The legalities of being a digital nomad?

[CLW]

Why not working from home?
Almost any room, apartment or condo that you can rent for short period has a desk, Internet and A/C

[anon789561]

3 minutes ago, LivinLOS said:

Its illegal, without question doubt or wiggle room, to work online from Thailand without a work permit which is too complex and expensive for most nomads to bother with. 

 

Enforcement is a totally different issue, like almost every law in Thailand, from riding with a helmet to bar closures to prostitution, its poorly enforced. This is especially the case with a poor developing world country so highly dependent on tourism. 

 

The labour dept have been crystal clear in all formal discussion that online work, even without Thai clients or in fact any clients (adsense, affiliate, etc) requires a work permit and not having one is an offense. 

well i was visited by the labour department last year when i suppose i could have then be classed as a digital nomad despite being permanent here and i can confirm they didn;t give a shit and certainly were not offended

[BritTim]

10 minutes ago, Happy enough said:

same old same old thread. well i haven't heard any stories of these guys getting arrested as yet. anyone??

No. The authorities arrested a bunch of geriatric bridge players in Pattaya once, for having too many playing cards in use. I have not heard of anyone prosecuted for being a digital nomad with exclusively overseas clients.

 

Until policies change, it is quite clear that digital nomads are tolerated although clearly illegal under the letter of the law.

[anon789561]

Just now, BritTim said:

No. The authorities arrested a bunch of geriatric bridge players in Pattaya once, for having too many playing cards in use. I have not heard of anyone prosecuted for being a digital nomad with exclusively overseas clients.

 

Until policies change, it is quite clear that digital nomads are tolerated although clearly illegal under the letter of the law.

pretty much everything is illegal here if they want it to be even if you follow the letter of the law. they like to keep things nice and vague so if you piss them off in some way they can always bring a charge of some sort. look at the politics 555

and those bridge players were taking the piss, they should have known that was illegal 555

[ksamuiguy]

So being legal, paying taxes, jumping through government hoops at every turn, teaching my Thai Employees proper engineering skills. I could go on, but Evidently it was all for nothing when I could have done everything from NaNa Plaza (1984) and never needed to worry about being legal. More difficult then due to technology limitations at the time.

Visa extensions just a shout away, easy and cheap.

 

After I did things by the rules every thing became a nightmare, book keeper, immigration, labor,

office, being scammed by book keepers was popular back than also.

 

After over 40 years I think back and i would have been better off being illegal, liegal they can trace you, scam you, intimidate you, threaten you. Why you are easy to find and they can always find a problem. This got better when they were required to have a warrant, not to just barge in and search your place of business. 

 

To bad as I had High Hopes for Thailand in those days, never happened and appears it never will. And no one seems care anymore.

 

 

 

 

 

[brewsterbudgen]

Do Digital Nomads pay income tax in their home country or Thailand?

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[JackThompson]

33 minutes ago, brewsterbudgen said:

Do Digital Nomads pay income tax in their home country or Thailand?

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If income is remitted to Thailand in the same year it is earned, they should pay income-tax in Thailand, regardless of tax-obligations in other countries.  Dual-tax treaties may apply.

 

If income is remitted to Thailand which was earned in previous years, no tax is due in Thailand. 

 

Whether tax is owed in other countries is determined by nationality, where the income was earned, etc.  Those from totalitarian nations may have to pay tax on their world-wide incomes regardless of where their income was earned, where they live, and/or regardless of whether they receive any benefit what so ever from the nation claiming them as "registered by citizenship tax-cattle."

[elviajero]

9 hours ago, brewsterbudgen said:

Do Digital Nomads pay income tax in their home country or Thailand?

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The cynical answer is many don't pay tax anywhere.

 

Those that do should pay in the country the business is registered, and possibly the country they are resident for tax if it's a different country.

 

Most people around the world live from pay cheque to pay cheque so the same will apply to many DN's. There will be some long term DN's racking up tax liabilities in Thailand they don't know about!

[hobz]

9 minutes ago, elviajero said:

The cynical answer is many don't pay tax anywhere.

 

Those that do should pay in the country the business is registered, and possibly the country they are resident for tax if it's a different country.

 

Most people around the world live from pay cheque to pay cheque so the same will apply to many DN's. There will be some long term DN's racking up tax liabilities in Thailand they don't know about!

exactly. where the business is registered.

 

[Khun Robert]

I agree that their are no reports of Digital Nomads arrested for illegal working.

According to the labor act, which is old it is simply not allowed.

Next to this, most of the Digital Nomads use the Tourist Visa to enter and stay in Thailand,

they sign a small box on the form with the text:

"Attention for Tourist and Transit Visa Applicants : I hereby declare that the purpose of my visit to thailand is for pleasure or transit only and that in no case shall I engage myself in any profession or occupation while in the country."

 

I not understand questions like: "Can I work as Digital Nomad". You sign a paper that your purpose is only for pleasure and

that IN NO CASE shall I engage myself in any profession of occupation.

 

With signing the form to get the Tourist Visa, you already made the  decision not to work in Thailand.

 

[Timbob]

23 minutes ago, Khun Robert said:

I agree that their are no reports of Digital Nomads arrested for illegal working.

According to the labor act, which is old it is simply not allowed.

Next to this, most of the Digital Nomads use the Tourist Visa to enter and stay in Thailand,

they sign a small box on the form with the text:

"Attention for Tourist and Transit Visa Applicants : I hereby declare that the purpose of my visit to thailand is for pleasure or transit only and that in no case shall I engage myself in any profession or occupation while in the country."

 

I not understand questions like: "Can I work as Digital Nomad". You sign a paper that your purpose is only for pleasure and

that IN NO CASE shall I engage myself in any profession of occupation.

 

With signing the form to get the Tourist Visa, you already made the  decision not to work in Thailand.

 

This is not what it said on my application form. It says:

 

"I hereby confirm that the purpose of my visit to Thailand is already identified in this application form and the information given is correct and complete." 

 

But anyway, I think some people are a little bit envious of those who have the freedom to work online. But to those with such freedoms, I would say.... keep it to yourself and be discreet. That's what I do. And I would never refer to myself as a "digital nomad", because I think it is a rather poncy term. Not quite as bad as those who called themselves "entrepreneurs", but not far off. 

[CLW]

This is not what it said on my application form. It says:
 
"I hereby confirm that the purpose of my visit to Thailand is already identified in this application form and the information given is correct and complete." 
 
But anyway, I think some people are a little bit envious of those who have the freedom to work online. But to those with such freedoms, I would say.... keep it to yourself and be discreet. That's what I do. And I would never refer to myself as a "digital nomad", because I think it is a rather poncy term. Not quite as bad as those who called themselves "entrepreneurs", but not far off. 

Exactly. Especially in Thailand if I meet foreigners that call themselves entrepreneurs I try to avoid them.
Mostly hot air but nothing behind these wannabes

[anon789561]

this subject has been brought up so many times and the threads always end up pretty much identical. and i agree with the above the term digital nomad is a nonesense. i suppose those that are travelling the world with their laptops (fair play to them) could be classed as this but there are many people i know here running foreign companies online and pay their taxes due in thailand and the country their company is based in. are they digital nomads if they have long term visas and families here, i wouldn't say so. many are actually working for physical companies abroad just remotely. i will say i have never heard of anyone being arrested for it. ok so it isn't a grey area in some people eyes and is illegal to the letter of the law which is true but only because they haven't updated the law to get with the times. the world is changing and so are opportunities to work remotely. word largest taxi firm with no cars- uber. worlds largest accommodation provider with no property- airbnb. worlds largest retailer with no stock- alibaba. you get my drift. the world is moving online. anyway it's an old subject that will always get alot of interest and no doubt thailand will address the issue at some point but until  then

 

Foreigners working for a Thai firm must hold a valid non-immigrant (Type visa, but so-called ‘digital nomads’ – who are often self-employed – can sidestep that requirement.

Chiang Mai Immigration Superintendent Pol. Col. Rutphong Sanwanangkun assured business leaders and foreign consular officials last month that ‘digital nomads’ are permitted to use tourists visas.

Read more at https://asiancorrespondent.com/2014/10/thailand-immigration-officials-raid-chiang-mai-co-working-space/#Pa52VAOxwplZbhLm.99

[HooHaa]

On 12/5/2017 at 8:46 AM, brewsterbudgen said:

Do Digital Nomads pay income tax in their home country or Thailand?

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why would "they" pay income tax?

Edited December 6, 2017 by HooHaa

[BritTim]

2 hours ago, Khun Robert said:

I agree that their are no reports of Digital Nomads arrested for illegal working.

According to the labor act, which is old it is simply not allowed.

Next to this, most of the Digital Nomads use the Tourist Visa to enter and stay in Thailand,

they sign a small box on the form with the text:

"Attention for Tourist and Transit Visa Applicants : I hereby declare that the purpose of my visit to thailand is for pleasure or transit only and that in no case shall I engage myself in any profession or occupation while in the country."

 

I not understand questions like: "Can I work as Digital Nomad". You sign a paper that your purpose is only for pleasure and

that IN NO CASE shall I engage myself in any profession of occupation.

 

With signing the form to get the Tourist Visa, you already made the  decision not to work in Thailand.

There are some categories of work that are specifically documented (in violation of the law as written) as permitted on tourist visas. Examples are business meetings, attending trade fairs, and negotiating purchases at trade fairs. The authorities know the current law is a problem, but are either unsure how to fix it, or have yet to get around to it. In the meantime, they tolerate some categories of "illegal" work, and simply have a policy not to enforce the law in those cases.

[brewsterbudgen]

why would "they" pay income tax?

Because it's the law of the country where they're from or where they work?

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[Mattd]

Depending on the company they are providing a service to, the country that company is based in and how it is paid, it is highly probable that some tax is being paid, albeit prior to the 'DN' receiving the payment.

Nowadays, a lot of countries are enforcing a percentage of withholding tax on an invoice paid, especially if there is no trace of tax being paid by the receiver.