JimGant

Weird dude.

The big exception found in many tax treaties is that government pensions are taxable only by the government paying them (interesting that Norway doesn't follow this rule). Thus, my military pension and social security are exempt from Thai taxation, so even if I had those payments direct deposited to a Thai bank (certain evidence that money is sent to Thailand in year paid), there would be no Thai tax liability. Now for a private pension, I certainly would not have it direct deposited to Thailand, but instead filter it through one of my long established US bank accounts.

Agreed -- but the operative word is "reasonable." As many of us reading this forum for years have witnessed, your mileage varies considerably when trying to get a Thai Tax ID that will enable a refund of those withholding taxes on your bank interest. If I needed to quote to the IRS auditor why I couldn't get a Thai Tax ID, I'd reprint reports from this forum, like, no work permit, no Tax ID. But, the IRS is not going to audit your reporting of a credit for a piddly amount of Thai taxes paid on a piddly amount of Thai interest. And from a legal standpoint, Thailand really has first dibs on taxing that interest, per tax treaty. Why they allow a refund to farangs with a tax ID, I dunno. And from an ethical standpoint, you, the US taxpayer, is not cheating on taxes -- you're still paying the same tax bill, instead, it's now divided between Thailand and the US. Doesn't it make sense that Thailand gets to tax your Thai bank interest to pay to fill in their potholes? Christ, as a retired CPA, this would be a slam dunk argument, in favor of the credit, with the IRS. I argued, and won, definitely more elaborate cases, including allowed deduction for shoes for airline employees (I won). So, for Yank taxpayers with withheld Thai taxes on bank interest, take the credit. If married, and the interest is less than $600, you don't even have to file an extra form -- just plug in the number on the 1040 line. (So, even for those with a Thai tax ID, and going thru the annual refund drill with the Thai tax authorities, switching to the tax credit, in the comfort of your computer and Turbotax, may be easier.)

Shoot a black robber in the act of accumulating a down payment on the reparations he's believed he's owed -- naaa, in today's climate you'd be faced with too many civil rights charges. Remember, black lives matter means every street thug is immune from arrest, and for those who refuse to get in the squad car, police force, like a knee, are no longer allowed. Might as well 'defund the police' -- they're now impotent anyway.

You're describing the Norwegian system, where all your Norwegian pensions (including government pensions) are, per treaty, taxable by Thailand if you're a tax resident there. And these pensions will be exempt from Norwegian taxes IF you show them your Thai tax return receipt showing these pensions were taxed by the Thais. So, if the Thai tax is lower than what the Norwegians would charge, you've made some money (but, again, you have to prove you paid taxes on these pensions to Thailand. No proof, pay Norway). But, if you're a Yank, and poy taxes to Thailand, you get a credit for those taxes against your US taxes -- but unlike Norway, you don't get to exempt that income from US taxes.The end result is you end up paying the higher of either the Thai or the US tax: If your Thai tax is higher than your US tax on this same income, you'll get a 100% credit and thus pay no US tax on this income. Conversely, if the Thai tax is less, you'll only get a partial credit, equal to the Thai tax, against your US tax -- so your total tax bill will be all the Thai tax plus the US tax on this income, after the credit is taken. Bottom line is, you'll pay a total tax, part to Thailand part to the US, equivalent to what you would have paid to the US had there been no Thai tax paid. No good deal a la Norway.

What a joke. Not invited is America's best ally in the region, Singapore. Why? Because it has a single party, "managed" democracy. Seems to work quite well, thank you very much (take note, Thailand -- Khunpa's comments, above, are germaine). And, why not -- a little management is required when every idiot, er uninformed/misinformed swinging d*ck has a vote. Even the original America restricted its vote to, hopefully, educated, informed folks, namely, white, male, land owners. Thus, the original "managed" democracy. Today? Well, you can read the political news from the US. And Malaysia on the list.....! Try having in Malaysia an anti-gov't demonstration similar to what we've seen in Bangkok. You'd be thrown in jail instantly, as Malaysia's sedition laws are far tougher than anything Thailand has. And the Philippines? Their record on human rights is a joke under Duterte. Thailand is a bastion of fairness in comparison. No, Biden's democracy party is a joke. Thailand should feel honored to be in the company of Singapore. What the world needs more of are altruistic, smart, Oxford educated benevolent dictators. Unfortunately, they're hard to find -- and once in power, tend to go astray. Thus democracy, with all its warts, at least allows for a recycle of leaders, in the hopes that the latest iteration will get it right.

What annual tax reports might those be? Being on a retirement extension means you can't work in Thailand, thus you have no Thai income to report taxes on (except some piddly interest on your savings account, which, yes, a Thai tax ID would allow for its refund, without needing to do an annual tax report). Certainly you're not thinking about declaring your foreign income to Thai tax authorities -- they don't care (as of now) and consider all monies from foreigners brought into the country as fungible money earned in prior years, and thus not subject to Thai taxes. [However, if you're Norwegian, different rules apply, favoring declaring Norwegian earnings to Thai authorities, But, unless you fit that bill, I won't elaborate.]

I've got the same question. In July and August, I was one of the many foreigners getting the Sinovac, then 4 weeks later, in Aug, the AZ, at McCormick Hospital. All these were, if I recall, 4 day events for each episode. Thus, if I read the booster shot criteria accurately, 6 months later is when booster shots should come into view, meaning sometime in February. Obviously, if things are as orderly as they were in July/Aug, I'm expecting to hear about boosters, beginning in February.

My only US address is a mail forwarding address, which probably wouldn't work. And my voip US phone number also wouldn't work, as they specifically point out. But to completely slam the door on expats getting login.gov access, you must have a current state drivers license or other state ID. I sent them a query asking, what about us expats whose state IDs expired years ago -- can I use my passport? Here's their answer: I don't need a US drivers license -- my Thai license works just fine with rental car agencies when I visit the States. But more importantly, had I renewed my Virginia drivers license, this would be proof positive that I had not abandoned Virginia as my state of residence, and thus would be subject to Virginia state taxes (several Virginia Tax Commissioner rulings attest to this). No thanks. Fortunately the agency I need login.gov for still mails out hard copies of the data I need. Of course, how much longer will that continue in today's environment..... Barf.

OH god, another holier than thou teetotaller.

So, obviously he advocates against all alcohol consumption, including buying a bottle of wine to take home and have with your dinner. Remember, early on with Covid, Thailand closed down all liquor sales. Got a feeling this clown was involved in this decision.... Anyway, having a teetotaller involved in a balanced assessment involving alcohol is ludicrous. Look at the history of US Prohibition to see the consequences.

Curious. I extended my O-A visa last year, with LMG, one of the accepted Thai insurance companies, at age 75 (the last year they'll issue, but will renew in subsequent years, as I recently did at age 76). All listed preexisting conditions are then excluded from coverage -- but they'll take your word for it, with no required physical. Believe the premium was 11,700 baht -- not too drastic. And my age 76 renewal was 16,900 baht (but believe LMG is in the process of raising their premiums to accommodate additional Covid coverage). So, not sure why your mate couldn't get LMG insurance -- heck, they'll cover you if you list your preexisting condition as terminal cancer.

No. A copy of your insurance cert has all the info they need, as they're only interested in plugging that info into the system to see if you're listed in the TGIA data base.

My extension ends 12 Sept 2022. I'll apply for a new extension 30 days in advance, i.e., on 12 Aug 2022. So, does the "September 1 2022" apply to the date I apply (12 Aug) or to the date the extension renews on (13 Sep 2022)?

Wow, the $10 projected increase for Medicare premiums sure missed the mark.....

But, those five years have to include your marriage years. If you meet your wife when she's already lived in the States for five years, those five years don't count -- only those following your marriage.

Can't do inside, so you must queue your body with the cars at the outside drivethru. Covid mask helps with exhaust fumes.....:)

To get around the $250k cap, add PODs. My accounts at my US bank all have two PODs assigned -- my niece and my nephew. This makes them Totten trusts and ups the insurance by $250k per POD beneficiary. Thus, if the bank goes under, I'm insured up to $750k. Also, these accounts avoid probate, which is nice, since all my assets in the US are financial, with either PODs. or beneficiaries, in the case of my IRAs. So when I kick, no one needs to dig out my Will to inherit my estate. https://www.thebalance.com/payable-death-fdic-increase-357241 The Feds have a handy calculator for figuring out various FDIC scenarios: https://edie.fdic.gov/calculator.html Sadly, I can't sign up my Thai nieces and nephews as PODs (no SSNs or ITINs). Thus, I would need a US lawyer to probate my Will designating these Thai relatives as beneficiaries. So, having considerably more than 800k in a Bangkok Bank savings account, for immigration purposes, serves the second purpose of having financial assets, slated for my Thai beneficiaries, being handily in country. And, no, I'm not worried that the Thai gov't would allow Bangkok Bank to go under -- don't believe any Bangkok Bank savings account holders lost any money in 1997 -- and safeguards have been tightened since then. And, no, I'm not losing any money by bringing money from my US accounts to Thailand -- this is money from the liquid, safe side of my conservative portfolio, not from the one/third portfolio in securities, that's going bananas right now. In fact, at today's interest rates, the concept of opportunity cost at the low end is almost meaningless: The money I brought over is from a savings account earning .11% interest; the Bangkok Bank savings account at least earns .25%. But, we're talking peanuts vs. peanuts, even to the point where I don't want to even waste time looking at transferring to a fixed account. Anyway, sorry for those without an adequate, balanced portfolio in home country, whose argument about bringing 800k to Thailand is that they would lose so much money by not being in securities; sounds like these folks are over dependent on securities to get them through old age.....

Wrong. Got my insurance needed for OA extension at age 75; renewed this year at age 76 (cost:16,900bt). Supposedly I can renew up to age 100, but I'll keep my fingers crossed that Tricare will eventually be allowed. Wrong. Bangkok Hospital Chiang Mai has been direct billing Tricare for a rather expensive outpatient treatment my wife has been receiving. Normally, they'll only direct bill for inpatient treatment, but there's a Tricare rep at the hospital who took our situation to the honcho and she agreed to direct bill. Yes, we had to pay a deposit of 50%, but all the paperwork was now done by the hospital (no problem for me, but would be for the wife) and after Tricare paid their 75%, the hospital immediately credited our credit card with our over deposit. But, yes, your mileage may vary, even at the same hospital. You sure? ????

Read a little further into that Thaiexaminer orticle: https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2021/10/20/health-insurance-changes-for-expat-retirees/ So, in return for allowing Non Imm O-A based extensions to use foreign insurance policies, a pragmatic acknowledgement that all long term stay folks need to be covered by insurance, regardless of source. Obviously, those 13 TGIA insurance companies will not give up their ill-gotten premiums easily.... So, good chance nothing will change.

Well, with a three year old OA visa, Phuket immigration doesn't require insurance for a retirement extension. How it can make this independent decision is curious -- but the Asian concept of individual "rice bowls" comes into view. I first encountered this concept in Korea, where I was involved in the Hughes contract to automate the Korean radar system. Individual radar site commanders had the latitude to orient their radar to either true or magnetic North. When operating in the manual mode, independently, no problem. But when trying to harmonize all radar returns into the new automated system, pure chaos. Finally, much horsepower from on high had to dictate to the site commanders that they no longer had the final decision. How or why Phuket Immigration chose to dodge this OA insurance requirement would be nice to know. Maybe a leader who saw it for what it is -- pure corruption, especially when so many applicants involved have perfectly satisfactory home country issued insurance. And, yeah, maybe not enough baht in brown envelopes from the insurance mafia.

Apparently having a wife improves your health. And if she's young and pretty, your cardiovascular numbers improve dramatically.

Yeah, you get to double your standard deduction having the wife on the tax filing. And even if she has worldwide income, now subject to US taxation, if it's below $12550 (her part of the standard deduction), it's a no brainer. And even if she's making more than $12550, if paying taxes on that with a treaty country, you can get a tax credit on your 1040. Finally, without wifey having an ITIN, you, having to file 'married filing single,' you now have to pay tax on all your Social Security income, up to the 85% cap. In many cases, this cap is much lower when filing married jointly.

LMG is by far the cheapest, primarily because it excludes everything but being run over on your motorbike. For many of us, this is fine, as we have much more adequate insurance from our home countries; getting required Thai company insurance is just to meet their corrupt requirement. Fortunately, I was not older than 75 when I had to get Thai insurance (the last age you can apply). And the LMG premium, per the above chart, was a manageable 11,400bt (no physical required). And, this year when I renewed, it was at the same advertised rate, i.e., 16,900bt for age 76. And, when the borders finally open for a realistic border run, I'll convert to a Non O visa, thus no longer having to get a Thai company insurance policy. Of course, when I do this, and subsequently cancel my LMG insurance, the law will change to require insurance for Non Imm O extensions. And, I'll then be too old to get a new LMG policy....... Nevermind. Always wanted to test the probability of an old, home bound codger getting caught for overstay (he said, semi seriously....).