JimGant

4 hours ago, anrcaccount said:

Still waiting for the first report of anyone, paying any significant thai tax, on a foreign "income" remittance.

You mean, someone who actually owes Thailand taxes on remitted income, because one's DTA defines such income as assessable by Thailand?

For us Yanks, that wouldn't make any difference, since we either pay Thailand, or we pay the US -- but not both on the same income, via exemptions/credits. And if Thailand has first dibs on taxation of my income, fine with me -- please use my tax collection to fill in the pot holes of where I live. Saying such means, why wouldn't I comply with Thai taxation rules, as my total tax bill between the US and Thailand is not affected.

And furthermore, you gotta figure that Thailand realizes they're losing tax collections out there by lax compliance monitoring. So, why wouldn't tax compliance audits (maybe just random), at least on folks with large remittances, be in order? Certainly this would be cost effective, as it appears there's a lot of low hanging fruit out there. And didn't TRD just hire an additional 750 auditors? What have they been up to?

Anyway, I don't care -- I have an LTR visa. Just throwing this out for others to chew on.

On 3/19/2026 at 8:22 AM, TigerandDog said:

Submitted my tax return at the District Revenue Office in the first week of January, no questions asked. However, Chiang Mai Revenue Office contacted me and requested a copy of my bank statement for the past 12 months. Still waiting for my refund to arrive.

Please let us know what finally happens, like, they call you in to discuss remittances..... Thanx.

2 hours ago, 503726 said:

I also wonder how far all remittance to made to a Thai bank account are going to come under scrutiny as taxable income

I would assume most retired expats, not working in Thailand, have some monies remitted to Thailand on which to live off of. Most probably have -- except in big purchase years -- less than 1M baht in remittances. Thai RD knows these foreigners -- unlike Thai citizens -- have most, if not all of these remittances, protected from Thai tax via DTA. So, it wouldn't be cost effective to waste RD resources to interview these folks on their remittances; better to chat with Thai citizens with remittances.

Now, a large annual remittance (how large, don't know) might be worth investigating by Thai RD. First, they'd have to see if you've been here over 180 days -- which, I guess, might not be too difficult. And secondly, they'd probably do this, for cost effective purposes, on a random sample basis.

Anyway, best never to get a TIN and file a Thai tax return, especially if your remitted assessable income is less than 560K -- the amount of deductions and free tax bracket for a married retiree over age 65 -- and thus no taxes owed. To file otherwise is just calling unnecessary attention to yourself. And we've seen where someone who files is subject to producing 12 months of bank statements, to explain the nature of the remittances. Forget that ridiculous requirement to have to file, if assessable income exceeds 120k (220k married): If you owe no taxes, you're not a tax violator, and the fine for not filing is a percentage of taxes owed, which of course is zero.

33 minutes ago, orientalist said:

I don't have an applicable DTA.

Interesting. What country are you from?

On 3/21/2026 at 12:54 AM, jojothai said:

But, please take note that we all have a right to claim back tax paid.
Its not just owing tax that is the issue.
Do you throw away about 16,000 baht that you can get back?

Many people miss the point of doing a tax return to claim back tax when entitled.

If you're a Yank, that Thai interest needs to go on your US tax return. But, you can get a one-for-one tax credit for those Thai taxes paid, as Thailand has primary taxation rights on interest earned in Thailand. Of course, you can't get this credit if you waste time submitting a Thai tax return -- and Thailand refunds these taxes.

A couple of related scenarios. IRS Pub 514 says: If you can get a tax refund from Thailand, then you can't claim a credit for same on your US tax return. But, you can't get a refund if you don't have a Thai tax TIN. And from many reports on this forum, and others, folks have been told they can't get a TIN without a work permit, or don't owe any taxes, whatever. Thus, I've never tried to get a TIN. Yes, maybe a lame excuse if audited. But certainly not blatant tax evasion -- in the unlikely (<1%) chance of having a three figure tax credit triggering some audit algorithm. Anyway, if you don't have a TIN, are a Yank, and have some Thai tax withholding -- this credit route vice filing a Thai tax return is the way to go.

Of course, if you're a Yank pauper, and don't have any taxable income (standard deduction greater than AGI), thus can't utilize a credit -- then, yeah, spend some time filing a Thai tax return to get your measly withholding tax back; certainly you're in a situation to need it.

On 3/22/2026 at 2:19 PM, orientalist said:

In section 40.1 (income) they put the overseas transfers that I told them. In section 40.2 (exemptions) they added about 43% of the income

Sounds like you broke out your remittances between assessable and non assessable income, as dictated by your DTA, and POR 161/162. Was this the case? If not, how could they possibly have arrived at this 43% exemption (non assessable) figure?

1 hour ago, khunPer said:

For the 2025 eFiling online tax return, you need to register your total foreign income (in Thai baht), eventual paid taxes abroad, and the amount of foreign income transferred into Thailand.

I doubt it. They're only interested in foreign ASSESSABLE income remitted to Thailand. And, yes, there is a space for that to be entered. And, I guess, the newer eFiling forms have a space for foreign taxes paid, as a credit, on said income. But including non ASSESSABLE remitted income on an eFile form -- is not doable with the existing forms. Yeah, maybe down the road, the RD may want to see all your foreign income, at least the amounts remitted to Thailand -- with an explanation of why or why not such income is assessable. But we're not there yet.

And the beauty of eFiling is -- no personal contact with Thai RD folks (unless, horrors -- such filers are now getting requests for more information about their remittances).

The director of my local revenue office says that all foreigners staying for more than 180 days in a tax year shall file a tax return.

What revenue office is that? With my LTR visa, latest guidance says no tax filing required. And even without an LTR visa -- my remittances are mostly DTA exempt income, and not enough to meet taxable requirements. Thus, I certainly wouldn't waste my time filing a null tax return, as there, under current law, could be little to no consequence -- as the fine is a percentage of taxes owed, which of course is zero (yeah, maybe a 2000bt fine for having assessable income above 220k, even tho' still not taxable. No reports of anyone ever having such a fine -- how would they even have such exacting data......?).

15 hours ago, orientalist said:

I found a spurious figure in the exemptions section.

Where on the form is the exemptions section where you found this spurious figure? And exempt why -- because it's non assessable income? Did you show them any paperwork (like your Thai bank statements) that showed your remittances? Without such, how could they possibly arrive at that 140k figure -- unless your oral discussions somehow included info on remittances......? Hmmm.

On 3/17/2026 at 11:14 AM, OneManShow said:

They did it for me at local tax office and they were very helpful. I was not required to pay any tax anyway. All for free.

It's simple enough to figure out whether or not you owe any tax on assessable remitted income. If not, why would you bother visiting the local tax office....?

3 hours ago, Caldera said:

The online tax return simply asks for this

I don't think so.

2 hours ago, bannork said:

The US negotiating team was led by Jared Kushner and special envoy Steve Witkoff,

Both Jewish. Kinda suggests that Israel's desire for war had a leg up, courtesy of the US negotiators.

On 3/12/2026 at 8:25 PM, TedG said:

If you create a trust can avoid probate.

Revocable trusts to avoid probate -- like we see in the US -- are not recognized in Thailand. Putting Thai assets into a US revocable trust wouldn't work either.

Living trusts (revocable trusts) are generally not recognized under Thai law, which makes holding Thai property in a foreign trust difficult. However, you can use a US-based trust to manage US assets while living in Thailand.

On 2/26/2026 at 1:02 PM, Everyman said:

So….I can still transfer money from my US checking account to my account at Bangkok Bank? I have never held currency with Wise nor I have ever had a “Wise Card.”

Yes, no change for you. I'm in the same situation, use Wise to do an ACH pull from my US bank and send it on to Thailand. Switched to Wise when the ACH transfer mechanism thru Bangkok Bank New York closed down. Keep it simple with Wise, and you shouldn't get runover.

1 hour ago, treetops said:

Unless that work was Thailand based I don't think your opinion will reflect actual practice. All it will take is for an RD director to say something different from this Senior Tax Economist and everything could flip again. TIT.

There's always the chance that someone in a branch office doesn't agree with -- or has never heard of -- the party line. Nevertheless, these BoI slides certainly give you the credence to not file a tax return, and not go out and get a TIN -- and not worry about being audited.

On 2/26/2026 at 8:38 AM, dinga said:

my thinking is it's best to direct the gifted funds into the giftee's overseas bank account - with the giftee then transferring those funds into their Thai bank account.

Yes, this has been suggested by some Thai tax prep companies. Filtering thru an offshore bank account would have income converting to a gift - pre arrival in Thailand. Thus, remitted monies would have the same non taxability as a remitted bank loan. Problem -- giftee not having a foreign bank account.

On 1/20/2026 at 10:31 AM, Yumthai said:

I'm sure you do understand the big nuance between walking in a TRD office to get a random answer and being audited and fined because they could find evidence that a gifter has benefited from a gift that was proven tax assessable income.

Bingo. There's enough uncertainty on this subject that one should give himself the benefit of the doubt, gather up all the postings in favor of gift remittance exemptions, then don't declare on a tax return and await the less than 1% chance of an audit.

On 1/19/2026 at 8:15 PM, Yumthai said:

You are kidding right? If not then let's push further the absurdity: just pay the wife and get a receipt each time she uses her car for the gifter's benefit.

Then those receipts are value/income paid to you while in Thailand and thus subject to income tax. Absurd, yes. But if that gift to your wife had subsequent value to you -- then, yes, there's an income element here -- either at the remitted end, or when subsequent value is realized.

On 1/19/2026 at 2:14 PM, anrcaccount said:

People speculating that donors pay tax somehow on remitted gifts, consider:

For that to occur -the same funds - would need to be subject to thai taxation twice, once for the donor and again for the recipient, which is obviously nonsensical...........

Thai gift tax came about in 2015 to cover the same loop hole the US saw a long time ago, whereby fat cats were gifting their estate assets (upon which income tax had already been paid) to avoid estate/inheritance tax. The US now treats gifts as subtractions from estate value, and taxes accordingly, meaning you can't gift away your estate free of estate tax.

This is nearly the Thai model, whereby a gift of over 10M/20M baht is taxable by the recipient (but in the US, it is taxable by the donor/estate). Thus, fat cat Thais can't avoid inheritance tax by gifting away their estate (or at least their gift recipients can't), whose value already includes any income taxes paid on value added to the estate. The 2015 gift tax law assumed gifts were all from after income tax assets in one's estate.

Thus, that assessable income money you remit to Thailand -- only becomes part of your taxable estate after net of income tax. Thai gift tax is completely divorced from tax rules on remitted assessable income.

Does the Land Office know when land owners die? If so, how are they notified? If not, why couldn't I just pretend she's still alive - and continue to live in our house, which is on one of her properties, which has a 30-year lease on it. Her Will gives me all her real estate, and we have the understanding I'll have our nephew take ownership of it for one satang. But, he lives in Bangkok (we're in CM), is quite busy, and there may be complications with getting him up here signing over ten Chanotes within that designated one year window.

Obviously, if I only have one year to sell this property, I'll get this nephew up here, or another relative, as I want to keep the property in the family, and don't need any sales proceeds to sustain me. But, a little more wiggle room would be nice. And if the Land Office didn't know of her death, I'd have that option.

Any firsthand info on this question -- or solid hearsay?

UK questions the legality of the airstrikes? To what end? It's a fait accompli. Saying "knock it off you guys, it's illegal" makes the UK sound ridiculous in the midst of a very serious situation.

On 1/24/2026 at 2:24 PM, Bredbury Blue said:

On 1/23/2026 at 10:27 AM, Bredbury Blue said:

Can you take a prepared typed will, have it witnessed, and they record/register and store it,

Or, do you have to prepare it there and then, have it witnessed, and they record/register and store it

Anyone?

Yes, no need for the Amphur to prepare the Will, which, having to be in Thai, would make for a long day, especially since they require specific details about your estate. You, on the other hand, can self prepare, and skip the specific details, instead saying "I leave everything to my wife." Etc.

Secret-Document Thai Will (Sec. 1660): A last will signed and sealed by the testator, then presented sealed to the district officer (Kromakarn Amphoe) with two witnesses. The officer records the declaration, date, and seal on the cover, and all sign. Contents stay confidential until opened. Open to both Thais and foreigners; interpreter allowed if needed.

And the Will can be in your native tongue, unlike an Amphur prepared Will, which has to be in Thai. [But, will need to have a certified translation to Thai after it's popped from the envelope after your death -- and before probate.]

But no need to involve an Amphur, in any aspect of a Will. In the old days, Amphur wills were for the poor, with the Amphur helping in its preparation for a few satang; then upon death, these Wills were self-probating. No longer, as lawyer mafia was losing probate fees, so they put an end to this. And, it's a myth that Wills have to be certified by an Amphur, if you, not a lawyer, prepare the Will.

So, no real advantage to storing your Will in the Amphur -- or even paying a visit. Just get a good template, prepare the Will yourself, and follow a few common sense rules, like making sure witnesses are adults and sane. Thai Civil Code on Wills is not demanding, so with a good template, you ain't gonna screw it up. No need even to have a Thai version of the Will, at least at inception -- only before probate (if you even get that far, as if you only have bank accounts, there are ways to circumvent probate).