oldcpu

Living in Thailand for 1 year can be considered a 'right' that Visa Exempt does not have. An agent won't get you a Yellow Book. An agent requires $$$ to open a bank account for Visa exempt. Those on the Type-O/OA can open without that and they have the 'right' to keep their money -as opposed to Visa exempt who has to give up that money to open the bank account.

I just told you. Try to get a one year extension on your permission to stay in Thailand on a visa exempt. I just told you. Sure if you want to pay a bunch of extra $$$$$ that those on the 1-year visa don't have to pay. Those on the Non-O / OA visas are out drinking and eating with that money, while those Visa exempt have to hand it to an agent in order to circumvent bank policy. AGAIN, without an agent, visa exempt you can't open a bank account. Having a yellow book, allowed me to use that# as a tax-ID, unfreeze a foreign bank/trading account, and make a timely stock trade earning me $40,000 US. Without the yellow book ? Nope. The local RD office denied me a Thai TIN. Is that clear enough for you. So I ask you again, try to get a yellow book on a Visa exempt. Try. I just did.

Glad to read that. Of course 30-day visa exemption stamp (and even on newer 60-day visa exempt) is no longer easy. It was possible 9 years ago ( I did such without an agent) but not so anymore.

I have yet to see anyone on a 30-day visa exemption stamp get a 1-year extension. Further, when on a 30-day visa exemption stamp, without use of an agent, try to open a bank account here. When on a 30-day visa exemption stamp, try to get a Yellow Book. All of those can be done with a Type-O or Type-OA visa for reason of retirement (albeit the yellow book can be a bit problematic at times to get).

OK. Its a great visa. For those who have it, the Visa is what it is cracked up to be. You need to get out more. Everyone with the visa is content. Re-read what I posted. Those who complain are those who don't have it. Glad to read that. The truth is, those with the Visa are happy. .

I commend you for your prudent approach - but I speculate you may have a long wait to see DTAs noted on the Thai taxation forms. ... .. Of course I too would like clarity, and I would even like to be proven wrong in the 2025, 2026 ... etc tax return form ... but I wont' hold my breath waiting for that to happen, despite my desire to see more clarity.

You would have to bring that up with the BoI. Perhaps they were hoping to attract a level of wealth to Thailand, that was not as interested as BoI hoped Again - I have yet to meet one person, with the LTR who is disappointed. ie. for each and everyone who obtained the LTR visa ,the LTR visa IS what it was cracked up to be. The one's complaining are pretty much those who did not try, or tried and did not get the visa. It may be a 'sad' truth, but that is the truth.

It says those who obtained the video are very happy with it.

To clarify - BoI may be discontent they did not achieve the statistics they wanted - but those who qualified and obtained the visa read to be reasonably content with the Visa.

I don't think so. How many LTR visa holders have you met who are disappointed with their visa?

Thanks. I did previously dig through the Thai-German DTA and quoted pension relevant sections out of the DTA in my post earlier. As near as I can determine some German sourced pensions are taxable in neither country. But I am not certain about this.

I believe you will find it is a Visa Debit card. Not a Visa credit card. There is a difference. I know in Northern Ireland, when I went to rent a car, and passed my Wise Debit card, it was immediately passed back to me, with the comment, this is a DEBIT card , and a loud insistence (from a tired rental car company agent) that I needed to pass them a credit card.

You can find the double tax agreements here : https://www.rd.go.th/english/766.html The Thai-Netherlands one has been around since 1976. The DTAs tend to be a bit confusing, as they say one thing, and the add qualifications using the words "not with standing". Article-18 of the Thai-Netherlands DTA notes : and para-1 of article-19 states: I am no tax advisor. I find such wording confusing. My interpretation is (a) if you have a Netherlands civil service or military pension, it "may" be taxed in the Netherlands, and Thailand may also tax it. And (b) if you have another (not civil service nor military pension) from a Netherlands company for work in the Netherlands, then it can ONLY be taxed in Thailand (and not in the Netherlands) - as long as you don't use it as some sort of deduction in Netherlands tax return. And (c) if have another (not civil service nor military pension) from a Netherlands company for work outside of the Netherlands - then ... its fuzy to me, but I believe that means both Netherlands and Thailand may tax such. Of course in the case of (b) (ie article-18(1)) above, Netherlands should not tax such. But for Netherlands not to tax that pension, you need to tell the Netherlands your residence is Thailand. Else they will want tax money from you obtain in the Netherlands. Likely, dependent on your pensions, if you remit your pension income in the year of earnings into Thailand or anytime having earned after 1-Jan-2024, you will need to file both Thai and Netherlands tax returns, if you remitted income is above the threshold noted. In cases where Netherlands has already taxed you, then you need to apply a tax credit to not pay twice. I don't know the details. Typically the country of residency gets 1st dibs on one's pension in cases where both can tax - so you will need to sort the details there. And reference any documents not in English or Thai, if they are needed by Revenue Thailand, you will need to have translated to English or Thai , possibly via an official translation service? < unsure > I don't know there if google translation is acceptable. I may have that wrong - that DTA was much different from others I have looked at so I could have made an error - others please chime in and correct me if wrong. I am no tax advisor - so lets be clear on that. I am only an interested bystander hoping to help through this legalize maze.

I recall that joke. When something never shows up and one asks: where is it? The answer usually is: Its in the mail.

What is it cracked up to be?

Siam legal? < sigh >

I don't know, my Thai wife is my interpreter. I am fortunate her English excellent, she has an MBA and a masters in engineering ( from a German university) so these financial aspects are not complex to her. She does thou need to be briefed prior as to what I need to find out.

My view is the answer in Mike Lister's main forum and that of the regular poster Chiang Mai was suspect, and I prefer the answer provided on the official Thai Revenue Department tax help line. But I am no tax expert. I have no Government documentation sources to back up my view. It would not surprise me if this boils down to the Revenue Department Ministerial interpretation.

Interesting thread. Of course this is Thailand. There are always surprises at some times, and no surprises at other times. It would not be Thailand if that not the case. IMHO you can always find an agent if you are willing to pay for an agent. Problems might only come up if you decide to not go for an agent and then you need to learn for the first time how to do this yourself (potentially cheaper dependent on how your financial assets structured). Many of us do not use an agent - and there are some very knowledgeable people on this forum - so IMHO keep checking and asking from time to time if there are things you do not understand.

He stated he phoned the RD Tax department tax help line. He stated the chat lasted at least an hour, and that there were many occasions when the RD official on the phone, had to 'put the phone down' and consult with someone else in the RD to get an answer. He also noted the chat was in Thai language (so presumably nothing lost in translation). To me, that reads to be far more official than a local tax office, and more official than a youtube blog of a tax advisor looking for business who did not also adopt the same or superior approach. It all boils down to - in part - who does one believe?

There are at least 61 Thailand Double Tax Agreements (DTAs) with other countries ( I read another source that stated 64 DTAs). I doubt the RD officials at your local tax office are familiar with all of these DTAs. If you wish an accurate answer, and not an off the cuff < don't bother us > answer, you will IMHO likely need to show up with a Thai language copy of the Great Britain and Northern DTA with Thailand, and highlight the relevant paragraphs associated with your pensions. Else I believe there is a high probability that they could make a mistake. I emphasize high probability that they could make a mistake. Of course, just IMHO.

You forgot to mention the Canadian mafia / gangsters extending their conflicts to Phuket .. 😅

I agree in part -BUT I disagree with your 'overthink' characterisation. Rather I am trying to head off any misinformation - and show yet again another example of proof that such Canadian sourced pension is not only not taxable by Thailand for resident expats in Thailand - and FURTHER prove it is not to be used as part of a monetary assessment if a Thai tax return is required and also not included in a Thai tax form as income (if one needs to file such a return for other reasons).

Well - as noted, user Guavaman asked on the Thai RD Help Line did LTR visa holders (ie for LTR-WP, LTR-WGC, and LTR-WFTP), whose only income was remitted foreign income, did they need to file a Tax return? Best that I understand was the RD told him NO. (ie for LTR-WP, LTR-WGC, and LTR-WFTP). If there was some caveat that it only applied for income earned in the current tax year, or did not apply for income earned in the current tax year, they would have clearly warned of that caveat. Best that I understand from user Guavaman's post, the Thai RD applied no such caveat. Again, I suspect the tax advisor companies did not bother to ask the Thai RD this very question.

Is what law? As of Thailand RD Ministerial instructions Por.161/162, any assessable income earned from 1-January-2024 and then remitted to Thailand from 1-Jan-2024 onward in time is subject to possible Thai taxation and if the remitted assessable income is over a certain monetary threshold, a Thai Tax return is required. Por.161/162 is not Thai law, but one would need to take the Thai RD to court if one wanted to openly challenge it. Most of the debate on this forum, has been what defines the words "assessable" given not only the Thai tax code is relevant, but also the noted Thai RD Ministerial instructions Por.161/162 are relevant, and also Royal Decrees are relevant (such as RD-18 (which references DTA exempt income) and RD-743 (LTR visa)). I think there is no disagreement, that if one's only income is remitted foreign income/savings from before 1-Jan-2024, then such is not treated as assessable income, and there is no need to have a Thai TIN, and no need to file a Thai tax return. However if one is remitting income earned from 1-Jan-2024 and onward in time , into Thailand, then one need to check the Thai tax code (which defines assessable income) and also check with further amplifying/clarifying documents, such as Royal Decrees and Ministerial instructions to more precisely define assessable income. More precisely only should check the DTA of one's income source (re: RD-18) and also check with any other DTA's (such as RD-743) to assess if that remitted foreign earned income after 31-Dec-2023 is assessable income, in addition to considering any Thai derived income. Also other aspects (in regards to Thai derived income) is in regards to interest from Thai banks/bonds, where IF a 15% withholding tax has already been applied, as by having the withholding tax applied, its possible such interest does not factor into the assessable income assessment. I don't know enough to be certain there, but it is a factor. So in short - yes there is some scaremongering , but also yes, there is a need for some (but not all) to file income tax returns who were not required in the past to file.