TallGuyJohninBKK

Of course, BOI has a vested interest in making THEIR product as appealing to buy as possible. In the end, it's not what the BOI says, or what Siam Legal says, but what kind of tax regime the TRD puts forward and tries to enforce that will matter. Like so many things on this whole topic, there are many entities putting out many different details and interpretations of how this or that aspect of things is going to/supposed to work. No wonder, so many of us are confused and unsure of where we stand.

Interesting commentary from Siam Legal on the prospective legality of all this stuff TRD is putting forward, because it's largely based on regulatory statements not supported by underlying actual legislation. Sounds like Siam Legal is looking for a would-be client to challenge this whole new tax regime: 2024-08 Siam Legal Experts Answers 23.mp4 https://youtu.be/syQXa8gcVfE

I'll note, your excerpt above opens with the terminology of those being the "minimum" that FIs are required to report... I've been clipping the various tax advice opinions that the various local folks have been putting out. I'll try to go back and find the CRS-related post that I was recapping above... Of course, that doesn't mean that the advice/guidance they're giving is accurate/correct!

Another niggly detail I've been coming across is the whole area of tax exemption for LTR visa holders. I've seen it described here and elsewhere as a blanket exemption for bringing in foreign source income. But now, both Siam Legal and another tax advisory firm have both been limiting that, advising that the tax exemption for LTR holders ONLY applies to remittance of foreign income earned from the PRIOR year... and not the current year, like if someone was transferring their salary every month as it was earned. Example, per Siam Legal: https://youtu.be/syQXa8gcVfE?t=1915 Meaning, the TRD seems to be interpretting the LTR exemption in the same, prior year way that they used to treat all foreign remittances, that they were tax-free as long as they were earned in the prior year (and not the current year).

What some of the expat tax consultants have been saying is that Thailand will have the ability to do an annual exchange of info with other CRS countries, and they've described that as potentially very far encompassing, going beyond just bank account stuff. But I'm just repeating what they've been saying. CRS is not my personal area of knowledge.

And yet, he's been one of the most visible and active expat Thai tax figures opining on all this stuff, appearing before the Pattaya Expats Club and in various other presentations/interviews.... He's providing information, but he's also heavily pitching his company's paid services to prospective clients.

Thanks Jim... that's a good point! I probably should have used a CRS country instead of a FATCA country like the U.S. in that example. As I understand it, CRS countries like Thailand and various European ones also are/can be sharing data on a wide range of financial stuff, including foreign remittances and income, financial transactions, earnings, etc.

Re your 5 MB example, the tax advisor folks have been saying the same kind of thing about Thai property purchases. If you move in 5 MB THB of otherwise non-exempted foreign funds in a year where you're a Thai tax resident (180+ days of presence in the calendar year), you're gonna be on the hook for Thai tax on that amount. In the real estate example, their typical response/answer has been to say, leave Thailand so that you're NOT going to be present for 180+ days in that calendar year, then you can bring in all the foreign funds you want without Thai taxation. Of course, that notion doesn't work so well if one is sick and/or hospitalized, and not likely to be relocating countries for 6+ months!!!

It's from a fringe researcher with no credentials in public health, epidemiology, medical issues, etc etc... The author here is actually a professor, not surprisingly, at his university's business school, which isn't exactly where you'd expect COVID-related research on mortality trends to be occurring. https://www.hvl.no/en/employee/?user=Jarle.Aarstad And, the claims of his paper re the UK have been contradicted by the UK government's own reporting. "By Reuters Fact Check February 7, 2024 ... " For example, ONS data show all-cause deaths in England were higher among the unvaccinated than those who had received at least one dose, for every month in its April 2021 to May 2023 dataset." [emphasis added, that timeframe being the exact same as the one used in the OP article]" These days, especially with issues related to COVID, peer review alone doesn't necessarily mean much. The anti-vax community has even set up their own professional sounding named journal run and overseen by anti-vaxers and anti-vax peer reviewers. So when their nonsense articles are refused by or eventually retracted by normally reasonably credible journals, they'll simply shop the same article or a similar version to a different journal hoping to get reviewers who aren't knowledgeable in the field, or ultimately go to their own anti-vax journal if all else fails.

The various tax advisors guidance that expats ought to play on the safe side and over-report and/or get a TIN and do a Thai tax filing even when it arguably isn't required just happens to nicely coincide with them charging 8K, 12K, 14K THB per expat tax filing that they do.

Carden just was talking about Thai tax filings that his firm will be doing this season for expats who have remitted TAX EXEMPT foreign funds into Thailand during 2024. Rather than simply omitting any mention of those, since the online Thai tax forms for 2024 reportedly provide no ability to report TAX EXEMPT remittances, he's been saying that his firm plans to attach a document file with the online filing reporting the TAX EXEMPT remittances and the basis for them being tax exempt. His argument has been that doing so protects the filer from the TRD coming along later and challenging the tax exempt status of the funds and claiming the filer failed to report the remittances.... Don't shoot the messenger. I'm just reporting what he's been saying in his various YT presentations/interviews. The above potentially becomes an issue, Carden says, because of the emerging cross-border financial info that Thailand's revenue department is obtaining from other countries, and sharing their data to other countries via the CRS agreements. Under CRS, the remittances of what Thailand would consider as tax exempt funds would be reported by the other countries to Thailand as merely foreign remittances, since those other countries sharing info with Thailand wouldn't know what Thailand does or does not consider tax exempt. For example, via FATCA, the U.S. might share to Thailand that I, hypothetically, did monthly wire transfers from my U.S. account to Thailand of $1000 each month. But, that FATCA reporting wouldn't necessarily say that the source of those funds was my Social Security benefit or that such remittances are by tax treaty exempt from Thai taxation. The U.S. would just report, and Thailand would be told, that I sent $1000 a month from the U.S. to Thailand. So then what's the TRD going todo with that kind of reporting.

Good points... ETT, on that point, has been advising expats to keep good financial statement records going back up to 5 years to document the sources and flows of funds that they want to claim as tax-exempt for whatever reason... with 5 years apparently being the back period that TRD can examine in the event they pursue an audit. There has been multitudes of opinions expressed by the various tax advisers saying that this whole thing has been rushed thru without adequate or clear rules and interpretations, and with RTD interpretations that have changed over time. Lately, for example, Thomas Carden has been claiming that originally TRD told them that foreign card ATM withdrawals would NOT be counted as taxable foreign remittances... But as of December, Carden has been saying TRD has changed their view on that and now says that ATM withdrawals WOULD be considered foreign remittances if the source funds were from non-exempt sources. Likewise, with the issue of using foreign credit cards to pay for things here, apparently, there's absolutely nothing in writing and no formal guidance at all from TRD on that subject even now. But the various advisers seem to be warning that expats shouldn't rely on that, and that some TRD opinion on that issue may well be forthcoming at some future point. E.g. -- they're kind of making things up as they go along. And from what the various advisor folks are saying, it sounds like the TRD online web forms for the 2024 TY still don't have any method for entering in actually remitted income that is/was legally tax exempt. So Carden has been talking about them having to append a written statement with the online filing disclosing the tax exempt remittances, so as to avoid the potential for TRD later claiming those remittances were made but not disclosed.

Thanks for the report above.... So am I correctly understanding your report above to mean: 1. you felt the TRD rep confirmed your sense that cash balances held in brokerage accounts as of end 2023 SHOULD count as Thai tax exempt savings if later remitted into Thailand? 2. you didn't get a clear answer from the same TRD rep as to whether the stock holding balances held in the same brokerage account as of the end of 2023 would or would not be acceptable to be counted as Thai tax exempt if later remitted into Thailand???

https://archive.ph/FBibu

The nonsense factor here is strong, as it is among most of the OP's incessant threads with his typically debunked, non-credible anti-vaxer reports of the supposed failings of COVID vaccines.

Thanks again, jim, for the link to that... I hadn't seen it previously... as the volume of posting on this topic over the months grew far beyond my ability or willingness to keep up... But, I'm not sure what exactly to make of the somewhat tortured language used in the exchange below: Was Guavaman trying to ask only about the dollar value of cash balances only as held in brokerage accounts as of the end of 2023? And did the TRD rep understand his question to mean that? I honestly can't tell/be certain from the way the question was posed verbally in their exchange, and then later written up here by Guavaman. I had balances in my brokerage accounts as of the end of 2023 that were mostly held in stocks/funds, etc., and some in cash. In order to acquire those stocks pre 2024, I had to use my pre-2024 cash savings to acquire them. And those securities has a cash value as stated as of the end of 2023. Is someone trying to claim those securities holdings didn't somehow represent my pre-2024 savings???

And further on the same: COVID-19 vaccines lowered excess deaths during the pandemic, contrary to headline by the Daily Telegraph 07 Jun 2024 ... The evidence shows that COVID-19 vaccines saved lives, reducing excess deaths As explained in a previous Science Feedback review, studies have shown that higher vaccination rates correlate with lower excess mortality across countries and U.S. states[9,10]. Conclusion "The available evidence shows that COVID-19 vaccines saved millions of lives. Although many countries experienced excess deaths up to 2022, this total would have been far higher without the vaccine rollout. The widespread disruptions and long-term health impacts caused by the pandemic are likely to have contributed to the lingering trend of excess deaths even after the risk from COVID-19 receded." https://healthfeedback.org/claimreview/covid19-vaccines-lowered-excess-deaths-during-pandemic-contrary-headline-the-daily-telegraph/

Another as yet non-peer reviewed article by a fringe scientist when it comes to COVID related research... Meanwhile, on the subject: Fact Check: No evidence to link UK excess deaths to COVID-19 vaccines By Reuters Fact Check February 7, 2024 ... " For example, ONS data show all-cause deaths in England were higher among the unvaccinated than those who had received at least one dose, for every month in its April 2021 to May 2023 dataset." [emphasis added, that timeframe being the exact same as the one used in the OP article] ... Citing a CMI report, it pointed out that excess deaths in England were highest in young (20-44) and middle-aged (45-64) adults. “That shows you that it is the younger groups that are experiencing the highest level of excess deaths,” McDonald told Reuters in a phone interview. “So, it is the groups that are least vaccinated. The older groups, where vaccine uptake was higher and where boosters have been given more frequently, are experiencing less excess deaths in relative terms. “There is no robust scientific evidence that gives even a vague suggestion of the vaccines causing more harm than they are preventing. They have unequivocally, based on all that I have seen, caused an enormous harm reduction.” https://www.reuters.com/fact-check/no-evidence-link-uk-excess-deaths-covid-19-vaccines-2024-02-06/

The Health Canada website TODAY as pertains to Pfizer's COVID vaccine: Vaccine review, approval and monitoring "Health Canada's independent drug review process is recognized around the world for its high standards and rigor. Our decisions are based only on scientific and medical evidence showing that vaccines are safe and effective. The benefits must also outweigh any risks." https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/drugs-health-products/covid19-industry/drugs-vaccines-treatments/vaccines/pfizer-biontech.html

That's the million dollar question. Nothing I could find in the original TRD statements suggest otherwise. But somehow, ETT seems to be claiming, based on their various YT presentation videos, that TRD now has the other interpretation -- that the pre 2024 funds have to have been kept as cash in bank accounts and not brokerage accounts in order to be tax exempt under the new rules.

I believe it's a potential deduction of up to 25K baht for premium expenses to have a Thai company health insurance policy... And then separately, the larger amount for certain Thai company life insurance policies...including I believe, that their term has to be at least 10 years.

That's my plan! FWIW, I've been going thru all of the many Thai tax video presentations by the various law firms and expat tax advisors giving their interpretations of what's going on... which to say the least, is still in some flux. Expat Tax Thailand, based on the various statements of their spokesman, seems to have the view that once you move funds from one original type of account to another type of account, those funds lose the protections that might have existed in the original account.

Brydle, another serial COVID and vaccines misinformer out of your reliable stable of such sources who have long records of failed COVID fact checks and often can do no better than self publish their own nonsense on Substack, because no credible outlet is going to use them as a source: "Dr. Byram Bridle is an associate professor at the Ontario Veterinary College at the University of Guelph, in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. Dr. Bridle is not a medical doctor, nor is he a veterinarian. Dr. Bridle holds a PhD in immunology; he is a bench scientist, who conducts research on animals. According to court filings, Dr. Bridle has never treated a (human) infectious disease, he has never performed a (human) childhood vaccination, nor has he ever treated a (human) adverse reaction to a vaccine. Bridle's claims were have been rebutted by peers, fellow scientists, and media watchdogs, and have been rejected in court. ... More than 80 of Dr. Bridle's colleagues at the University of Guelph signed a letter denouncing Bridle's ideas as misinformation." https://byrambridle.com/ Per Reuters: Fact Check: No evidence spike proteins from COVID-19 vaccines are toxic By Reuters Fact Check June 15, 2021 ... The claim was made by immunologist Byram Bridle (here) in an interview on May 28 (here) with Canadian broadcaster Alex Pierson (here and here). ... The studies Bridle cited as proof of toxicity do not support his claims. https://www.reuters.com/article/fact-check/no-evidence-spike-proteins-from-covid-19-vaccines-are-toxic-idUSL2N2NX1J6/ Per Agence France-Presse: Immunologist’s misinterpretation of data fuels misleading Covid-19 vaccine claims Updated on June 30, 2021 Social media users are sharing a radio interview in which a Canadian immunologist claims that widely used Covid-19 vaccines are dangerous. But a pharmaceutical company document and Harvard study presented by the professor as evidence have been misinterpreted, and experts said the jabs are working safely and effectively as intended. “The story I’m about to tell is a bit of a scary one. This is cutting-edge science,” says Byram Bridle, an associate professor at the University of Guelph, in a May 27, 2021 radio interview on Global News 980 CFPL. https://factcheck.afp.com/immunologists-misinterpretation-data-fuels-misleading-covid-19-vaccine-claims Per FactCheck.org COVID-19 Vaccine-Generated Spike Protein is Safe, Contrary to Viral Claims Posted on July 1, 2021 "Hundreds of millions of COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered safely in the United States in the last six months. There is no evidence to indicate that the spike proteins generated by human cells following vaccination are a toxin or that they circulate in the body and damage tissues, contrary to what a Canadian virus immunologist recently claimed. ... But researchers and health officials told FactCheck.org there is no “mistake” and that there is no evidence to support Bridle’s claims. There is no evidence that the spike protein in vaccines “is toxic or that it lingers at any toxic level in the body after vaccination,” an FDA spokesperson told us in an email. https://www.factcheck.org/2021/07/scicheck-covid-19-vaccine-generated-spike-protein-is-safe-contrary-to-viral-claims/ ------------------------------------ Bridle is also listed as a scientific advisory committee member of a notorious Canadian anti-vax and misinformation group called Canadian COVID Care Alliance: https://www.canadiancovidcarealliance.org/about-us/ Re CCCA, from Agence France-Presse: Video repeats false claims about safety of Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine Updated on January 19, 2022 A video produced by a group claiming to represent Canadian doctors and health care professionals alleges that the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine is dangerous. But the video repeats several previously debunked assertions about the safety of the shot, experts say the benefits outweigh the risks of rare side effects, and the Canadian government recommends it to prevent hospitalization and death. https://factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com.9VJ3DA And although the above fact checks are older, the link below shows that Bridle is still promoting COVID misinfo and associating with a raft of other well-known COVID misinfo purveyors at a 2024 event hosted by a local branch of Canada's United Conservative Party (UCP). UCP removes COVID-19 vaccine child-death references, takes over ticket sales to controversial event Published: May 16, 2024 at 2:10PM EDT "According to what CTV News has found, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario confirmed Speicher is not a medical doctor, Payne filed a lawsuit against AHS over mandatory vaccination, Makis' licence with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta was cancelled in 2019, Shoemaker was suspended by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario in 2023, Rose is an "independent researcher" https://www.ctvnews.ca/calgary/article/ucp-removes-covid-19-vaccine-child-death-references-takes-over-ticket-sales-to-controversial-event/ For Brydle, of course: "More than 80 of Dr. Bridle's colleagues at the University of Guelph signed a letter denouncing Bridle's ideas as misinformation." https://www.wormsandgermsblog.com/files/2021/07/20210709-VaccineSafety_UoGuelph.pdf

Jim, thanks for the interesting excerpt above about how the more recent US-UK DTA treats non-taxable accounts like US Roths from one country when the accountholder is living in the other country... Not taxable! Jim, about this comment you made, and for others reading here, the advice currently being given out by the Expat Tax Thailand firm regarding pre-2024 income being remitted into Thailand as being exempt from Thai taxation under the TRD's 2023 policy changes (not Thai laws, because there's been no new laws on all this) strikes me as being very peculiar. Their take -- and I haven't seen them explain their basis for this interpretation -- is that ONLY pre-2024 income held in home country BANK accounts is exempt from Thai taxation if remitted, even though the original TRD policy statements made no such limitation AFAICT. And thus by ETT's interpretation, they seem to have opined that if someone kept/had a couple hundred thousand dollars in a regular U.S. BROKERAGE account as of 12/31/2023, that NONE of that could be treated as tax exempt pre-2024 savings!!! I don't understand that notion at all... But I do expect to be talking to them about that interpretation in the coming week. FWIW, they seem to have the same interpretation about nominally Thai tax-exempt funds received by inheritance. They seem to be saying if an expat received an inheritance into their foreign bank account(s) and kept it there only, then it would be tax exempt for Thai purposes if ever remitted into Thailand. But if that same person took the inheritance sometime prior to 2024 and moved it into a brokerage account, then somehow, the Thai tax exemption for inheritance would no longer apply. Likewise, that seems to be nonsensical, at least to me.

And on the Canada front... here's what Health Canada actually has to say: https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/drugs-health-products/covid19-industry/drugs-vaccines-treatments/vaccines/pfizer-biontech.html AND Pfizer Canada and BioNTech Receive Health Canada Approval of Omicron KP.2 Variant Adapted COVID-19 Vaccine 24/09/24 KIRKLAND, QC, September 24, 2024 - Pfizer Canada ULC and BioNTech SE (Nasdaq: BNTX, “BioNTech”) announced today that Health Canada has authorized the KP.2 variant adapted COMIRNATY® COVID-19 vaccine for ages 6 months and older. The updated COMIRNATY® vaccine targets the Omicron KP.2 variant, one of the most recently circulating SARS-CoV-2 lineages. {emphasis added] https://www.pfizer.ca/en/media-centre/pfizer-canada-and-biontech-receive-health-canada-approval-of-omicron-kp2-variant-adapted-covid-19-vaccine