TravelerEastWest

I wonder if they are simply withholding income tax as they should, based on their best estimate - but not filing your tax returns? Does that sound like it might be the situation? A small firm can be great if the partners are former big firm accountants with advanced degrees and special experience and training. If not you are asking for trouble - stay away from 'murky" practices... I have been in Thailand for close to 20 years and file personal and corporate tax returns - I use a small CPA firm (around 20 people) but they mostly do auditing, bookkeeping, and simple tax returns. The owner went to the best university in Thailand and has many years of experience as a CPA but knows very little about taxation. I would never use the local CPA firm for complex tax planning. I have a Big 4 tax background so I know when not to listen to my CPA. But the average person has no idea when their CPA is right or wrong. So if you have a good income go with a good big firm CPA - normally the one your company uses will give you a good price check and see... Good luck!

I already posted that a large international CPA firm (there are several in Bangkok) such as KPMG for example will take good care of you in an honest way but are expensive. If you worked and made more than the amount required to file you need to file and this is not just to save money but to keep you out of trouble... If you didn't see a tax return or sign anything I have a strong idea that it was not filed. Not having a support network should not be a problem the big firms all speak English and are easy to find. Making friends should be easy join a gym do a sport etc....

Why would you assume that your company did it for you? Don't you need to sign your tax return? I have never heard of a tax return that was not signed by hand or electronically... Why would you have missed out on last year's tax return? If not filed you can still file it - If it was filed then you can amend your return (file a corrected return) you sound like you would do well to hire an expert Thai tax CPA. You have a good income as you have posted so why do you not have an expert CPA? Normally a finance department would not help in this situation and usually, an HR department would hire expert CPAs from a large international firm to do your tax return if there are lots of Expats on staff. If your company does not offer this benefit then again you may want to hire an expert unless you are not concerned about paying lots of taxes?

Judge Learned Hand, wrote: “Any one may so arrange his affairs that his taxes shall be as low as possible; he is not bound to choose that pattern which will best pay the Treasury; there is not even a patriotic duty to increase one's taxes.” Hand was an American appellate judge who also studied philosophy at Harvard a long time ago - the key point is avoidance is simply organizing your taxes legally under the law. What is your fair share is another topic and could take many people a long time to decide and still everyone won't agree... Also what are morals? So many different views...

Yes, worth thinking about. I can see a gift to in-laws being according to Thai culture and then a gift of a car also being OK. maybe a Toyota and not a BMW? Paying school fees should also be acceptable. So as long as the Thai is followed carefully all should be well. I would always consult a good Thai CPA who speaks English. I am amazed at how brave many are to do their own taxes here. Although probably most foreigners with a Thai income or business do use a Thai CPA and only retired people with low incomes go it on their own...?

It does seem to say that - but a RD FAQ is only a department's interpretation of the law and normally it is about the lowest level authority far below an actual law or regulation. If the government wants more revenue at any moment it could change... Note I could not read in English the above case.

Correct - you never know what the future holds - I once had a corporate tax class in grad school a long time ago and I mentioned what I thought the new law would be on the topic of the day and the professor asked how I knew what Congress was going to do... I got his message. In this case, all my financial transactions are simple and no problems should turn up.

I have never had a problem with that amount. When you have a family here expenses add up quickly... So if a red flag is raised it is a small one...

Interesting - how do you know what the banks report - do they send you a year end tax document?

You may be completely correct - but it makes me curious when I send more than $50,000 from America to my Thai Bangkok bank account they always call me and ask what the money is for, but they never ask where the money is from... As a side note they also give a slightly better rate for above $50,000.

The US tax code which is more complex than the Thai tax code is not 30,000 pages in length although if you throw in the regulations etc it is over 30,000 pages... I wonder if you perhaps have accidentally added a couple of zeros to your 30,000 page statement above?

The CPAs in the large firms are the best in the world - The only problem is that they are expensive. But from your current taxes that should not be a problem for you. Did you talk to your employers accounting department to get some help? Warren Buffet has mostly dividends and capital gains so his tax rate is lower than his secretary who has a salary. But he probably pays way more in taxes.

Be very careful of murky tax actions as described - if it sounds too good to be true it probably is. All good CPAs know how to legally negotiate your taxability following the law - nothing murky or secret about it... Your company sounds large so they should be able to give you some advice to get started and a contact with a large CPA firm.

"Can you/anyone recommend a good/trustworthy Thai accountant that I can speak to about my taxes?" If you want expert advice two options 1 A large international CPA firm such as KPMG = best advice but high fees but may be worth it for results and peace of mind. Perhaps the one your firm uses may give you a good price? Second choice is a smaller CPA firm with the partners having big firm experience before going on their own - more difficult to find... No need for a law firm. Large CPA firms have highly trained and experienced tax specialists

No it's called being told to file a tax return not pay a bribe. And file regularly. This is a normal activity for tax agents. everything was done in the open and explained to me in English by the local tax manager. Interestingly Al Capone the famous Chicago criminal was arrested and put in jail in a similar way - Federal tax agents investigated his spending and he had not paid his taxes... next stop Alcatraz - famous American jail for this who haven't heard of it...

From a Thai theoretical tax point of view - you are in reality indirectly making your own payment and a taxable event may occur... On a practical level they are unlikely to be able to track the transactions most of the time...

100% correct. I saw a district RD manager in the countryside watch a street vendor and estimate sales and taxes based on sales volume - the street vendor was then forced to pay taxes. It is a myth that all street vendors don't pay taxes in Thailand.

I have spent time with Rd staff and live and work here and have filed many years of Thai tax returns. My experience and that of all Thai business people that I know does not match yours - not sure why... Well I have never waited in a line but no free coffee! You can't trust a RD official to fill out your tax return unless maybe it is the simplest possible one with no tax owed. a number of reasons - they are not on your team and normally they are not well trained. In the tax world there are lots of gray areas - gues which path they will follow?

Grumpy is 100% correct. In general his above comments are correct and apply to many revenue departments including in America. To trust Revenue Deparyment officials as being kind and on your side is not the best policy I say this from years of experience working in the tax world in America and many years of filing personal and corporate taxes in Thailand. There is always the exception if for example the local official is your brother-in-law?

Sounds like JIm is correct - he doesn't owe taxes on his pensions. But the Thai government seems to have the right in Thailand to request whatever information they want and make any demands they want - even if their demands are wrong. Then the taxpayer has the right to protest following ThaI law. Similar to America. In America the IRS makes tax assements that are wrong and taxpayers go to court and overturn the assesment. But it gets even more interesting lets say the tax case is in California and the 9th circuit court of appeals supports the taxpayer - the iRS can legally not follow the Appeals court decsion in another district say the 2nd circuit in New York - until they lose there again. The point I am making is that it is fun to think about these new tax rules now (and sometimes very useful) but it dangerous for the lay person to think they understand tax law in general and international tax law in particular... Even local Thai CPAs and lawyers may not understand the new tax rules unless they have advanced training and experience in taxation. As for trusting RD officials to give you the correct advice - in general not a good idea anywhere in the world.... Exceptions exist maybe a tax specialist in the national office may be involved in reseraching and or writing a new law - they could be a source of information but not always...

Why not hire a CPA? Not expensive...

Perhaps he is relatively new to renting in hotels longer than a short stay? As for houses in beach towns I have no idea what is standard then or now as this was in Chiang Mai and in a nice hotel not a beach house... As for a flat rate with no extra electricity being better - anything is possible but it is unlikely to be true as the hotel would need to cover themselves for those who use lots of air-conditioning, and those who don't use a lot would be over charged - simple math... There was no scamming going on and the poster presented zero evidence of the hotel scamming anyone perhaps he owes the hotel an apology?

I agree I think we will be OK or mostly so... America has a DTA with Thailand so Social Security should be Ok no matter what the law says. Income from past years should be OK for LTR visas. Lets see going forward about current year overseas income going to Thailand - but it shouldn't be a big issue either way for us. Churchill had some flaws but also some great quotes!

Actually - the opposite I got a great rate, good service and nothing stolen etc. The way it worked was that it was a normal middle class hotel - clean, safe etc but not luxury and they had normal market rates for normal stays - but for extended stays they gave you a discount on the normal rate but charged for electricity as you used it so for those not in the room a lot using lots of air-conditioning very low price for those using the air nonstop a bit higher. What would make you think that fair rates are a scam? Note I have not used a hotel in Thailand in over 20 years as I have a house now but in the past it was very normal for extended stays...

Yes you are correct overseas income that does not come to Thailand is not taxed and old income probably won't be taxed per 743... I would really like for final regulations taht are clear to be issued!