JimGant

Yeah, I see your point. It makes sense that Imm will want to see a certificate from every farang exiting Thailand that they've met with TRD, and gotten approval that their tax situation is in order. Of course, Imm will have to spend some time to determine whether or not the exiting farang is a tourist, or a Thai tax resident. Say, ten minutes to validate. Extra Imm personnel then needed, to alleviate the subsequent backlog of exiting flyers. Now, say there are 300,000 farang retirees in Thailand, of which only 10% have enough assessable income to bother TRD annually with filing a tax return. But, for the other 90% of farangs, who don't require filing a tax return -- they're now going to have to file a null tax return, in order to get a piece of paper allowing them to exit the country, or to renew their visa extension. So, TRD has to hire another 10,000 agents to process these 270,000 farangs -- but since these 270k farangs add exactly nothing to the tax coffers, those 10,000 new agents are just a blight on the efficiency of TRD -- at a huge cost.... ......nevermind.

Yeah, but this guy gets a pass, 'cause he's Black -- and because Columbia is one of the biggies when it comes to DEI.

Ah, yes -- the smell of Halal cooking.

"Wife called the TRD helpline to confirm, gifting law applies to funds given to a spouse into an offshore account, and she can bring in the funds as she pleases." So, you're saying an offshore account can't act as a filtering/laundering device? Technically, it certainly can -- as I've demonstrated in the above discussion. Ethically, maybe not -- unless it truly is a gift to the wife. But, what's the bottom line? You send your private pension directly to your wife's Thai bank account -- but make a note to yourself that this is a gift, thus you don't bother filing a Thai tax return. Alternatively, wife gets your gift thru her US savings account, then forwards it to Thailand. Same result -- no taxation. Only if an audit should occur, would her remittance vs yours stand up to scrutiny. But, who cares. Chance of audit remote -- play the gift game as you choose.

Well, of course. Let's assume your wife had a US savings account, established ten years ago, and had on 12/31/2023 a balance of $500k. In that $500k were gifts you had given to her over the years. These gifts were, of course, after US tax paid funds (by you) -- thus now residing as her savings. So, today, on March 9, 2025, she wires $500k to her Thai bank account. A taxable event, considering Por 162? A reportable gift event, had the amount exceeded 20M baht? Of course not. I think the use of her offshore savings account to launder these remittances could be looked at from a couple of angles. Say, you're separated from your wife, so the money she wires to herself is used strictly by her. Thus, a gift. But, on the other hand, I say your gift to her -- which you've paid US income taxes on -- has morphed into savings -- and thus the gift aspect is now a non player. So, if you're both living together in Thailand, and your private pension, now a gift to your wife, is sent to Thailand to support the both of you -- I think you're both technically and ethically above-board. Again, this comes back to TRD suggesting the offshore 'laundering' route. Sounds like a good tax avoidance (evasion?) scheme. That TRD would recommend it -- is curious (but refreshing).

Right. That's why TRD said you couldn't send it VFR direct as assessable income and just say, hey, this is a gift; 'cause taxability depends only on the characteristics of the remitted income, not what it is finally used for. Your characteristics, by sending direct, wouldn't be overcome by declaring it as a gift. The wife, remitting from a savings account full of fungible dollars -- with only the interest earned on these dollars possibly subject to Thai tax -- is home free. All the money in her savings account is post-US taxation, which, ipso facto, makes it savings. Why do you think TRD advised you to laundry thru a foreign account -- and not send direct and then claim its use was as a gift? Obvious answer -- and nice to see there are some helpful folks at TRD.

Ah, I give my Thai-US wife my annual private pension earned in the US. (We both have US bank accounts - but we're both Thai tax residents.) She puts it into her US savings account, where it has now become savings (I, of course, have already paid the US tax on this pension). And, per US tax law, I pay no US gift tax, as it's a gift to my spouse. As a private pension, should I remit it to Thailand, then Thailand has primary taxation rights on it, per DTA. But if I "filter" it through my wife's savings account -- and she remits it -- this gift, which has morphed into savings, is no longer income, let alone assessable income. And, assuming the wife remits this money into her Thai bank account, it's lost its 'gift' aspect -- so no Thai gift tax for her to pay, if in excess of 20m baht. Anyway, that TRD should offer this "filtering" mechanism to get around Thai tax on a gift (can we call it "laundering?") suggests TRD is aware that remitted assessable income doesn't lose its taxability just because its purpose is as a gift. Remember the argument: assessable remitted income, whether used to buy a condo, a Honda, or groceries -- is still taxable, as purpose of that remittance is immaterial. And this, goes the argument, applies to gifts. Sounds like the TRD hotline is well aware of this.

Here's a good read on Thai Tax Clearance certificates -- a relic of the past, but still on the books: https://www.legal.co.th/resources/corporate-and-tax-advisory/thailand-tax-law/what-thai-tax-clearance-certificate/ One of the more glaring statements in this presentation is this: Sound like advice from a certain someone on this thread? Or a typical charlatan Agent pitch to scare you into forking over some baht? No, we've not seen any evidence of anyone exiting Thailand being asked for this certificate. Maybe a remote chance, if you're running a business here in Thailand..... But certainly a retired expat, who wasted time, money, and energy getting such a certificate -- would be -- to put it nicely -- foolish.

Ah, good word -- hangs. I'd much prefer hanging to deportation -- guards against a subsequent re-entry. But, I guess, realpolitik only goes so far....

You're nuts. There's no " certificate of clearance" to be obtained. Owe no taxes, file no tax return. No "certifcate of clearance" asked for by Immigration. Heck, have assessable income below TEDA, thus file no tax return -- ignore those 60/120/220k thresholds -- those aren't codified requirements. What the heck does this imaginary "certificate of clearance" look like anyway? Bet you can't produce one. Quit scare mongering, KH. You're getting tiresome.

Haiti?

Good. No reason why Americans have to tolerate no-value-added trash in our country. Maybe the Air Force will loan one of their C-17s, now being used to cart undesirables back to South America, to reunite these Hamas bums with their camels.

How could America be so stupid for so many years? We've got a lot of problems 967bn would help solve. Just read somewhere that Europe is really upset that the future means they'll have to now sacrifice social programs for defense. Yeah, social programs subsidized for decades by the US taxpayer. Hey, maybe this Trump guy is the real deal....

Yeah, why not let the war, with all its death and destruction, go on for another 5 years? Or, why not do something to stop further destruction of Ukraine, and death on both sides? That this may mean Russia gets to keep some to the Russian-speaking territory they've already conquered -- is maybe a 'good deal,' if it means peace -- especially if the folks in those territories have more affiliation towards Russia than Ukraine..... And, yes, part of any reasonable deal means Europe will have to provide peace keepers in Ukraine. But, not the US. Here is where Trump gets my nod -- pulling back the US from NATO, where we're only a trip wire, at the cost of 967 billion dollars per year. And, yes, finally making the EU pay for their own defense, including taking care of the Ukrainian problem. Trump may be a moron. But he's a cagey moron. A true bull in a china shop, I'm loving all the broken china -- that needed breaking. He's certainly making some moves that appear questionable. But I'll sit back and enjoy the dismantling of many of the progressives' stupid rulings under Biden: no more hairy transgenders on a girls volleyball team; no more requirement to buy an EV; and a results-oriented military, no longer hampered by touchy-feely DEI mandates. Yeah, he takes liberties with the truth. Witness his recent Congressional speech. But the bigger embarrassment during that speech were the Democrats. Actually, it was a pretty good speech -- from the patriotic angle. Just hope 4 years from now we can be thankful a cagey moron was elected. Looking good now, from how I'm viewing it. Just wish my stock portfolio would settle down.....

Yeah, me too. This for a LTR-WP. I do recall seeing a 2 year requirement for some other form(s) of the LTR visa.

I really don't care if the EU has to teach their students the Cyrillic alphabet. Just glad the US finally has a leader -- as weird as he is -- who is finally forcing the Europeans to provide for their own defense, and not mooch off of the Americans. Those annual 967 billion dollars we waste on NATO certainly will go a long way to finally helping America -- and not the "old world," that my ancestors turned their backs on several centuries ago, for good reason. And, sadly, I guess, we'll never see final repayment on the Marshall Plan trillions we poured into Europe -- maybe we should have been more specific about those monies being a loan, not a grant... But, that's ancient, albeit galling, history -- as the books have never re-balanced. As an American, I'm not really happy about being taken as a sucker for these many years. Now it's kinda fun watching Orange Hair, playing bull in the china shop, finally breaking all that china that needed breaking. So solly, Europe. Anyway, good luck Ukraine. Europe now has your back. Not that they're prepared to do what's necessary.

Yep, it's a disaster. But I can still scratch my head when I see someone who knows absolutely that he owes no taxes -- but opts to go to TRD rather than the golf course. Owing no taxes means he has nothing to worry about in terms of fines, interest, or jail. Exactly what hand holding is he expecting from TRD? Heck, I wouldn't even file, let alone bother TRD, if my assessable income exceeded one of those arbitrary thresholds of 60/120/220. As Ben Hart implied in one of his rants: those thresholds aren't even codified, so why worry about them. Yes, some folks need TRD assistance to get their 15% withholdings back. Those arent' the folks whose motives I'm curious about.

Which of these 180 degree diametrically opposed statements is the real truth?

If you knew you didn't have to file a tax return -- or didn't need a TIN -- why in the world did you waste your time at Jomtiem RD? We're hearing more and more of this on this forum, and I can't for the life of me figure out why people are wasting their time.... Is it because of the Mike Lister syndrome, from his reports in the early tax threads, where he recommended you take all your paperwork regarding your non assessable income, sit down with the nice TRD lady, and receive assurance you don't owe taxes, and you don't need to file a tax return? Anyway, don't mean to pick on you -- you're just one of many reporting on this forum about wasting time going to TRD, trying to get a TIN, and being thrown out on your ear 'cause you have no, or not enough, assessable income to require paying taxes. But I am curious why so many seem to be doing this. Have recommendations on this forum -- by a few prime suspects -- scared you into wasting a day at TRD?

Why would you even waste your time going to TRD? You had NO assessable income -- and even if you did, if it was below the arbitrary 60/120/220 thresholds, you'd have no reason to file a return, let alone chat, and confuse, a bunch of clueless TRD clerks. I think a lot of this began a few years back, when Mike Lister, and his alter ego, Chiang Mai, bragged about showing up at TRD and presenting all their numbers of NON ASSESSABLE income -- prancing about as if TRD even cared about these presentations. Fortunately, these two (one?) clowns have evaporated from this forum. Jeez, why would you worry about having proof that you owed no taxes and thus needed proof to that effect? You think the future here in Thailand is that TRD will need to chat with every farang about his taxes, and then issue to 90% of those a piece of paper saying they owed no taxes? Get real -- TRD isn't going to ramp-up to support such stupidity. But, if this worry -- brought about by Mike Lister/Chiang Mai bothers you -- wear a wire recorder on next year's ridiculous visit to TRD.

Gross. That was a question many of us had early on in this game, and they came back very emphatically saying "gross."

Then, let's get the hell out of NATO -- and save nearly a trillion dollars annually. No need for DOGE trump change -- just pack up and leave European defense to the Europeans -- NATO certainly doesn't provide any defense to the US.

I always had mixed feeling about the obvious lesbians I encountered in the military. They, with their androgynous features, short hair, gruff demeanor -- were a real detriment to the military image. And "don't ask, don't tell" was a joke regarding them -- you certainly didn't have to ask. But, hey, maybe as desert fighters they might excel -- at least during certain times during the month, when they retain water.

Or, it's about personal experience. Living in Wash DC for many years, I learned what areas of town I should not walk in at night. Or, even in daylight, when to cross the street to avoid a group of hip hop Black teenagers.

Right. World class architectural structures. Unmatched symphonic orchestras. World renown scientific discoveries. Literature masterpieces. On and on. But, the white man kept them down, and thus unable to develop their fantastic natural ability to contribute to civilization. So sad. But at least the white man prevented them from eating each other.