oldcpu

There is more to this. There is a specific amount of annual THB assessable income that a tax resident of Thailand must receive before they are required to file a Thai tax return. Further, one needs to have a Thai tax ID number before one can file a Thai tax ID. Be careful in drawing conclusions on what some are saying on this forum and the internet. If you are uncertain, you can always go down to your local Thai Revenue Department (RD) office, tell them your actual financial situation in terms of local Thailand income (if any), whether you are bringing in post 31-Dec-2023 assessable foreign income into Thailand ,and any salient details of the Thailand DTA with the country where your income is sourced ... They will then decide if you qualify for a Thai Tax ID, and they will give you their assessment (as representatives of the Thailand RD) if you need to file a Thailand tax return. Its likely best to have a Thai language speaker with you to translate if/when you go to the RD.

That may be true and specific to the USA-Thai DTA (and some others as well) but it is not true for all DTA. Some DTA for a pension give only the pension source country taxation rights, and in those cases Thailand has no taxation rights on the pension whether or not remitted to Thailand. For example , the Canada-Thai DTA. There is no-difference clause like you note in such cases (where I assume there is such 'difference' aspect for the USA-Thai ?? DTA - I don't know re: USA as I have no income nor savings from that country). I suspect you knew that, but others may not have known, which is why I make that point. It really behooves each expat to know the implications of the DTA of their income source country with Thailand. Also , for any new to this , note there is also Thailand Revenue Department (RD) ministerial instructions Por-161/162 which note that any foreign income/money outside of Thailand, earned/saved from before 1-Jan-2024, nominally can anytime in the future be remitted to Thailand and be exempt from Thailand taxation. Only income earned after 31-Dec-2023 if remitted to Thailand might be subject to Thailand taxation if not made exempt due to other reasons.

As the saying goes : TIT (This is Thailand). If you wish representation, then try to become a Thai citizen or head back to your home country. That is the harsh reality.

Yes -and the sky could fall tomorrow and you and I could be run over by a truck. I think the best we can do is understand what is place today, and not speculate excessively on tax aspects that have not come to pass.

wow ... One needs to be careful as everyone can make mistakes. My concern for Cyclist would be that if they file their income tax the way it was incorrectly suggested to file in, someone else in the RD will review the tax submission, reject the exemption (in the wrong place as there is no place) and charge full Thai tax on the tax exempt pension. Then one is into the annoyance of appeal territory. ... best hope would be that the RD official reviewing the tax submission phones and asks why was the exemption placed in a place in the tax form which was not designed for such an entry. .. and then sort it out on the phone. But even that would be a PIA. That comment is very relevant IMHO Again , that was one factor that lead me to modify my view, ... and I now believe that non-assesable remitted income (due to Por.161/162, or due to a specific DTA clause, or due to a specific LTR visa exemption) is not to be included in a Thai tax calculation, and hence not included on a Thai tax form. That view is IMHO consistent with all Thai tax 'english' language tax forms going back to 2017 up to year 2023, and also consistent with all Thai language tax forms, including the year 2024 and year 2025 Thai language Thai tax forms. The tax forms (both Thai and English language) would need to be changed for such exemptions (and hence for the associated remitted tax exempt income) to be entered in the tax forms. .

yes - I am coming around to that view as well. Once I spotted article-42 in the Thai tax code , which notes some income is NOT to be included in the Thai tax calculation, it became very clear to me that there is a category of non-assessble income. I also noted the footnote to the article-42(item-17) gets updated (typically a bit late) when there are changes, ... so I am coming around to the view that there is foreign remitted income to Thailand which is not to be included in a Thai tax calculation (per Thai law) and hence if that the only income then there is no need for a tax return. Edit: Except perhaps I go a step further than you in believing for some no tax return submission needed

What is the source country of your pension? Is it a civil service pension? is it a government pension that the average person receives? Is it a pension that comes from a company where you contributed part to the pension fund (while working) ? Or from a company where the company contributed all? and what does the DTA say? Dependent on the DTA those are all relevant questions as to whether the income taxable. And if not taxable, why should the RD waste time going after an individual (who owes no tax) when there are bigger fish for RD to chase after?

Sure - and we both could be run over on the road by a truck tomorrow. One can only plan best one can on what is in place today - and what strong evidence states might happen tomorrow. But I have seen no evidence that Thailand intends to attempt to override any DTAs.

Why ? Because nothing has changed. Tax returns were also required in the past for those who remitted pension income into Thailand in the year in which it was earned. What did RD do then? Nothing. What did RD say? Nothing. Was RD silent? Yes. And since then ? They said nothing. What makes this time so different? Its NOT CRS. Its not Por-161/162. If Thailand RD was silent in the past, i anticipate the same in the future. But - this is just a discussion. Perhaps when 2024 English language tax forms come out we will see (although I suspect even then you won't be convinced).. Note that the 2024 Thai language tax forms say NOTHING about DTA exemptions. Neither do the 2025 Thai language tax forms say anything about DTA exemptions from what i could see in a translation.

I take from that your goal is to become a Thai citizen. That might incur even more tax on you, dependent on the DTA of your source company income. I don't think LTR would delay any effort to become a Thai citizen. If that is a 'blocking' point/concern for you, just pick up the phone and call BoI and ask them. The experience of many (from the LTR visa thread on Aseannow) is that Boi are very responsive to phone call queries.

There is no change re taxation of foreign sourced Pensions remitted to Thailand in year of income. So RD has then been silent going back to 2017 at least ( I didn't look at tax forms before then). Frankly, the RD silence suggests such DTA exempt income is not to be included in a Thai tax form. .. as has been the case for years.

Not in every DTA case. Some DTA make it clear that only the source country of a pension can tax such pension. In such case, per DTA. Thailand has no secondary tax authority for the specified pension.

True. But the omission of an exempt Section in the tax form for DTA exempt income is part of the discussion of an opposing view to yours. That's fair. I structured my finances with a similar motive in mind. Interesting. I would be surprised. But given TIT if it happens it won't be the 1st time that I have been surprised. Not really ... foreign Pensions for tax residents of Thailand have been around for years. It has always been the case that if a Thai tax resident remits income into Thailand in the year earned it is taxable, unless a DTA says otherwise. So IF ( per your view) it's always been that such foreign Pensions should be included on a Thai tax form (if remitted to Thailand in the year of earning) there should be a place to list such pensions as exempt per specific DTA. , ...yet going back to 2017 Thai tax forms ( I looked at each one from 2017 to 2023) there is no place to list exempt pension income per a DTA. There is more to this. This is not 100% new. So again I ask, why has Thailand deliberately omitted a place to list as an exemption such DTA tax exempt income on the Thai tax forms, going back years? Why?

If I understand your opinion, you believe that a Thai tax resident's foreign pension must be included on a Thai tax form ( if pension remitted to Thailand), even if a specific DTA with the source country of that pension has Thailand agreement that the pension is exempt Thailand tax. ie Thailand has no rights to tax. Please explain then why there is NO place on the 2023 Thailand tax forms ( neither Thai nor English language forms) for such income to be listed as tax exempt per the DTA that Thailand signed up to? Why would Thailand deliberately omit such?

As others have noted - when applying for the LTR, one does not have to lay all their cards on the table. Only the card's needed to get the LTR per BoI requirements. Perhaps only those who 'borderline qualify' for the LTR had to lay all their cards on the table.

You need to get a tax ID number first. I suppose you could just show up at your local Revenue Department (RD) office, with all your needed paperwork , and try to file your tax return then, but i suspect you would be missing some paperwork and have to do one or more trips back home to get the paperwork. You would need to bring paperwork to both (1) get a tax ID number, and (2) supporting financial info for your tax return.

I note the word "established for voluntary participation between companies and employees, serving as a source of funds for employees in cases such as resignation,　retirement, .." .... Is that not what a pension is? Is that ONLY for Thai Provident Fund and not for a foreigners (because it has to be governed by the Thai government, while a foreign pension is not governed by the Thai government)? I find this interesting. MR.126(36) notes: Again, recall MR.126(36) is the footnote-12 of tax code section-42(17) which lists tax exemptions that are not to be included in a tax calculation. This brings to mind where someone(?) / more than one(?) ,... on AsianNow went to their local RD and were told that if they were on a pension then they had no tax obligation (ie their pension income not to be included in a tax calculation). Of course - others went to their local RD and were told their pensions were DEFINITELY taxable (which happens to be my view - if not excluded in a DTA). I assume then, looking at the quote of your post, that this refers to only Thai person's pensions governed by the Thai government , and not foreigner's pensions (that are governed by the foreigner's government)? That seems a bit unfair. ... But I guess This is Thaliand.

I saw those foot notes before, but did not spend much time going through them. This time, I also asked myself, must the Ministerial Regulations be confined to those listed in a footnote? ... and I also asked, if subsequent to Ministerial Regulation No.126 (B.E.2509) there were newer Ministerial interpretations and/or Royal Decrees, must they also be included as a consideration in Tax code section 42(17). I speculate the answer is yes, ... but then speculation is just that ... speculation. Anyway ,those 95 !! exemptions in MR.126 was an interesting skim through, albeit I was getting very fatigued toward the end. That Ministerial Directive 126 does not state its exact date that I could decipher. I note already some of its has been repealed by Ministerial Regulation No.307 (B.E.2558) - and that in particular was reflected in that recent unofficial translation (the link to which you posted). While that specific repeal is not relevant to our discussion, it makes me wonder, if other Ministerial Regulations exist that have repealed or added relevant sections for Ministerial Regulation No.126 , but not yet reflected in the latest MR-126 version ? And could that also be the case for recent Ministerial interpretations/instructions (such as POR-161/162) and the Royal Decree 743 (LTR). Anyway, I note in the MR-126 you linked: Item(36) in MR-126 regarding provident funds appear to apply to certain types of pensions. It does not state these provident funds must only be Thailand provident funds. There other sections more specific to pensions. But I speculate this could apply to certain pensions also flagged as tax exempt in DTAs. I thus speculate with Item(36) in Ministerial Regulation No.126 (B.E.2509) as called up by Section-42(17) of the Thai tax code, one could make a legitimate argument that exempt income (such as that specified in certain DTAs) are not to be included in a Thai tax calculation. Slightly off topic, in MR No.126, I noted Item(62) on condominium sales and exemptions if person is properly registered ( I suspect registered via yellow book registration) was an interesting surprise to me in regards to limited tax exemption when selling the condo (although it only goes as far as the 'appraised' value which is typically less than the sale value. While scrolling through the Ministerial Regulations I also stumbled across this wording on Double Taxation Agreements (DTAs) on the Thai RD web site: https://www.rd.go.th/english/21973.html In particular I note the words: So clearly there are incomes from foreign countries, that are exempt Thailand taxation by the "exemption method" to avoid double taxation (and are NOT to be confused with incomes from foreign countries where double taxation is prevented by the "credit method").

...and as I pointed out section 42 of the Thai tax code goes one step further than section 40 and it lists income that is not to be included in the Thai tax calculation. Item-17 in section-42 may infact be very relevant. Only quoting section 40 is IMHO cherry picking.

Exactly. But rather than point a finger at the stupidity (?) those who listen to Trump's spins or lies, or point a finger at the stupidity of those who listen to Musk when Musk is trolling, ... no ... instead we read of many who ignore the stupidity of such blind followers.

I agree its puzzling. In fact, if one looks at the Thai page, the tax year 2024 Thai language and even the Thai 2025 Thai language tax year forms are available. On the English language page only up to year 2023 English language tax forms. I did try to compare the 2023 Thai and 2023 English forms (where I translated the 2023 Thai forms to English with Google translate). A large part of them are identical, but not 100% identical. The differences thou, did not appear to me to be related to exempt income. Nothing in English language Thai tax form form 2023 for DTAs (nor LTR visa which was present in 2023). I suspect many of us are curious, and watching this with interest.

Thai tax code Section 42(17).

Again best wishes. Given there is no place on the tax return to list those pensions as exempt, and you likely (??) have to use a place in the tax return form not specifically intended for a DTA exemption, ... i am curious as to how the tax return will be received and initially evaluated by the RD. My guess is you will have questions from them, or possibly get an incorrect tax assessment by them. And then one is into the appeal process. But my guess could be wrong. It won't be the first time I have been wrong. After all, This is Thailand.

Best wishes in how this works out for you. We all need to look at our own financial situation and decide what is the best way forward. I knew that I would owe no tax to Thailand as I was under the LTR-WP visa, and my Canadian pension income was exclusively taxable by Canada (per the Canada-Thai DTA). However the 'big' question for me back in late 2023 was looking ahead, would I (in over a years time) need to file a tax return for upcoming 2024 tax year?? A quick look at the Thai tax return forms (from year 2017 to 2022 and later-2023 - yes I quickly looked at them all) was I could find no place for exemptions for my non-taxable (by Thailand) Canadian pensions, nor any place for income exemption from an LTR-WP visa holder (where one would expect the 2023 tax year form to have such). That is why I then read section-42 of the Thai tax code with interest (which states income not to be included in a Thailand tax calculation) and are leaning toward that section indicating such income is not to be included in the Thai tax calculation. However - I also am no tax expert. So I decided to bring no income into Thailand for tax year 2024. Then my Thai wife (who was equally puzzled as myself) tried to get a tax-ID for me (she filed on-line, and it went to Bangkok-RD, and was forwarded to the provincial RD where I live). A provincial RD official phoned my wife and I advised since I was not bringing income into Thailand (for tax year 2024) and since I had no Thai income, I did not need a TIN and did not need to file a Thai tax return for 2024 tax year. When my wife asked more questions, the official could not answer such, said he would call back, and he never did. I do think every expat should seriously look at their own tax situation, and make a judgement call as to what they should do. For certain, the current tax forms (year 2023 in English, and also google translation of Thai year 2024 tax form) have no place on them that I could find, where one can list income exempt due to a DTA (such as your case), nor income exempt due to Por.161/162, nor income exempt due to the LTR. Which is why I believe Thai tax code section-42(17) is very relevant. I guess we will find out with time.

I think I saw it and it made no sense in regard to exempt income. I suspect that would totally confuse anyone in the RD other than her.