cdenn

That's interesting. Under the UK system you're either tax resident or not. There's no concept of being fully / partly tax resident there. If you're resident you're taxable on your worldwide income and if you're non-resident you're only taxable on income arising in the UK. It could be that different rules apply to capital gains, I suppose. I'll have to look at that. It's possible to be tax resident in the UK despite spending way way less than 180 days of the year in the country, depending on your circumstances, but anyway I'm not tax resident there. AFAIK all the other countries I visit have the 180 days or more rule, and I haven't spent 180 days in any of them, so currently I'm not tax resident anywhere... but it seems all the banks and platforms require you to state your country of tax residence, which leaves me locked out. I believe they ask so that they can comply with their money laundering obligations, so in a way it's fair enough, but it's still annoying, especially when you don't know if it really matters or if it's just a formality.

Is the rule that the company must have at least 4 employees continuously throughout the year, or would you be OK if you had say 2 permanent employees plus 8 temporary employees who worked for 3 months of the year, which works out the same if you average it out?

Thanks, that makes sense. I don't think it matters all that much whether it's treated as income or savings because I won't normally be tax resident in Thailand anyway. I looked at the Saxo link but again it asks you for your country of residence and I don't have one (not tax resident anywhere, no right of residence outside the UK, spend no time in the UK, have no home there). The more I think about it the more the issue is not knowing what to put for that question / not knowing what the consequences would be if they decided, maybe several years down the line, that whatever I had put was wrong and the account should never have been opened. I can arrange to be resident in Thailand next year because I will be eligible for a retirement visa, but it's not clear whether this is really necessary just to open an investment account, and anyway it would just be for that one year. Might they come back and check I was still resident in a later year? What would they do if they found that I wasn't? In the meantime, would they report the income to the Thai tax agency, and would that cause a problem given I wouldn't be putting in a tax return? So many unknowns.

That's worth knowing, thanks. It's not easy to square that with "You must let us know if you are not, or cease to be, resident in the UK or the EEA and/or become resident in the USA. For these purposes you are deemed to be resident in a country if you have lived, or move with the intention of living, in that country for 12 months or more" though. I mean if it works then great and I'm not trying to dictate to anyone else, but I wouldn't be comfortable doing that. My personal allowance is already used unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it...)

I've heard a couple of times now that if you have a long lease you can't also have a mortgage over the freehold. Does anyone know if there's any truth to this?

Yes, in the UK. The problem is that whenever I look at opening an account they ask me where I am tax resident and I can't truthfully tell them that I'm tax resident anywhere. I could arrange to be tax resident somewhere in the year I opened the account, but I'm concerned I'll run into problems if I cease to be tax resident at some later point (which is highly likely). That's why the idea of an offshore platform that doesn't care where you are tax resident was attractive. It's dawning on me now though that these aren't specialised brokers / platforms, they're the same platforms that everyone uses and it's just that if you have an account outside Thailand, there has been the option to have returns paid into that account and transfer them to Thailand in another tax year, avoiding Thai tax even if you're resident.

From their terms and conditions: We offer a full range of services to UK residents and may be able to offer limited services where you are resident outside the UK. You must let us know if you are not, or cease to be, resident in the UK or the EEA and/or become resident in the USA. For these purposes you are deemed to be resident in a country if you have lived, or move with the intention of living, in that country for 12 months or more. We may not be able to offer some or all of our services to you if you cease to be resident in the UK. Those dealing with us from outside the UK may not be afforded UK legislative protections and should check their own state’s legislation and tax laws before undertaking a transaction with us. More concretely (from the online help): Can I still add money to my Fund and Share Account if I move abroad? If you will be resident within the EEA (European Economic Area), then you can add money to, or apply for, an HL Fund and Share Account. If you will be resident outside of these areas you will be able to retain your existing HL Fund and Share Account but you will not be able to add new money. However, you will still be able to place deals on your account as per our Terms and Conditions. I don't think returns on this type of investment are covered by the DTT but assume HMRC would regard them as income arising in the UK because the platform is based in the UK, so currently taxable twice if brought in in the same year, no?

Do you worry that they will check if you're still resident in the UK? Or would you just give them proof of residence in Thailand? I am not resident in the UK so I don't think HL would let me open an account (looked at that before, admittedly a while back).

There's a DTT between Thailand and the UK which expressly covers rent.

I know (tbh that's why I'm asking now, while it still makes sense for a lot of people) but those changes only apply to tax residents. I might be resident in the year when I got it all set up but not after that. One issue is whether that creates a risk of being debanked / booted off the platform.

When you say offshore, would that typically be in your home country, or are there jurisdictions that will let you open a bank account without being a resident or citizen? Is there no tax charged in the broker's jurisdiction then? Is the KYC a one-time thing or would there be ongoing checks? I've been splitting my time between a few different countries over the last few years and have not spent long enough in any of them to become resident. As far as I know this means I can't open any type of investment account at the moment. I will turn 50 next year though, so the plan was to apply for a retirement visa and get access to investment facilities that way. I would probably go back to travelling around soon after though, so if they asked for proof of residence at a later time, it might be difficult to provide.

I think there is or at least used to be some way of investing offshore from Thailand and then bringing the investment income in in a different year so that it was not taxable. Can anyone tell me how this is done, i.e. do you have to go through a specific bank or broker, what paperwork do they want to see to open an account etc. I know there are tax changes in the pipeline BTW. Thanks