JimGant

11 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Women should never be allowed to be in combat unless they can pass the same physical requirements that men have to meet.

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.

On 2/22/2025 at 9:59 PM, Lacessit said:

To me. racism is all about lack of education.

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.

On 2/22/2025 at 9:41 PM, Mike_Hunt said:

If it weren't for colonization, every African nation could have become a first-world country

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.

12 hours ago, Etaoin Shrdlu said:

Don't the IRS rules require that a taxpayer claim any foreign tax refunds applicable and then only claim the tax credit for the net amount after the foreign tax refund? 

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."

6 hours ago, NoDisplayName said:

Putting the foreign tax on a 1116 has me calculate the percentage of foreign income in my total income, and using that % to calculate the amount of credit.  In my anecdote, I can only take $75, but can carry forward to next year.

 

Alternatively, I can skip the 1116, and take up to $300 of 1:1 tax reduction, bringing this year's tax due to zero, but losing the carry forward and potential use of 1116 in the future.

 

Do I have that about right?

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).

6 hours ago, NoDisplayName said:

Any word yet on how Thailand manages foreign tax credits.

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.

On 2/21/2025 at 3:02 PM, mudcat said:

recommend that she go with a tax professional at least for the first year. 

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.

12 hours ago, oldcpu said:

They did not want to admit they made a mistake because they were trying to drum up business

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?

2 hours ago, dinga said:

Amongst that website material is a recording of an interview ETT had with a Senior Lawyer from the TRD Legal Section.  My recollection is that the above extract is 100% consistent with the verbal advice from that Lawyer.

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?

2 hours ago, dinga said:

Suggest you look at the material on the Expat Tax Thailand website  -  here's an extract:

 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.

3 minutes ago, Etaoin Shrdlu said:

The CRS forms that banks are asking accountholders to complete require that the accountholder self-declare their tax residence.

Not quite the same as what I was responding to -- my response was from this, from Expattax:

Quote

Under CRS rules, banks must:

• Confirm the tax residency of all account holders.

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.

21 minutes ago, BenCrew said:

Bangkok Bank is complying with CRS and FATCA regulations:

• For Americans: FATCA requires banks to report account details to US tax authorities.

Actually, banks report "US identified individuals", not to US tax authorities, but to Thai tax authorities, who are then tasked with forwarding that info on to the US -- but only if the "US individual" had $50,000 of amalgamated bank assets at end of year -- or $75,000 at any time during the year.

25 minutes ago, BenCrew said:

Under CRS rules, banks must:

• Confirm the tax residency of all account holders.

Oh, barf burgers. How's a bank to know if Joe Farang spent over 180 days of the tax year in Thailand? Maybe they would just assume, if Joe Farang had a TIN, that he was a Thai tax resident. But why would the bank know if he had a TIN, or not -- unless he provided a TIN to preclude that 15% withholding at source of his bank interest? And assuming that someone with a TIN is automatically a tax resident -- is bonkers. No, banks aren't in the business of identifying whether their customers are here for 180 days per calendar year, or not.

Anyway, Bencrew is just quoting Expatthaitax -- who has a polished presentation, but I've found many stupid errors in their reporting, particularly in their FAQ reporting.

Be that as it may -- as a Yank, I have absolutely no problem having the Thais tell Uncle Sam what my annual interest is on my amalgamated Bangkok Bank savings accounts (they're well over $50,000, so probably reported). This interest requires me to file a Schedule B atch to my 1040 -- which also has me attest to knowing about my FBAR filing requirement. I've no problem with any of this -- but where I also atch a Schedule 3 to get a tax credit for the Thai taxes on same interest.

Don't know much about CRS, except they supposedly imitated a lot from FATCA. But, hey, it's all part of this new world, where now that we've solved the problem of "no double taxation" -- it's now time to address "no no taxation."

I hope Bangkok Bank's new requirements don't cause us to rehash what we beat to death when KBank issued same type information requests?

6 hours ago, ravip said:

Wondering how a guy can put "the western alliance" in jeopardy that has benefitted all the members of this alliance since WW2.

Hasn't benefited the US. We just paid 1 trillion dollars a year to serve as a trip wire. Money much better spent on American priorities. Makes no never mind to me, and most Americans, whether or not Europeans have Russian as their lingua franca. And with ICBMs, America's defense problem is the same, whether or not Russia's border is in Easten Europe -- or at the Atlantic Ocean.

On 2/11/2025 at 9:28 PM, swissie said:

Currently, the "approval rate" of European voters supporting "Donalds Universe" is about 15%.  According to polls.

Well, of course. Europeans are scared. Donald plans to cut back -- hopefully, even end -- US funding of NATO. Currently, the US funds 70% of NATO -- at 967 billion dollar per year! Wow. That chunk of money could go a long way to helping US debt problems, as well as being able to better fund necessary programs to US well-being, like improving our sad education system. Easy call, really. Why waste these resources on a program that doesn't help the US, but only serves as a trip wire....?

So, Europe, no wonder you're shaking. Your taxes will go up, to now fund the defense you've been getting on the US dime. Over abundant social programs may suffer. Your 30 hour work weeks, two month vacations -- may suffer. So sad.

But, thanks Donald, as it's been about time. Original American colonists left Europe to get away from the malaise and frequent warfare. And the Atlantic provided a wonderful moat. World War I, unfortunately, popped that bubble, as the Democrats (Wilson) deemed it necessary to declare war -- and have 100,000 Americans die (while zero Dutch died in the combat surrounding them, as they stayed neutral. Go figure). Then, of course, because of American involvement -- and Germany not able to reach at least a draw -- we had the Treaty of Versaille, with all its baggage, leading to WWII.

Anyway, Europe, we're tired of funding your defense. And Trump, while a 'bull in a china shop,' is definitely a weird dude -- I applaud all that broken china -- at your expense, not America's.

On 2/12/2025 at 12:34 PM, theshu25 said:

Trump is doing a great job in the war in ukraine isn't he. Trump is  no more then a village idiot. He has no idea what he is doing and is way way out of his depth,Leave the war to the grown ups,not a n  idiot like trump.

Well, let's see what happens. If the war ends -- and thousands of lives are saved, and zillions in property damage avoided, and normality returns, to some degree, to Europe -- I'd say so much for grown ups. Yeah, maybe the cost to Ukraine will be some Russian speaking territory -- but that wouldn't be any loss of loyal citizens.

On 2/12/2025 at 9:52 AM, spidermike007 said:

We’ve also built a strong social safety net – especially with public health care – that we are very proud of

Yeah, Canada, you've been able to do this, like most non-US members of NATO -- with their grandiose social programs --on the back of the US, who funds 2/3rds of NATO with nearly 1 trillion dollars annually! You, Canada, are one of the pikers:

Quote

.... while Spain (1.3 percent), Slovenia  (1.3 percent), Luxembourg (1.3 percent), Belgium (1.3 percent) and Canada (1.4 percent) spend the least.

11 hours ago, oldcpu said:

The resident tax payer, who derive assessable income from ... assets situated outside of Thailand, will hereafter be subject to taxation in Thailand during the year the income is remitted, regardless of when it was earned.  This shall not apply to any foreign-sourced income earned before 1-January-2024.

 

So that suggests the income you earned (when not a tax resident to Thailand) can still potentially be taxed by Thailand in year 2026 or any later year if you remit that income into Thailand. 

Joe Blow retires in home country in 2025. He has a private pension, which he salts away in a savings account established in 2025. He does the same for his private pensions earned in 2026 thru 2032 -- living off of only his social security. In 2033 Joe Blow moves to Thailand, and is here most of the year and is thus a tax resident.

Joe Blow wires all his 2025-2032 savings to Thailand in 2033. Sanity and common sense would dictate that Thailand has no tax claim against those salted away private pensions, even tho' the DTA says Thailand has primary taxation rights on private pensions. And, of course, we wouldn't even be having this discussion, if Thailand just taxed income, and not remitted income. Of course, the TRD MFWIC might be insane, with no common sense.....

The other side of the coin..... Fat cat Thai billionaire, a tax resident of Thailand, earns zillions of dollars abroad, but never remits it to Thailand. Now, this year, 2025, he leaves Thailand for 7 months -- and remits those zillions in foreign income. Would they be taxable when bounced against this: A non-resident is, however, subject to tax only on income from sources in Thailand. Hmmm. If so, certainly give incentive to hop on your yacht and take an extended vacation.

1 hour ago, EVENKEEL said:

I can't understand what idiot would give up US citizenship.

How about the transgender who's just been told by the new administration that he/she/it can't play on the womens' soccer team?

23 hours ago, Presnock said:

Now the US is changing some tax laws so that those Americans being tax resident in foreign  countries can opt out of US taxes and just pay Thailand

What are you talking about? Certainly not the Earned Income Tax Credit, which has been around 50 years? And, I got a 'no joy' when I tried to log into your 'taxpayer advocate' link....

Nope. The 'saving clause' found in all US DTAs allows the US to tax all income regardless of what the DTA says (with a few exceptions, like alimony). Yes, in these situations the US is secondary tax authority -- and has to reduce its tax bill with a credit for Thai taxes paid.  But there is no option to "opt out" for filing and paying US taxes (if not overwhelmed by the tax credit).

I hope you're not referring to the Thomas Carden scheme, where he maintains (incorrectly) that there's an exclusion in the Thai-US DTA, allowing a US citizen, who's a Thai tax resident, to not pay US taxes on his IRA cashout, remitted to Thailand?

4 hours ago, Tom100 said:

 Bribery is common for expedited public services and to bypass regulations.

Hey, now the US can participate in greasing palms, as Trump has ended enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. I guess he understands there are many aspects to the "art of the deal."

On 2/11/2025 at 7:43 AM, bkk6060 said:

I have never eaten in a restaurant or been to a hotel where I could not buy a drink between these hours.  

Me neither. But having to drink my wine out of a coffee cup sucked.