Filing tax return for the first time to get withholding tax back

[4myr]

Hi, you are supposed to be a tax resident of Thailand, if in one year you stayed longer than 180 days aggregated. 

 

According to the Thai RD English guide, its only mandatory to file a tax return, if your earnings in Thailand exceed 60.000 baht (the minimum deductable allowance).

 

My earnings in Thailand does not exceed 60K baht, but I wanna find out how to get the withholding tax back, 15% of the interest income and 10% of dividend income.

 

Please check following English documents of the Thai RD, which I read:

2017 form PIT90: http://www.rd.go.th/publish/fileadmin/download/english_form/PIT90_260261.pdf

2017 Guide for PIT90: http://www.rd.go.th/publish/fileadmin/download/english_form/Guide90_260261.pdf

 

To my pleasant surprise, there seems to be a tax credit on dividend that you can get back, in addition to the withholding tax; please check form PIT90 section No 3, item 5:

 

"How  to calculate  dividend tax credit: Dividend  tax  credit  is  equal  to  the  total  dividends  or  share  of  profits  received multiplied  by  the  corporate  income  tax  rate  applicable  to  the  payer  of  dividends (e.g.  R%),  and divided  by 100  minus  the  rate.   Dividend  tax credit   =  Dividend  x [R  / (100-R)] Example:  Mr.  A received  dividend in  the  amount  of  80,000  baht  from  a  Thai  company or  juristic  partnership  which  is  subjected  to  corporate  income  tax  rate  at  20%  of  its net  profits. Dividend  tax credit   No.  3 item  6. =  80,000 x  [20  / (100-20)] =  20,000  baht".

 

 

Please share your experience in getting withholding tax, including the above mentioned dividend tax credit, as well as what is the easiest way to get a Tax Identification Number (TIN). If I show up with this form and evidence filled in at the Thai provincial tax office, do you think they will give me a TIN.

 

[topt]

There have been many threads on TV about getting tax withheld from savings repaid.

Have you tried to do a search?

 

To apply for a TIN you need to go to your local Thai Revenue office and fill in some forms with the usual copies of passport details etc. The specifics as in most things Thai may depend on which office you need to use so if you let people know your location they may be able to chime in. 

 

Once you have your TIN you normally claim between Jan and March for the previous calendar year - if late I think there is a 100 baht "fine".......

For just savings interest it is a one page form with supporting bank info.

 

Dividends no idea.

[stud858]

I would love to hear a story of someone getting the withholding tax back. Please share back if you are successful. 

[topt]

1 minute ago, stud858 said:

I would love to hear a story of someone getting the withholding tax back. Please share back if you are successful. 

Loads of posters have commented - on savings interest anyhow.

I have been doing it for last 4 years or so. One of the threads have people talking about it in 2011 and doing it for years before that.

[ArickChaiyaphum]

10 hours ago, stud858 said:

I would love to hear a story of someone getting the withholding tax back. Please share back if you are successful. 

I have got back so w of it the first year I worked in Thailand and will get back so ethic year again 

[CMBob]

I have no idea about the dividend tax credit mentioned; other than that, suggest the OP do a search as obtaining a tax ID number and filing a Thai tax return (which is how you can get back the 15% withholding involving bank accounts) has been explained in better detail in prior posts.

I got my Tax ID number by a simple visit to one of the Treasury offices here in Chiangmai and, 10 minutes later, another Thai Treasury person graciously filed my tax return online for me and I received back the withheld interest in a mailed check a week or so later.  Since then, I've filed the return a couple of times online by myself (it isn't easy as it's all in Thai....but I just somewhat copy what was done before with essentially the only change being the amount of withheld interest).  The refund has been directly deposited in my SCB bank account the last couple of times.

 

[cecil2805]

Prior posters have covered the Withholding tax factor, which is what I claim back. I get helped by a lady in the Saraphi office whose English is good. She is very nice and kind.

 

I, however, would like to add, that you can claim for 3 years prior, in the event that you did not do prior returns. I did mine in December, 2012 and received refunds for 2009, 2010 and 2011 prior to doing my 2012 return. I was fined 200.00 baht for being late.

[Guderian]

Be careful, when the OECD CRS exchange of information comes into force in Thailand in 2022 you may wish you had stayed outside the Thai tax system.

[Rod the Sod]

2 hours ago, Guderian said:

Be careful, when the OECD CRS exchange of information comes into force in Thailand in 2022 you may wish you had stayed outside the Thai tax system.

I do not see why. If you do not qualify to pay tax in Thailand and can prove it, then as always, why worry? Yes, registering all your details for CRS is a pain (I have been pestered by HK and Singapore) but as always, if you have nothing to hide, then why not, and why worry? Or am I missing something.

[4myr]

5 hours ago, Guderian said:

Be careful, when the OECD CRS exchange of information comes into force in Thailand in 2022 you may wish you had stayed outside the Thai tax system.

Even right now, while Thailand is not yet part of OECD CRS, if your home country has a tax treaty with Thailand, Thailand will send your bank account information to your home country's Revenue dept. Information that will be sent include name, address, date of birth, tax identification number, account numbers, balance at end of reporting period or when the account was closed. Although a Tax Clearance Certificate is hardly checked when you leave the country, if you file it's easy to get one. 

[topt]

19 hours ago, 4myr said:

Even right now, while Thailand is not yet part of OECD CRS, if your home country has a tax treaty with Thailand, Thailand will send your bank account information to your home country's Revenue dept. Information that will be sent include name, address, date of birth, tax identification number, account numbers, balance at end of reporting period

Please post a link or give your anecdotal evidence for this.

Since my Thai banks have no idea if I have a Thai TIN how does this work?

[4myr]

12 hours ago, topt said:

Please post a link or give your anecdotal evidence for this.

Since my Thai banks have no idea if I have a Thai TIN how does this work?

Why you think your Thai bank, or broker wants to know passport ID if you wanna open an  account? No need for a Thai tax id. In the Netherlands your citizen ID given by birth is your tax id, then it's logical to use this as an identifier, however the common denominator for foreign parties to register is the passport ID, even though you can find the tax id as well in a Dutch passport

[sammydavis]

stupid comment about why the banks use passport ID for foreigner.  do you know what foreigner means.  Thailand has a  national ID card which is used for this purpose so the foreign equivalent is the passport. 

[topt]

I am still waiting to see/hear some evidence that Thailand -

Quote

On 12/24/2018 at 3:51 PM, 4myr said:

if your home country has a tax treaty with Thailand, Thailand will send your bank account information to your home country's Revenue dept. 

 

As you say they have not yet signed up to CRS so why would they on a general basis? 

[4myr]

On 12/26/2018 at 7:53 AM, topt said:

I am still waiting to see/hear some evidence that Thailand -

As you say they have not yet signed up to CRS so why would they on a general basis? 

With CRS is supposed to be an automated information exchange process. If countries like Thailand and NL have a tax treaty, depending on the treaty of course, there is an exchange on a on-demand basis. 

[topt]

2 hours ago, 4myr said:

depending on the treaty of course, there is an exchange on a on-demand basis. 

(my bolding) - so not on a general basis and pretty true for many countries....................

Thanks for qualifying.