Ricardo

Dear TDAC/Immigration, I do not have a mobile-phone or smart-phone, how should I try to comply with the new entry-system ? As a twenty-year resident of Thailand, I do have a current re-entry permit, and am used to giving my finger-prints to identify myself & my Immigration-status, will that still be sufficient ? I do also have a computer-printer, it is located at my residence here in Thailand, so I cannot access it (to print a copy of the QR-code) until after I have arrived, and been let back into Thailand. I have looked into completing the new arrival-form, but it does not currently allow me to give my country-of-residence as being in Thailand, how should I complete the entry-form in this case ? Of course I don't want to give an incorrect address/country-of-residence, to you. I will return to Thailand, from my next trip overseas, on 13th May ... and hope that all will become clear, by then.

Thailand is aiming to become a Hub of AI-writing in S.E.Asia, sometime this century. Hubba-Hubba !

They have known (from my residential-address) for twenty-years that I was tax-resident in Thailand, and have long said that they needed to know my Thai T.I.N., so that they could report certain information annually under the enhanced-C.R.S. requirements. I had repeatedly explained to them that, since my funds sent to Thailand to live upon were always prior-year-funds, I had been able to live here for twenty-years but have never been legally-required to make a tax-return here, hence previously no T.I.N. could be obtained. They had found this odd, but had long accepted my word on it ! They also report information to H.M.R.C. in the mainland-UK, since that is where some of my annual-income arises, although I've been assured by HMRC recently that they do not want me to make an annual tax-return there. Perhaps, in recent years, banks have been required to improve their reporting & Know-Your-Client information, as part of some global-drive against money-laundering or tax-evasion ? Which might increase pressure upon them ?

FWIW one more experience, I went to my local tax-office outside Chiang Mai a week ago, and played old (which often helps, here) & stupid but willing, saying (well, it was true !) that my overseas-bank wanted to know my Thai T.I.N., so that they could send year-end information about me to Thailand. They didn't speak much English, I (of course) don't poot much Thai, either. They asked if I was married to a Thai, "Yes". Did I live in my wife's house, "Yes". They then asked did I have the house-papers, "Not with me, and anyway I'm not on them". Did I have a copy of my marriage-certificate, "Not with me, Sorry". At this point she spoke to her senior-officer, made a brief phone-call, took copies of my passport & visa & recent sole-name/offshore bank-statement which has my Thai residential-address. Then punched my details into her computer, made me sign her book of newly-issued TINs, and handed me what I wanted ... a simple certificate (3-inches square) showing my name/address/new T.I.N ! I thanked her profusely, lots of wai-ing, and made my retreat. At no time was I asked-for, or did I offer, to make an annual-return for 2024. Which would anyway have shown, that my local bank-interest & transfers-into-Thailand fell a few-thousand Baht short, of owing them any income-tax, for the year ! Result !

If you made a transfer to your wife or sisters, describe it as a "Gift", there's supposed to be a B10-million allowance for that. So use your own full-allowance, see Anchadian's post above, then make a suitable 'Gift' to one of the sisters ?

In that case, I apologise, I did indeed read it as being mildly critical.

You're assuming the ticket has cost me more. Not sure why it would ? Agree that everyone's situation is different. I was just showing how some of us, with overseas-income & banking, can avoid using transferred-into-Thailand money to pay for overseas-travel (and hotel/living-expenses too, not only flights), and hence have a better standard-of-living within the limit set by the new rules, before having to pay tax & make a return. The latter being hassle I'd always like to avoid, if possible. I also disagree with your slightly-pejorative wording "dodging some tax" ! I don't necessarily evade tax, which might well be technically illegal, but I do avoid tax-liabilities (and not just in Thailand) where possible, by arranging my affairs so as to not incur a liability. I've been fairly successful at that, since I retired to Thailand, over two-decades ago. It is my right to do so, and I intend to continue.

It's always good to chat with a fellow professional-accountant, like yourself. Let's turn your question around, instead. The TRD wants to tax expats on transfers into Thailand, agreed ? Please explain, with sources, how a transaction in a foreign-currency taking place outside Thailand, and which is paid-for with a credit-card from a non-Thai bank, creates a potentially-taxable (or reportable) transfer into Thailand ?

Just to add another thought, one might perhaps 'Gift' funds from overseas, to an adult (defined as over-18 ?) child living here, for them to fund their Thai-university costs without it being viewed (for tax purposes) as your own spending ?

Currently flying frequently, using China-Eastern, haven't flown Thai for several years. But even so, if I bought a ticket on them in Sterling, via an overseas-OTA and using an overseas-bank credit-card, then I definitely haven't transferred any money into Thailand which might be assessable, have I ? The airline itself would probably only use the funds overseas, paying landing-charges or fuel-bills or catering-costs overseas, but it certainly couldn't be viewed (or reported by MasterCard to the TRD) as me transferring funds into Thailand. What TG uses their income for is their problem, not ours. No, I obviously didn't make myself very clear, in my post responding to KannikaP , Sorry about that ! I generally agree with what he said, about people being able to live simpler-lives here, within the avoiding-tax limits (mine's B500k p.a.). But some things he listed like foreign-travel or overseas-school/uni-fees for our kids, well those can potentially be funded/paid-for without the money ever coming near Thailand, so you can avoid risking their becoming assessable. OK that doesn't apply to everybody, but it is possible for some people to spend money on overseas-activities, without the money being generated here or brought into Thailand. You can sometimes have a better standard-of-living, than the level he had suggested, without it increasing your transfers into-Thailand. In my own case, I certainly do.

Just to point out that foreign-trips, financed via offshore-income & paid-for using foreign credit-cards, don't really count since the funds are never transferred into Thailand. I also pay for the university-costs of one of my sons, entirely using overseas-generated funds, which never come near Thailand. So aren't assessable, either.

Perhaps the USA, as the World's biggest oil-producer, should join OPEC if he wants to have more influence ?

I have a feeling of deja-vue, coming on once again. "Everyone will have a laptop like mine", she said as she held up a B35k piece of hardware, instead some students got a B3k Chinese knock-off which rapidly became disfunctional ... the old scams are the goodies, eh ?

I well recall PM-Samak's cooking-shows, and friendly chats to the nation, he was a Thaksin-lite temporary-substitute back when Thaksin was on a long investment-tour of Africa & the Middle-East.

I'm not a pixel, I'm a leprechaun or boggart, myself !