oldcpu

User OJAS provided you a link to the Thai-Austria tax agreement. Note also that there are two Thai Revenue Department ministerial directives that are relevant: por-161/162. Together, what they in essence say is if any money you remit into Thailand can credibly be income/savings from BEFORE 1-January-2024, then it is exempt from Thailand tax. So make note as to how much money (ie cash) you had outside Thailand on 31-Dec-2023, and if you can show that money you brought into Thailand during year 2024 came from that pre-1-Jan-2024 'income/savings' accounts, then it need not be reported on a Thailand tax form. Clearly its important here that you have records of all of your accounts as of close business 31-Dec-2023, and also keep a record of all subsequent withdrawals from those accounts to support an approach (if audited) , if you try to claim 2024 remitted money to Thailand was pre-1-Jan-2024 savings/income.

There are limits to what accounts OECD via CRS has access to. For example: In the Canadian agreement with OECD it is quite clear that information on Canadian government regulated accounts for individuals (ie registered Canadian tax free accounts for money growth such as RRSPs, RRIFs and some others) are NOT reported to OECD via CRS, and Canada is under no obligation to provide such to OECD. Thailand has a similar agreement for Thai government regulated accounts of individuals. That may be a mute point - but I thought it important to make the observation that all information on all accounts is NOT provided via CRS to OECD.

Indeed. And further to your point some DTAs even say that (if pension not a civil servant/military pension) then the pension can only be taxed in the country of residence ... For example German pensions for those who are not civil servants/military pensioners are not to have their pensions taxed in Germany (if one is a resident of Thailand), but can only be taxed in Thailand . ... and then there is the Canada-Thai DTA that pretty much states any Canadian sourced pensions (or similar remunerations) can ONLY be taxed in Canada (and not taxed in Thailand ,even if one a resident of Thailand). The two DTAs could not be much more different in that aspect. IMHO it simply underscores the importance to check the DTA with Thailand of the source country of one's pension (where many on this and other threads on AseanNow have noted the importance to check such).

I picked up my International Driver's Licence today. All went very smooth once the LTR visa aspect was sorted.

I suspect there are only a handful of such threads needed dedicated to specific countries and the remainder could be lumped into one thread. Case in point, there is an old thread for DTAs for Canada , and that thread is dead as a door nail :

I purchased the Thai Government bonds to top up the money needed meet the BoI requirement of $250K US$ investment in Thailand as part of the requirement for a Wealthy Pensioner who is only claiming the > $40K US$ equiv/year income. No. One year bond is NOT adequate. 5-year is not adequate. It needs to be a 7 year or 10-year. I purchased the new bonds at a local Bangkok Bank Branch. Frankly, I did not care about the interest rate. If you are looking for an investment in Thailand with a good interest rate, then FORGET THIS APROACH (I put in caps deliberately). I did not care about the interest rate. I bought 2-million THB in Thai government bonds. Interest was 3%. 7-year maturity. Tax is automatically with drawn before interest paid. I was asked for a Thai TIN (which I did not have) when applying for the bond. I gave the bank my pink-ID #, their computer accepted that, and I obtained the bond. Frankly, the 3% interest worries me as being too high - as it could mean I will have to file a Thai tax return. My hope (??) is the automatic withholding tax will mean I don't have to file an income tax return. The Bank of Thailand (from whom Bangkok Bank gets the bond) would only give me a bond book, and not a bond certificate. BoI would not initially accept copy of the bond book. In the end, Bangkok bank printed on the last page of the bond book the bond interest rate, maturity/redemption date, and that satisfied BoI. But to re-iterate, I did not buy the bonds for investment. This was just money to top up the BoI $250K US$ requirement. The remainder of the $250K US (not covered by the 2-million THB in bonds) was my 50% ownership of my condominium unit (my wife owns the other 50%). And the 3% interest could bite me in the butt and force me to file a Thai tax return.

Thankyou for sharing your experience. I assume that your pension is a civil servant or military pension. I suspect there are some on the forum who won't believe you. I appreciate your sharing in spite of the disbelievers.

Thankyou for that. That should hopefully be helpful for those who have US Tricare. My hope is that those who have private health insurance from outside of Thailand (such as European Cigna or other) post an example of their letter (deleting personal aspects) so that those of us, with such non-Thai branch health insurance, can send such to our health insurance companies so that such can be used as a pro-forma that has been shown to meet BoI requirements.

Lol. I wish Revenue Canada saw it that way. Then my Canadian taxes would be much less. 😅

I think it depends on the individual. Given the local RD office refused me a Thai Tax ID, which I needed for some foreign trading accounts, by using my Thai pink ID #, in place of a Thai tax ID #, I was able to ( in a very timely time critical moment) unfreeze and transfer the trading accounts, and earn over $100k Cdn$. With out the pink ID I would have missed the stock buying opportunity that made me a lot of money. So a waste of time? I guess it all relative. I am not so wealthy that I consider $100k Cdn$ a waste. Good for you that you have so much money that you can thumb your nose at $100k Cdn$. I can only wish to have that much money to consider such a waste. Again, it depends on the individual and their situation.

In what line in the tax form do you plan to enter the exemption, and what is the precise description in the tax form for that line entry?

Ok. I do hope your approach works for you. I think thou, your situation is the DTA of your source country allows Thailand AND the source country to both tax some of your foreign sourced income. I believe (if correct) that has influenced your view. That is VERY different from countries whose DTA only allows only the source country to tax a specific income (and not Thailand). I do caution you not to include a tax exempt income if there is no place to deduct that income in the tax form. You could end up paying tax on that tax exempt income. I wish you all the best in sorting any problems that may cause you.

if it was exempt from Thai tax and not from filing, there would be an entry in the English AND Thai tax forms under tax exemptions. There is no entry in any 2017 to 2023 English/Thai nor 2024 (Thai) in the tax form exemption list. So by deduction that is exempt from including that income in the tax calculation in the tax forms.

Royal Decree-18 came out in 2009 (?) noting DTAs could make some income exempt. Yet from 2019 to 2023 there was no field in any Thai Tax form, neither English nor Thai language, to include in the exemption list foreign tax exempt income (per DTA) remitted in the year it was earned. This was LONG before 2024. Further, DTA exemptions can affect MORE than just foreigners. They can also in some cases be relevant to Thai people in Thailand. Further, if you examine the English and Thai language tax forms side by side, year by year , they are pretty much very close to the same. The year 2024 (and year 2025) Thai language tax forms have no such entry. So you can hold your breath waiting for the English language 2024 Thai tax forms, but if I had to wager, ... I believe just like the Thai language forms, there will be no inclusion in the income exempt area, for income exempt by DTAs. There was no entry in 2017, nor 2018, nor 2019, nor 2020, nor 2021, nor 2022, nor 2023 (nor the Thai 2024) so I do not believe there will be in 2024 English language form. Plus, I can not help but suspect that when the 2024 tax form in English language comes out, and if like the previous 2017 to 2023 the exemption list has nothing for DTA, that you will not change your view.

Not USA.Not Canada. Not Germany. I guess you don't consider those countries civilized? Or maybe you simply have not researched this. Citizens DO have more privileges than resident aliens.

No one is saying don't comply with Thai laws. So I have no idea where you are going there. Rather I am saying to comply with Thai law, the exempt income that i noted (DTA exempt and LTR exempt) are not to be included in a tax form. That does NOT go against Thai laws, and the Royal Decrees and also Thailand tax forms omissions (of such as exempt income for deductions) confirms that such income is exempt for purposes of tax calculation (and not to be included on a tax form).

We agree with all that. I think you miss my point. Where we disagree is what 'exempt' means in the context of cases where a DTA may state only the other country (not Thailand) can tax a certain income ... which Royal Decree 18 confirms means such is exempt Thai tax. I interpret that as meaning 'exempt for calculation of tax' (and hence similar to por.161/162 it does not go on a tax form). Further I support my interpretation based on deliberate omissions in official Thailand tax forms going back to year 2017 (and possibly to 2009) . As far as I can read, you have yet to explain why you believe there is no entry in any Thailand tax form to list in exemptions any exempt income in DTAs (per Royal Decree-18) .

The head person at the Phuket office was very polite and true to her word, she called the head office in Bangkok, and has had the policy straightened. Frankly - I am impressed (favourably) with the professionalism of all the workers at the Phuket Department of Transportation Office. i can go tomorrow to the office and pick up my International Driver's Licence. I now need to contact BoI and advise them this has been sorted.

OK ... Then we still differ. My intepretation - which is I believe the same as the Thai RD, is that 'exempt income" cases noted (DTA exempt per Royal Decree wording and LTR exempt also per Royal Decree wording) is the same as 'exempt for taxation calculations". We have already had confirmed that remitted income exempt from tax, per por.161/162 is not to be included in a Thai tax form. So same wording ... 'exempt' ... Same treatment in the Thai tax return forms (both English and Thai language) where there is NO mention in the tax return forms of such as being an exemption . None. Not one word. Where that strongly suggests that exempt income is "exempt for tax calculation purposes and it is not to be included in a tax form... Yet you still believe it should be filed. Ok - fine - that is your view. But I do not understand why you ignore what is very clear in the Thai tax forms going back to year 2017 (the furthest I looked back) and probably going back to the year Ministerial Decree 18 was issued (2009 ?? < unsure > ). If such was to be included for tax filing as an exemption (where it is exempt) there would be a place on the Thai tax form for such. There is no place. What do you believe is the reason for that omission in ALL of the Thai tax forms?

International Driver's Licence denied by provincial Department of Transport as they considered LTR visa a tourist visa. I kid you not. My International Driver's licence, which I previously obtained from the provincial Department of Transport (based on my 5-year Thailand driver's licence) expires in February. In March I fly to Australia, and the rental car company in Perth advised me I must have an International Driver's licence. I went to the Phuket Department of Transport today and I was denied an International Driver's licence (to replace my existing one) because I am on an LTR visa, which this Department of Transport claims they were instructed by the main Department of Transport to treat like a tourist visa. And since they treat like a tourist Visa they: (1) will not issue an International Driver's Licence based on my Thai driver's licence, and (2) when my current Thai driver's licence expires in 2027 , they will NOT allow me to renew it for 5-years. Instead they will require me to switch to a 2 year temporary driver's licence. However, they advised if I was still on a Type-O or Type-OA visa, they would allow me to get an International Driver's Licence and they would (in 2027) allow me to renew my Thailand driver's licence for 5 years. Why? Because they have been instructed to treat the LTR visa as a Tourist Visa. After a LONG chat with whom we believe to be the head of this provincial Department of Transport office, we agreed: (a) they would double check with the main Department of Transport office, and if advised otherwise, they would contact my wife (and if in that case, I could return and apply again for an International Driver's license). (b) I would contact BOI and advise them of this Department of Transport office policy toward LTR visa holders having less driver's license privileges than Type-O/OA visa holders. I went to the BoI web page's contact page ... and it refuses to accept email addresses. So one can not contact via that page. The BoI webpage has a bug! ... lol. So I used one of my previous BoI email addresses (which is NOT the correct BoI email , but its the best I could do) and I requested they conctact the Thailand Department of Transport so to give LTR visa holders at least equal privileges for Thailand driving licences as Type-O/OA non-immigrant Visa holders. If I hear no reply in a few days, I will phone BoI. = = = EDIT - This has been sorted. Please see post below

You filed your last tax return last Thurday, and you have not been filing as an expatriate. ... Are you filing as a permanent resident, or as a non-resident, or as a Thai citizen?

I am trying (unsuccessfully) to understand your view here. If a DTA, to which Thailand signs, states a particular pension is ONLY taxable in the source country (which is not Thailand), that you still believe that pension is STILL taxable in Thailand (despite wording in the DTA and wording in Ministerial Decree 18 which covers DTAs) ? If so, you and I have very different opinions. I believe my view matches that of the Thai revenue department, in part because given a Royal Decree notes the income is exempt (as per DTA wording) and given that there has since 2017 never been a place on a Thai tax form (neither English nor Thai language) to list exemptions for DTA income/pensions (for cases where DTA states only a non-Thailand country can tax said income/pension).

We now have examples that savings from before 1-Jan-2024 ( as covered by por-161/162) which are noted as exempt tax, need not be included in one's Thai tax return and if these are the only income then no tax return is required. These incomes don't fall under the assessable income category due to their exemptions. So they are not to be included in the tax calculation. With this in mind, note, there was nothing in the Thai language 2024 Thai tax return form to list such por-161/162 remitted money as an exemption. I have come around to the view that the same treatment is likely true for selected DTA exempt remitted income where in some cases the DTA notes only the foreign source country has taxation rights ( as there is no place in any tax form going back many years ( since the issue of Royal Decree 18) to today) to list such as an exemption in the Thai tax return form. i.e. such exempt remitted income is likely not supposed to be included in a Thai tax return. Further I note there is no place in the English language 2023 Thai tax forms for exemptions per the Royal Decree (for selected LTR visa holders). Again, I speculate such tax exempt remitted income is likely not supposed to be included in a Thai tax return. Which also implies if these remitted incomes are the only income then no Thai tax return is required. This still probably needs watching but I believe we are seeing a trend here supporting the non-assessable income viewpoint ( ie income exempt from including in a tax calculation) need not be included in a Thai income tax return, and if such is the only income then no Thai tax return is required.

Thanks. One takeaway I have from the above is you also have a small amount of assessable local Thai income ( interest) which factors into the tax return filing consideration.

Most countries do not treat tax payers equal. Many countries tax non-citzens who are resident and do not give those non-residents all the privileges of citizens. If you don't believe me you need to research this some more.