jayboy

11 hours ago, retarius said:

The other odd thing is that when I go to the doctor's office or the bank, I get priority service, in and out very quickly ignoring the queueing system and all the Thai patients sitting there

Never happened to me in many decades here.If hypothetically queue jumping was suggested I would politely decline and wait my turn.Equally to the point, I don't think Thais would tolerate foreigners queue jumping these days, at least in cities like Bangkok.I give my place at supermarket checkouts to elderly Thais and of course to monks when the occasion arises.

On the more general point it's true that farang are no longer a rare commodity and don't get the treatment accorded in the 1970's and before.The British community was widely respected in Bangkok circles in those days because they were seen to be "gentlemanly"  and in tune with Thai virtues This was a delusion because the British trading company employees and the like were often as enthusiastic fornicators and libertines as their contemporary equivalents.The main difference  between now and thenwas essentially one of class - not many true toffs but many public school remittance men etc.

16 minutes ago, Robert Paulson said:

Nope. Not with me. I can price it I have funds in my lazada “wallet” that I can’t spend. 

Do you realize that you can transfer funds from your wallet to your bank account? It's quick and easy and I've done it a couple of times.Just call Lazada and they'll explain exactly how - very good people in my experience.

5 hours ago, superal said:

It is clearly odds on that K. Starmer will be the next PM , after yesterdays by election results . So I have emailed him at the House of Commons and asked him if he will review / unfreeze  the UK pension for those living abroad outside of reciprocal agreement countries . What chance of a reply ?

He is a courteous and conscientious man by all accounts so I think you will certainly receive a reply.However it's unrealistic that he would endorse such a large unfunded commitment shortly before a General Election and at a time of acute financial pressure with many competing priorities.My understanding is that the cost of uprating is approximately Pounds 1 billion p.a and there are about 500,000 overseas people affected.Actually that's a smaller figure than I has earlier anticipated and is I think doable under the right circumstances.But it will in any scenario be a long time from now.What's needed I think is a much more aggressive campaign - demonstrations against visiting UK ministers, lobbying Ambassadors on every occasion with energy and directness (don't let them get away with their usual - nothing to do with me mate responses), lobbying for expat representation in Parliament like the French.Expats now have the vote so a persistent and annoying letter writing campaign to MPs can be undertaken.Don't play nice - it won't advance the cause.Don't be shy about embarrassing decision makers.

42 minutes ago, Mike Lister said:

But I don't agree with the second part, I've been able to repatriate funds on a couple of occasions, the last time in 2019 when I went back to the UK for 4 months, UOB had no problem with it.

 I didn't suggest it wasn't possible (obviously it is) and in the past I have done it. However my currentpersonal circumstances make the transfer of funds to the UK highly unlikely.Too much information?

My Thai bank (BB) phoned to ask the reason for a Sterling remittance of £ 25000 from my UK bank.I don't recall this happening before but I haven't made so high value a remittance for some time.As usual on the UK remittance instruction I had indicated the purpose as "general living expenses".Didn't get the impression the Thai bank inquiry was anything other than a box ticking exercise and the amount has subsequently been credited to my account.But it hasn't happened here before and I wondered what is the general experience.

2 hours ago, Ralf001 said:

AI writes it.

Thanks.I hadn't seen the announcement.Intelligent people will draw their own conclusions on these cobbled together arrangements but no more on the subject as that might be considered "disrespectful".

1 minute ago, Mike Lister said:

I keep two Thai bank accounts for that reason, one for receiving income, the other for investing, Imm money and savings. Separating funds in the UK or overseas level would also make good sense. 

Agreed, and there is the considerable advantage of the record taking aspect being taken care of.In other words in the unlikely event of a RD dispute/query, bank records could be easily shown.

3 hours ago, Mike Lister said:

I maintain that the law change has already happened and that enforcement will either come as a result of more audits or a link to Immigration for visa renewal purposes, I see both those things as probable but the latter more so.

 

I wonder whether many , in anticipation of future audits by RD, propose proceeding as I do, namely by having two UK bank accounts - the first (for remitting) covering all investments, cash deposits etc made before 31.12.2023 and the second covering all current income (not for remitting).

This is really low grade material - superficial, often inaccurate and unprofessional.If this is the standard of content Thaiger brings to the new arrangement, one has to ask exactly what value is being added.

Still best not to come to a verdict prematurely so let's see whether the output improves.However in the interim those responsible need to buck their ideas up unless there's a willingness to settle for mediocrity or worse. I assume the intention is in the medium term to monetize the forum as well (one would hope) to provide a community service.I can assure those responsible that to maximize the commercial potential, it's necessary to take the audience seriously and assume its intelligence.This kind of third rate output simply won't do.

Not at all clear what is hospital statement and what is reporter's comment.

9 hours ago, Mike Lister said:

The message that there are no penalties for not filing when no tax is due, has been repeatedly endlessly in these threads, by prominent posters and read by potentially thousands of people.

There do seem to be penalties for not filing a return if no tax is due, though the quoted fines are very modest.Did anyone ever dispute this? A cynic might argue that if the individual is confident of his ground that no tax is due and has evidence to prove it - it might be a cost effective way of proceeding - in the highly unlikely event of ever being challenged.

The more pertinent question however for many of us is whether a return needs to be filed if there is no assessable income, In other words if an individual only remits funds from a pre-2024 source.

Ridiculous article and mostly irrelevant comments.There is no journey to a new citizenship just a matter of filling in a form which required insertion of country of usual residence.

Harry will always be British and a member of the royal family, a son of a king and only brother of a future king.Furthermore his character and disposition is exactly what one would expect from an officer class aristocrat. Like quite a few upper crust Englishmen a cold perhaps wounded heart has been melted by a vivacious American woman.Harry will always be English.Neither Harry nor Meghan have always be sensible or self aware but personally I give them a lot of slack.I hope they prosper in America and reconcile with William/Kate soon.Nothing is served by venomous royal experts on one side or the horrible Sussex Squad on the other.

6 hours ago, Skipalongcassidy said:

Revoke both of their visas and send the trash back to whence they came.

Pattaya?

9 minutes ago, KannikaP said:

How often do you get your home machine calibrated?

Last time was about two years ago at shop in Bumrungrad when I brought a new cuff. I should do it more often.

But I also have two machines which I alternate to make sure readings are consistent.

3 hours ago, Mike Lister said:

After thought:

 

If you pay for a Thai accountant to do your tax returns, in most cases you might well be paying for form filling rather than advice, unless your finances are out of the ordinary or unusual.

 

The RD will do the form filling for free.

 

If you're looking for tax advice, questions you can't get answered here or by the Revenue, a tax advisor may be the way to go. Paying a tax advisor to fill forms when you have straight forward and fairly simple and normal finances doesn't seem sensible. But many people will go that route, because of the scare factor and/or because they didn't bother to try and understand the issues. 

You are right but as in immigration matters (the eternal "should I use a lawyer" argument for example) it depends on a number of factors.

1.How enjoyable/productive do you find interconnecting with Thai bureaucrats? For some it is a weird turn on.

2.In my previous career did I have some expertise (e.g accounting/tax) which makes that interconnection a smooth process?

3.How much do I value my time?

4.Am I well enough off not to care about expense of delegating an inherently boring task?

5.Can I completely trust the organization/person I delegate to?

6.What is my boredom threshold?

You can immediately see that everyone will be different.One man might find a fun filled session with the RD an exciting way to spend a morning.Another would rather stab himself in then head with a fork or have a more pressing engagement tidying his sock drawer.I will probably follow your example and do it myself.Point 5 is the key consideration in my case.

11 hours ago, topt said:

That sort of speaks volumes....

Thanks. I don't suppose you have any more details on this or references I can look at?

I'm sorry but I have no first hand knowledge, though I have spoken to a contact.I had noticed on googling that NT status is said by some sources to be related to the UK having a DTA with the country of residence in question.My contact however said that HMRC can give NT status to overseas pensioners (via UK pension provider) if all the conditions are filled, regardless of where the overseas petitioner lives.Basically you have to have had the greater part of your career overseas and not returned to the UK on retirement.You also have to apply at the time of your retirement.My contact said the HMRC were not particularly helpful, almost as if there was an institutional bias not to agree NT status.

2 hours ago, topt said:

Not a good example as even if non resident in the UK if you are being paid a pension there, and your total income is above the tax free allowance,  you will still be taxed on that amount. I know this unfortunately for a fact........

Not necessarily.I know of two cases here in Thailand and one in Singapore where the UK tax authority HMRC has agreed NT status so that no tax is withheld from the pension paid in the UK. There are some hoops to jump through to get NT status but the main one is that the pension holder must have spent most of his career abroad, particularly the last twenty years or so of it.I believe visits to the UK have to be minimized so the NT status is not endangered.

1 hour ago, Mike Lister said:

but there is the "filed in previous year" aspect also

Frankly this is a new consideration for me, and on reflection not difficult to deal with.I could go into more detail.

The remark about angels/pins was not personal.It was made about all of us wrestling with fairly minor issues when with a little patience all will be revealed in the next few months.

6 minutes ago, Mike Lister said:

I only added that highlighted text, because you said in an earlier post that you thought it should be made explicitly clear! Please make up your mind which you want.

I don't recall saying that or possibly I didn't make clear enough the point (my only point really) about the distinction between assessable and non assessable income remittances and the requirement for filing a return.On the face of it the former definitely requires a return to be filed and the latter (probably) doesn't.I think we should be careful not to be too prescriptive here because the position could easily change - as I have several times observed.

1 hour ago, Mike Lister said:

How does this grab you?

I think it's fine but I wonder whether it's necessary to have any of the added highlighted text at this stage.It's a commendable attempt to provide clarity but not really possible at this stage without a lot of subjectivity.I'm sure it will be mostly clear in a few months.

Sometimes this discussion reminds me of that of medieval scholars debating how many angels could dance on the head of a pin.

10 hours ago, scottiejohn said:

Is this true that "resident expatriates who do not remit assessable income don't need to file returns"?

 

It is currently believed so but that could change.

10 hours ago, scottiejohn said:

Is this true that "resident expatriates who do not remit assessable income don't need to file returns"?

 

On the basis of current evidence I believe it to be true. Yet in my opinion it would not be an unreasonable thing for the RD to request - so it needs to be monitored.

12 hours ago, Mike Lister said:

I agree entirely, as does everyone else I've encountered who has looked at this, baring two members above. Still, in the spirit of inclusivity!

Yes, but perhaps It's still worth pointing out for clarity's sake that those resident expatriates who do not remit assessable income don't need to file returns ( this is consistent with RD and PWC advice). They will presumably bank their current income in their home country and remit to Thailand  only from investments made prior to 2024.