CWMcMurray

You get a positive number in line 7 and a negative number in line 21, which leads to a total income of 0...

I took a look at the rest of the sites listed on the IRS Free File site... Most require you to reside in the USA (states are listed). Only a few allow you to have a foreign address. I tried the few that mention that you can have a foreign address and none seem to work in my situation.

No worries, I will just need to mail it in.

Does anyone know if you get any sort of confirmation from the IRS if mailed and in no refund or taxes are owed?

Well since I couldn't EFile, I saved the completed forms... looks like I will need to print them out and mail them in...

Just received confirmation that my extension request was accepted, so I can send them by post after Songkran.

Dear Jim,

Thank you for the recommendation and I did try Tax Act and they do offer the overseas exemption (Form 2555) and went through the whole process, but at the very last point when I hit the button to accept 'EFile' a message cam up advising that I could not EFile because I did not have any taxable income.

100% of my income is from earnings in Thailand and I do not have anything in the US but a no interest checking account, so does this mean I can not Efile?

Dear Lopburi,

You have mentioned that you have been EFiling for the last 10 yrs, can you advise what program you use?

I work in Thailand and need to file my taxes and was hoping to find a way to file on-line, but have yet to find any online submission format that will also allow you to claim the overseas income exemption.

I finally settled for filing an extension online ....

I guess if I have to, I can print and mail everything in, but would much rather file online.

Does anyone have any experience with this? If so, has anyone found a website that will allow you to file an overseas income exemption along with your online tax filing?

As I remember from last year, many of the questions were poorly written with many possible answers that made logical sense, but only one "correct" answer for the test.

I also remember comments from some that many questions in the English section made absolutely no sense and would be difficult for even a native speaker to figure out what the answer they were looking for.

If this remained true for this years test, then I understand that the tests are horribly written and that no one could be expected to pass unless they were able to read the minds of those that wrote the tests or just got really really lucky in their guesses.

Has any one seen any of the sample questions from this years test?

Many MNCs have policy for equal employment opportunities... this means they can not specify race, gender, religion etc in their job adverts or they would not be in compliance with their own policies.

That being said, it appears that unless the Thai Government changes WP regulations, this means that for the time being only a Thai National can apply for this position.

If in the future, the WP regulations are changed by Thai government, then other nationalities could apply.

As others have said, this is the PC way to say Thai Nationals only without having any one claim that the company has unfair hiring practices.

a degree from ANY US school , save maybe liberty baptist , will , over the course of ur life , increase ur earnings potential a gazillion times compered to say a BA from Ram U .

college grads. make 8-10 grand a month here (baht ) = $300 US

This is a myth....

I graduated from University here and am working for a Thai company here .... and to be honest, I am doing just fine salary wise.

As to your question about finding legal work (with work permit, not under the table)... it will be nearly impossible without a degree and doubly so, for part time work. Most part time work for English teachers is all under the table without a work permit.

The teaching jobs that will issue work permits are for full time jobs, which would be impossible if you will be going to school full time.

If you are 20, then I would assume that you only have about 2 yrs left to finish your degree. Given your situation, I would highly recommend finishing your degree in the US. That being said, you could do an official study abroad for up to 1 yr (depending upon your school), which means that you could actually live in Thailand for 1 of your 2 remaining years. Also since you would still be a full time student at the US university, that means that you would still be able to collect all of you normal financial aid package while you are in Thailand.

If you are registered at a University overseas, you may not qualify for many of the US financial aid programs, in fact you could put yourself in hot water. I actually transferred over to Thailand to finish my degree, but when I transferred over to my Thai University, I actually had to start paying back my student loans.

I tried to appeal the decision and was told in no uncertain terms that payment was only deferred as long as you were enrolled in a US university and being a full time student at an overseas university did not count. Luckily, I was in a situation where this was not really a big deal and I could afford to pay back the loans, but from your OP it sounds like you would not be in a position to start paying back your student loans until after you graduate.

As advised earlier, I did transfer over here and finished my degree in Thailand and have actually been working Thai Company ever since, so it is definitely possible to do. The only reason why I am not suggesting for you to do the same is due to the fact that you have advised that you will need to "work your way through college" and there is really not much in the way of legal (with work permit) part time work for people without degrees in Thailand.

Once you have finished your degree, you could then easily come over to Thailand and should be able to find teaching work without much of a problem.

If you had some funds to live on and did not need to work, I would say go for it.

Congratulations, looks like it all worked out very well

Hells bells.

I used to walk that distance to school, and back, as a kid, in freezing conditions. Some had an even further journey to make.

3 miles IS NOT far to go regardless of the weather, especially when on a bike. Not far at all. Do Americans get to avoid these (oh so harrowing) journeys themselves or do they have to travel just like everybody else?

If you really want to help them tell them that they have to like it or lump it, and welcome them to the real world!

3 miles...... on a bike..... pffft

And I bet it was uphill... both ways !!!!

I agree with the OP, it seems that they did not get what they signed up for. The worst part about it is that there are agencies and groups that could probably help them, but I am sure that they would never consider contacting the government for help. After all, they are a product of their upbringing and experiences...

After all, how many Thai people do you know, who would consider contacting a Thai government official for help?

... and it doesn't count if the Thai government official is a family member or a close family friend

I understand that you have the money to do it if you want to, but does it make sense?

Just want to make sure I understand this correctly.... you want to buy an investment property and spend money to fully furnish with the hopes that you can rent it out for less than the mortgage payment?

So even if you can maintain 100% residency rate, you are still losing money every month.

Wouldn't it make a bit more sense for your wife to invest her 28k per month in something else?

Monthly rental rate there is about 25k thb per month. fully furnished.

Hi the rate is around 7.5 %

30 years Loan Period

monthly payment: THB 27.968.50

I know that everyone is technically correct, but if he is willing to buy this land in his girlfriend's name then at the end of the day isn't it really a non-issue? After all, it would be her that is "being cheated" not him and she seems ok with it....

Even if he did end up marrying her this land would still not be considered as joint asset in the case of divorce, since it was purchased before the marriage.

At the end of the day,rather than getting all wrapped up in this issue, just realize what is officially being bought is what is on the paperwork and decide if the price they are asking is ok with you. If the difference in price is about 7k thb, just think about it like this....

If the seller advised that they wanted to raise the price for the original plot of land by this much would you still be interested in buying the plot of land?

There are a lot more Condos in the 10,000 - 15,000 thb range that are now accessible by MRT and BTS, so the demand for these 30-40k condos is down.

As others have said, the shipment should be in your wife's name. As long as she has been living in the country of origin for at least one year she will qualify for duty privilege.

Your customs agent in Thailand will need an itemized invoice with value of all items, so be sure to do this in the UK when you are packing things up otherwise it may be more difficult for you to remember all the items a month later when the container arrives in Thailand.

Also I always see a lot of folks complain about the "inspection fee" that customs request, but have never seen any one explain a bit more about why this is incurred.

Basically, as per Thai customs regulations ever single item in the shipment must be noted on the invoice and import entry for customs. This is even needed if the import duty is 0% or exempt under Duty privilege for house hold goods. The reality of the situation is that if you are importing a 20ft or 40ft container of household goods into Thailand it is a near certainty that every item is not going to be on the invoice (and Thai Customs officers know this)

When ever this issue comes up, my comments are always the same... if you are sure that every item in the container is on the invoice that you provided to us, then do not pay a single cent and let customs open the container and inspect the goods if they want to.

If on the other hand, every item is not on the invoice provided then better to pay the "inspection fee" as if the customs officer is in a bad mood he could legally by law seize the entire shipment if they inspect the goods and find any items that were not declared on the invoice in the container.

So whether or not you end up paying this charge is completely up to you....

Also the storage charges are charged by the liner and port, the agent does not have any control over these charges. The best way to prevent storage charges is to contact a customs broker in Thailand well before your container arrives and ensure that they register you with Thai customs and prepare the import entry before the vessel arrives.

Yes there is demand for Business English teachers, but there is also a big supply as well, especially in Bangkok.... I put up a Job posting for a Business English position as some of the employees at our company asked me for help to find an English teacher for classes after work.

In less than 12 hours from the time that the add was placed, I received aprox 30 applications....

Given the overwhelming response I had to ask them to pull the add after only 12 hours as I had received CV's from so many qualified applicants already.

I think most teachers will get a full time job at a school for a steady income and Business English teaching is primarily done as a way to supplement their income.

I would not recommend buying stocks in your position, since the date required to deposit your funds for your retirement extension would then dictate when you must sell those securities rather than the actual market situation.

I would recommend a 9 month fixed deposit or a 9 month B/E (bill of exchange). You can buy either at any bank.

The only real difference between the two is that a fixed deposit is protected by the Thai government in the case the bank goes under, but a B/E is not.

You can check with all of the local Thai Banks, but when I was comparing rates last month, the best I could find was a 9 month B/E from Kiatnakin Bank offering 3 %.

I do not know if this type of account can be used for Immigration purposes but if just for savings, they are not a bad deal. Especially if you want some place to put that portion of your saving that you want to leave liquid "just in case" but that you really do not plan on using unless the

I have similar account with TMB and you can split up in "parts", but only use one account book. So you can break it up into 50,000k chunks (or more or less) so that if you have to pull out some, then you do not loose the higher interest on the rest of the money.

And on the opposite side of the spectrum the most famous "open university" in Thailand

Tuition Fees are due each semester during the enrollment period.

A student enrollment is not complete until all fees are paid. The schedule

of fees appear as follows.

All fees are in Thai Baht.

1. General Fees

regular/special program for Regional Centers Academic fee (per credit) 25 / 80 Service fees :

150 / 150

50 / -

-/ 100

Tuition fees for Universities can vary greatly in Thailand, but below are the charges at one of the "big 3" below...

Undergraduate Programs

General Fees

Admission fee (for 4 years): THB 10,000

Trimester Academic Fee (per trimester): THB 8,400

Major Fee for Non-science (per trimester): THB 10,000

Major Fee for Science (per trimester): THB 12,000

Professional Fee for EMP (per trimester): THB 38,000

Professional Fee for CDP (per trimester): THB 25,000

Bank Fee: THB 20

Business Administration Program Resident/Non-Resident

Tuition and Fees (per 4 years) : THB 598,800.00/785,800.00

Tuition and Fees (per 1 year) : THB 149,700.00 / 196,450.00

Tuition and Fees (per 1 semester) : THB 49,900.00/65,483.00

Communication Design Program Resident/Non-Resident

Tuition and Fees (per 4 years) : THB 1,178,800.00/ 1,466,800.00

Tuition and Fees (per 1 year) : THB 294,700.00 /366,700.00

Tuition and Fees (per 1 semester) : THB 98,233.00/122,233.00

Entertainment Media Program Resident/Non-Resident

Tuition and Fees (per 4 years) : THB 1,318,800.00/1,598,800.00

Tuition and Fees (per 1 year) : THB 329,700.00 / 399,700.00

Tuition and Fees (per 1 semester) : THB 109,900.00 /133,234.00

Applied Mathematics Resident/Non-Resident

Tuition and Fees (per 4 years) : THB 636,800.00 / 824,800.00

Tuition and Fees (per 1 year) : THB 159,200.00 / 206,200.00

Tuition and Fees (per 1 semester) : THB 53,067.00 /68,734.00

Biological Science Resident/Non-Resident

Tuition and Fees (per 4 years) : THB 640,800.00 / 798,800.00

Tuition and Fees (per 1 year) : THB 160,200.00 / 199,700.00

Tuition and Fees (per 1 semester): THB 53,400.00/ 66,567.00

Chemistry Major Resident/Non-Resident

Tuition and Fees (per 4 years) : THB 632,800.00 / 820,800.00

Tuition and Fees (per 1 year) : THB 158,200.00 / 205,200.00

Tuition and Fees (per 1 semester) : THB 52,734.00/68,400.00

Computer Engineering Major Resident/Non-Resident

Tuition and Fees (per 4 years) : THB 630,800.00 / 813,800.00

Tuition and Fees (per 1 year): THB 157,700.00/ 203,450.00

Tuition and Fees (per 1 semester): THB 52,567.00/67,817.00

Computer Science Major Resident/Non-Resident

Tuition and Fees (per 4 years) : THB 640,800.00 / 826,800.00

Tuition and Fees (per 1 year) : THB 160,200.00 / 206,700.00

Tuition and Fees (per 1 semester) : THB 53,400.00 /68,900.00

Environment Major Resident/Non-Resident

Tuition and Fees (per 4 years) : THB 620,800.00 / 798,800.00

Tuition and Fees (per 1 year): THB 155,200.00 / 199,700.00

Tuition and Fees (per 1 semester) : THB 51,734.00 /66,567.00

Food Science and Technology Major Resident/Non-Resident

Tuition and Fees (per 4 years) : THB 654,800.00 / 841,800.00

Tuition and Fees (per 1 year) : THB 163,700.00 / 210,450.00

Tuition and Fees (per 1 semester) : THB 54,567.00/ 70,150.00

Nursing Science Major Resident/Non-Resident

Tuition and Fees (per 4 years) : THB 593,800.00/ 811,800.00

Tuition and Fees (per 1 year) : THB 148,450.00 / 202,950.00

Tuition and Fees (per 1 semester) : THB 49,484.00/ 67,650.00

Physics Major Resident/Non-Resident

Tuition and Fees (per 4 years) : THB 626,800.00/ 810,800.00

Tuition and Fees (per 1 year) : THB 156,700.00 / 202,700.00

Tuition and Fees (per 1 semester) : THB 52,234.00/67,567.00

Social Science Major Resident/Non-Resident

Tuition and Fees (per 4 years) : THB 586,800.00 / 766,800.00

Tuition and Fees (per 1 year) : THB 146,700.00 /191,700.00

Tuition and Fees (per 1 semester) : THB 48,900.00 /63,900.00

Travel Industry Management Major Resident/Non-Resident

Tuition and Fees (per 4 years) : THB 592,800.00 / 745,800.00

Tuition and Fees (per 1 year) : THB 148,200.00 / 186,450.00

Tuition and Fees (per 1 semester) : THB 49,400.00 / 62,150.00

That is pretty normal, we also had to take out insurance as well. After all, the bank has to protect their loan.

I would recommend contacting the Impact Arena in the Muang Thontani district of Bangkok... they have been the venue the last couple years for "Disney on Ice" show when it came to Thailand... they may be able to out you in touch with the promoter who handled that show...

Since inter-school brawls between relatively small groups of kids are on average far deadlier than most sizable political rallies, shouldn't there be more focus on these kind of stories?

Why isn't there more investigative journalism here? Interview teachers, interview kids, get stats on the worst areas and schools with the worst reputation, look into the motivating factors and characters involved etc etc. But there's none of this.

It appears that the lives of a-political kids have no value to those who would need a real reason to get upset about their deaths.

Why would they bother.... its not like anyone important has kids going to Vocational Schools... now if it had happened in front of Chula or Thammasat, then we would have a real problem and I an sure the movers and shakers would do what ever it took to ensure the safety of the students

We just purchased our home last year and at the time looked at about a half a dozen Banks and all advised the same thing... they do not offer fixed mortgages...

You wife's mother would also need to be working and qualify for the mortgage as well.

As others have said, the easiest way would be to finance in the UK (interest is likely to be lower too). Can you refinance your mortgage in UK or take our a Home Equity loan?

If so, take an extra 1.5 million thb and then transfer over to Thailand to buy the house.