything even more funny.

The same as the Tax consultancies are waiting on, the same as tax experts are waiting on, the same as most people on this and other threads are waiting on. Clarity coming from the Thai Gov / RD. All the people named above will probably tell you that the new interpretation of the rules started on the 01 Jan 2024. What none of them are sure of is what exactly the new interpretation covers.

Or we could wait until the Thai Gov / RD spell out the details. Which would save you time and effort typing out draft copies, which might well be shot down in flames when the the Thai Gov /RD get round to publishing something concrete. Because until then, everything, including your bandwidth sapping draft copies ( why would you even do such a thing ) is nothing but opinion.

Thought you put me on ignore yesterday ? With nearly 600 posts on the thread, were you looking in a mirror when you. typed the above ? Keep up the good work. The RD are apparently taking on people, might be a job opportunity for you.

Coming from the poster with the most comments on the thread and almost double the amount of his nearest challenger. Not sure if the irony or comedy value of this comment is the strongest.

You don't. Only what Thailand considers ' assessable income ' is pertinent to the thread. The ' Majority ' all come from different Countries and have different income streams, different DTA's, some might not even have DTA's. The only people who can inform and educate is the Thai Gov / Thai RD. Other experts can go into overdive and tout for business once definitive instructions have been issued by the Gov / RD. Everything else is speculation. I asked a question yesterday. Is my Gov pension ( non taxable in Thailand ) considered ' assessable income ' if it is not considered ' assessable income ' Do I need to file a Thai tax return. There is no definitive answer, and others have posted similar questions since. Nothing will be cut and dried until the Gov / RD extract their finger and make further announcements.

The UK - Thai DTA is pretty basic, probably by design. Which is why my Private Pension is now hitting my UK account instead of my Thai account. Which may change once the Thai Gov / RD comes out with clarification.

I am quite clear on the UK - Thai DTA regarding Government pensions and other pensions. What I was not clear on ( But was led to believe ) was that my Government Pension was not classed as ' assessable income ' and therefore no annual Thai Tax filing was required.

Thought that be the case. Although why a certain poster thinks that what happens in Germany happens throughout the rest of the World is beyond me.

Gov pension remitted directly to Thailand, P60's and Statements of Future Payments in a Nyrex folder. Cross refencing made easy. I am led to believe that you only have to file a Thai tax return if you have ' assessable income ' I am also led to believe ( but I could be wrong ) that income that is covered by a DTA is not classed as ' assessable income ' Agreed, which is why my private pension ( until I get official clarification ) is. now sent to my UK bank. I am still working on the assumption ( Until the Thai Gov / RD says otherwise ) income that is already taxed in your home Country will not be re-taxed in Thailand. Although people might have to get TIN's and file ' Nil ' tax returns.

Never filed a tax return in Thailand, for the reasons I bullet pointed above. So cannot comment on the above, although I would think that if you were subsequently audited and found to be telling little porky pies on the tax return you would be in the brown stuff, signed by the RD ot not

Yes there was a statement made to that effect. I was more thinking of the potential workload for the RD. Filing and checking all those pensions for no tax money collected. Is it possible that Germans living in Thailand do not pay tax in Germany on their pensions, and will now have to pay tax in Thailand ? A loophole being closed that allowed people to avoid tax. In the post that you quoted, it was clear the discussion was about pensions that were already taxed in the UK.

It could also be said that the RD might also be aware that the income from that ' Group ' was mostly covered by DTA 's and it would be a fruitless exercise chasing them to file tax returns when no monies would be payable.

Sure. I'm one of them. Is a pension covered by a DTA classed as ' assessable income ' ? I think not.

Yes I am sure others will have their own unique reasons. I just jotted down a few that were pertinent to me ( and probably others )

Re-invention of old fairytales It used to be Jack and the beanstalk, now it is Jack and the magic money trees.

If you are paying the appropriate tax on income - It can never be classed as tax evasion. Is that why the Big 4 keep getting skelped with massive fines. They dont know the difference between ' Avoidance ' and ' Evasion ' That comes under those pesky basics you keep talking about.

So it wouldn't be tax evasion then. Thanks for clearing that up.

Thought you worked for 1 of the big 4 ? The above would not be tax evasion if tax had already been paid at source.