JimGant

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.

That's the finest advice I've ever heard iterated on this forum.

The rules do say that, if you can get a tax refund from the foreign govt, you're not eligible for a tax credit on your US tax return. But to get a Thai tax refund, you need to have a TIN. And we've seen enough examples on this forum that getting a TIN can be difficult. So if there's a chance you'll only be able to get a TIN by paying ExpatTax 7500bt -- which would be three times my Thai tax and thus not a realistic option -- I'd say you'd be on solid ground with the IRS in saying, "there wasn't a reasonable way to get a tax refund." Sure, you could waste a day and an inch of shoe leather finally finding the TRD office that would issue you a TIN. But I wouldn't call that "reasonable."

Yep. And if filing MFJ, you can take up to $600 without the need for a Form 1116. For years I've taken a tax credit for the 15% withholding Bangkok Bank takes on my savings accounts. Sure beats filing a Thai tax return to get that nitnoy money back -- which I certainly wouldn't bother to do -- but plugging in that amount in TurboTax is slam dunk -- just make sure you put in the ersatz 1099 you build for Bangkok Bank the foreign tax withheld in the proper 1099 line -- otherwise you'll go nuts trying to figure out how to deduct it. If you do file a Thai tax return, with taxes paid on foreign remitted income, this is where a Form 1116 may be needed, if a tax credit is considerable - and you need to take advantage of the credit carried forward (and backward). And, because the Internal Revenue Code says foreign tax credits can only by taken against foreign taxes paid on FOREIGN income -- but you're taking a credit for taxes paid on remitted US income -- you need to file a Form 8833 to have the treaty trump this part of the Code (but maybe you don't, which is too long a discussion to go into here). This gets interesting, because there's so much discussion on the forum about taking a tax credit against Thai taxes -- for taxes paid on same income in your home country. But actually there are very few circumstances where, per most DTAs, this would be dictated (rental income is the only example I can think of). Example -- US DTA: Private pensions are taxable exclusively by Thailand. But, since I have to pay the US tax on this pension -- because the saving clause overrides the treaty language -- could I then get a credit against my Thai taxes for this US tax bill per the DTA language? No, at least not per the DTA. The country having primary/exclusionary taxation rights gets to keep all taxes collected -- and doesn't have to absorb a tax credit; however, the US, in this example, being secondary taxation authority, would have to absorb a tax credit for taxes paid to Thailand. Now, Thailand could, if it wanted, say (as maybe they have -- hard to decipher) that they'll allow a tax credit for taxes paid to your home country -- even tho' the treaty says they get to keep the whole enchilada. Why they would want to give away taxes they're rightfully entitled to -- is beyond me. But, it certainly wouldn't violate any double taxation restrictions...... How would they take a credit, since there are no lines on the tax return to do so? I guess you would just have to spreadsheet the problem, figuring out what your final Thai tax bill would be, if they would absorb a tax credit for your US taxes paid. Then, you would enter an imaginary taxable income figure that would arrive at this final Thai tax bill, that included the credit. And, of course, it the tax credit -- per spreadsheet computation -- completely wiped out whatever Thai taxes were due on this foreign income -- you'd just not include this foreign income on your Thai tax return. Weird sh**, this. I hope there is somebody home at TRD dealing with the problem.

Why not just make sure she over withholds taxes, and/or pays a surplus in estimated taxes? As such (unless she has self-employment income over $400) she is NOT required to file a US 1040 -- therefore, not required to file a FATCA Form 8938. Thus, the money she donates to Uncle Sam can be setup to approximate what she'd pay to a tax professional -- thus a wash. I've set this up for my wife, as she'd have a hard time collecting required info for the tax professional, like 1099s, as she's not computer literate -- and going paperless is becoming extinct. Plus, this would have to be done by mail to someone outside Chiang Mai, since there are no tax professionals here dealing with US tax returns, at least that I know of. Thus, a simple way to avoid the hassle -- and one less problem for the wife when I croak.

You think? 7500 for a TIN; 15000 to do a return, with all 'zeros' on the income lines..... What could be wrong with this picture?

There is so much BS floating around on these threads. ETT presents its position smoothly, but gets it wrong sometimes -- and not necessarily because of their interpretation of matters, but because they're ill-served by "senior lawyers from the TRD," who are talking off the cuff, and not from any established Code. I think most of us LTR-WP visa holders can rest assured that any and all remitted foreign income is tax exempt per Royal Decree 743 - regardless of what year it is remitted. We've gotten enough assurance for this from BOI, as many of us have queried them on this matter. And because it's a mainstay of BOI's selling position of LTRs -- you think they're blowing smoke for such a high positioned matter? Yeah, well, ETT online material has a lot of misrepresentations. One of the major ones, as regards LTR-WP visa holders, is ETT's claim that such holders DO need to file a tax return, listing all their non assessable (non taxable) income. But, there's no place on the form to put non assessable income -- because TRD is not interested in it. HELLO ETT! And BOI has responded to many questions on this, with: NO, YOU DON'T NEED TO FILE A TAX RETURN! Anyway, this forum at least can get folks to analyze the situation with all the various forum inputs -- and maybe just blow away tax advisory creeps like ETT.

Not quite the same as what I was responding to -- my response was from this, from Expattax: Maybe a little word salad here, but having the bank "confirm the tax residency" of the account holder is not quite the same as having the account holder "self-assess" his tax residency status. My point is that Expattax is quite often off-the-mark in their attempt to explain this new tax goulash. My first clue was when they, in their FAQ listing, advised me that I had to file a Thai tax return, even tho' my foreign remitted income was tax exempt -- because I hold a LTR-WP visa. Anyway, just advising a "heads up" on Expatthai's smoothly delivered utterances.