TravelerEastWest

Logically you are correct but Thailand can create laws as they wish - Tax treaties are not always clear and can be changed or interpreted in different ways... My point is that Thailand may require you to report tax-exempt income and then not tax you. (Or so we hope - smiling) As an example on the US Form 1040 sometimes you need to report tax-free interest but you don't pay tax on it... Wasting ink does happen in the US as an example earlier I mentioned you can have income that was reported to the IRS in error as taxable or in the wrong amount - you don't ignore that situation you report the income and then subtract it out and explain with a note. I would not report what seems to be tax-exempt and let them audit me if they want to.

I assume that you are joking as in around 20 years in Thailand not once has my attempts to speak Thai met with a bad response. The only problem is that they may then speak to fast to me...

You are correct I am a tax resident with a business and personal tax return. I pay taxes here and in America No one wants to file and pay taxes but death and taxes as the old saying goes are sure things. If you only have a small pension your Thai taxes will normally be small or zero so not a big problem. If you have lots of money you hire some highly trained experts again no big problem. If you are in the middle it might be some work but again Thai CPAs are not expensive. For myself I do all the above: larger than usual money in this year, Hire a CPA, study the situation and I have an LTR visa so for now no issues but who knows in the future?

In America, there are times when income is reported to the IRS but it is not actually taxable for a number of possible reasons. the correct way to handle this is to add the reported taxable income to your tax return and then subtract it out with a note. But you don't ignore the income reported as taxable. The good news is that CPAs in Thailand are not expensive at all. So if a bank reports income that is not taxable your CPA will be able to easily fix the issue for you.

I am not sure if you are joking but I like your point of view... It could be that you are 100% correct and this is a Thai way of thinking maybe a cousin to Japanese consensus thinking?

Just email the BOI staff they respond quickly and accurately

Correct, school fees alone can easily be over 1,000,000 easily...

Jerry, I love that prayer and your post even more!

But good to hear it again clearly explained

Great post! You are a wise man with a sense of humor...

Well actually, I am trained in tax law, and from your posts I would say you are not - if I am wrong please correct me and you have my apologies! American tax law is far more complicated than Thai tax law and does have some differences but also similarities. For example, tax deductions for depreciation is very similar. the key similarity is always finding the issue which can be challenging but once you have the issue you can research and form a conclusion. The way you say my experience and views "doesnt count for anything here" you have gone from opinionated which is good and welcome - to rude and I will no longer respond to you. Good luck with your tax returns done with Thai RD help... The funny thing is that I agree with you (my thoughts are not of much value) but for a different reason - I can't speak, read and write Thai so it is not possible to have an informed opinion based on my research and if you think otherwise you may end up making some errors... Then again you might not - I wish you the best of tax luck!

Not sure what questions you mean but I know very little about Thai laws in general as I cant read Thai...

I am not being sacrastic but very realistic. You have not cited any laws - sorry I am a retired tax guy and some of what you ay is good and some is somewhat less than useful and accurate - no need to take offense - this is serious business we are talking about at least for me it is. But that is OK this thread is just for bouncing thoughts and ideas around. As for Thai nationals not escaping tax obligations they can leave Thailand just as foreigners can and any existing tax liens are hard to collect same as with a foreigner. To be very clear the law is equally for Thais and foreigners who are tax residents which is what we are talking about. Unless you have laws that say otherwise and then I will say thank you for the update. Tax laws tend to be complicated and to think that any non native speaker of Thai or the rare talented foreigner with a very high level of Thai understand Thai laws is unrealistic. To trust that RD officials both understand and explain things correctly to you is not realistic.

Hello, can you please cite a law, regulation, or decree that says Thais are treated differently under Thai law than foreign residents? It would be good information to have. Also, I saw you earlier made a comment that the RD said... please keep in mind without laws behind a statement RD opinions can't be trusted worldwide as a general rule. Usually, they don't employ the best tax accountants or tax attorneys,the large CPA firms and law firms do and you can usually trust the of a RD.

Wise words. Also, I consider threads like this to be therapy... I have two teenagers and have had morning coffee after school dropoff many times with other parents and over the years I have not solved any problems but always felt much better. In this thread, some people understand business and money but no one knows what will happen for sure - but I like the idea of talking about what-ifs and getting ready...

Sadly I don't think this will work for businesses in America as people often have cash reward credit cards...

for those who want to hear about teh latest diabetes research from Professor Roy Taylor take a look at this video: The Proof Podcast EP #287

Sounds right...

You are talking about diet plans perhaps but not myself I am talking about a healthy lifestyle diets typically are difficult maintain not always but often Whole foods are not a fad diet becasue they have been around for thousands of years and you know that... SAD is not healthy and I think we both agree so why bring it up? Very widely known that being vegan can be low carb at least all the vegans that I know know this and I grew up in California so know many. When you say "Rabid vegans" you are insulting and rude and most likely no-one will listen to you but maybe you are OK with that? Keto by definition is low carb very low carb. You certainly have your mind made up so no use trying to help you - Good luck!

You are very certain of yourself and have not corrected any false statements that I have made as my statements as based on real life and science not personal assumptions... But you are clearly enjoying yourself and your beliefs which is OK and maybe good? Good luck to you on your path of good health.

Thank you for the information but I already understand the basics as do all diabetics that care about eating well that i have met. Although I have one friend that is very smart and has a medical background taht eats a lot of whatever he wants and has diabetes - he simply loves food and is willing to risk his help. If you eat a whole food plant based diet you can eat whole fruit without any problem at all usually just use commonsense. I can tell you this both from experience and from what I have read. Have you had a different experience?

Low carb has been suggested by doctors for a very long time not just recently for diabetics not sure how it threatens anything I disagree with you... Whole foods has been around for thousands of years not just recently... If you eat low carb but high fat you will get fat. Muesli in small amounts is fine. Dr Fung makes some good points but is quite arrogant and rude so I don't pay much attention to him also he is wrong about some things but right about lots of things. Veganism does not have anything against low carbs not any of the vegans that I know and I am a vegan.

Things like dried fruits can cause spikes and large amounts of almost anything so commonsense is important. But large amounts of green vegetables will not normally cause spikes. Large bowls of rice can cause spikes. Who is the woman in the photo? Interesting as I dont think I have ever met a fat vegan who eats a healthy diet as in no junk food... Note being a vegan and eating junk food is clearly not a good thing.

What about the 5 year followup paperwork?

Not sure but I thought Keto diets are low carb, and a low carb diet can be not so extreme and have few carbs but more than a Keto diet - sound right? I have not heard bad things about a low carb diet that I remember at the moment lots of doctors traditionally suggested it for diabetics.