Is 800k in a FD account OK for retirement extension?

[skatewash]

2 minutes ago, DFPhuket said:

I'm looking putting 800,000 for my retirement visa in a fixed deposit account at SCB. For a 12 month deposit, the SCB "Fixed Account with Passbook" pays 1.65%, while their "Fixed Account E PASSBOOK" (described as fully electronic with no passbook) pays 1.75% https://www.scb.co.th/en/personal-banking/deposits/e-passbook-deposit-account.html

 

I've always felt like a passbook was rather old school and would choose the E Passbook with slightly higher interest if I didn't have to worry about immigration. As more financial institutions move fully to electronic banking, I'd imagine we'll see more of this. Will the letter from the bank be sufficient? Worth the risk?

Phuket Immigration has always required of me for my retirement extension both a bank letter and a stamped bank-produced statement.  I would think that would be sufficient because the bank statement is more accurate (due to possible consolidated entries) than a passbook.  You might want to check with Phuket Immigration but I would say it's worth the risk.  Worst case is you will have a bank statement and the IO will want to see your passbook, then you can explain this account doesn't have a passbook and the IO can call your bank to confirm that fact.

[moontang]

KTB has some of the lowest FD rates.  CIMB is paying 2.4% for 24 month.  I think 12 month is 1.85%.  Be careful about maturity during seasoning...can create a hassle, and now you can add three months after extension to avoid maturity, also.  Depending on how they do it (the bank), it can appear that the money was not untouched, and auto-rollovers almost always work in the banks favor, especially if you came in on a promotion.  I had a 2.5%, that BBL tried to rollover into a 1.125%, took the cash and went to CIMB.  Have a yellow bank account, too, which was good for moving, but not really foreigner friendly.

[Skeptic7]

On 3/15/2019 at 9:57 PM, ubonjoe said:

You can use a fixed deposit account to apply for the extension at Jomtien.

What about in BKK? If so, can ฿400k be in a fixed acct and ฿400k be in a regular acct? 

[ubonjoe]

14 minutes ago, Skeptic7 said:

What about in BKK? If so, can ฿400k be in a fixed acct and ฿400k be in a regular acct? 

Yes you can.

[LALes]

A few weeks ago, I went to the retirement desk at Jomtien and showed them both of my Bangkok Bank passbooks.  One is a regular, fluid savings account and the other is a dollar account.  They saw no problem with that as long as they add up to 800,000.

[attrayant]

11 hours ago, LALes said:

A few weeks ago, I went to the retirement desk at Jomtien

 

Retirement desk?  Do you mean you took a number and waited for a IO just like a regular visit?  I was thinking about doing this at CW but was worried the IO might be irritated when he called my number and all I had for him is a few questions.

 

I don't really trust the volunteers and interns at the help counter when you first go in at CW.

[Coota]

On 3/16/2019 at 4:29 PM, Kerryd said:

Anything that needs to "mature" before you can access it (like a Certificate of Deposit or T-Bills, etc, etc) probably wouldn't be accepted as "proof of income". 

For example, I have numerous "Gain" Investments with Bangkok Bank and can't use any of them, just like I can't use an RRSP (or 401k) account, or mutual funds, as proof of income. I was told that even if those "Gain" investments had matured, they still wouldn't be eligible as they would still be considered "investments".

For simplicity's sake, you can use a Savings Account or a Fixed Term account (or a Chequing account I supposed if you had one).

Fixed Term accounts usually come with just a passbook (bank book) but no ATM card.
Never had a Fixed Term account that didn't come with a passbook.

 

As for rates, Bangkok Bank has a 1 year term that automatically renews and pays 1.5% per annum (year). On 800k that grosses about 12,000 in interest which can be left in the account (rolled over) or deposited in another account.

After taxes, you'd end up with about 10,000 baht - more than enough to pay for your next Extension as well as a Multi Re-entry permit (if wanted) and still have a few grand left over. (Extension - 1,900 baht and Multi Re-Entry permit - 3,800 baht.)

 

I think it was Kasikorn that offered terms of 1-4 years, with the longer terms having higher interest rates. If I recall, the 4 year term was something like 2.15% per annum, which would net you about 5,000 baht more per year than the 1 year term at Bangkok Bank.

I've been using Fixed Term accounts at Bangkok Bank for 8 years now and Immigration (Jomtien) never has a problem with them. No need to show any transactions on the account (they know what a "Fixed Term" account is) so long as the bank book is updated and you have the bank letter (I've always had to provide both).

 

 

So you have to pay tax I gather. Do you do a tax return or something similar to get it back?  I am not up with the Thai tax system and am not really that interested.

[tgeezer]

So you have to pay tax I gather. Do you do a tax return or something similar to get it back?  I am not up with the Thai tax system and am not really that interested.

Tax is taken at source, you will see it recorded annually in the passbook.
I have seen posts where people are keen to involve the Thai ‘taxman’ in their affairs but I am not because Immigration is enough paperwork for me.


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[skatewash]

22 minutes ago, Coota said:

So you have to pay tax I gather. Do you do a tax return or something similar to get it back?  I am not up with the Thai tax system and am not really that interested.

There are circumstances under which earned interest is withheld, but if that represents the only income you have in Thailand it is often possible to be refunded the entire amount withheld if you, in fact, don't have a tax liability.

When you earn more than 20,000 baht interest in a year or you are paid interest for a fixed deposit, 15% of such interest will be withheld automatically.  To get this interest back you can annually obtain tax withholding documents from your bank, obtain a Thai Tax ID (which only needs to be done one time) and file a Thai Personal Income Tax Return. 

Assuming you don't have any other income you will receive back the entire amount of interest withheld from Thai Revenue Department after your return has been processed (takes on the order of three to six weeks).  The forms are in Thai, but often you can get assistance in English at your local Thai Revenue Department office.  I was personally surprised at how helpful my local office was.  There's a big learning curve the first year, but thereafter it amounts to doing the same things you did the last year. 

It's possible to file online, but again the form is in Thai and you would probably need to be able to read Thai and/or have a Thai-speaker help with your return.  There is a app available (RD Smart Tax) for your smart phone that might be in English that you could use to file your tax return, but I don't have any experience with that.  It's my understanding that some tax offices will actually accept a simplified form for reclaiming your withheld interest, but I have always had to file a full Personal Income Tax Return - P.N.D. 90 (ภ.ง.ด. 90).

 

The above is not rocket science but it is work.  So if you would like to avoid the work and take an easy way out I would recommend the Mee Tae Dai (MTD) savings account at Krungsri Bank which is currently paying 1.3% interest.  Significantly this account is not a fixed deposit and therefore doesn't trigger the automatic withholding of interest.  Understand that interest will be withheld at 15% if at any point in the year you exceed 20,000 in earned interest (it's not clear to me if it is 20,000 interest earned anywhere in Thailand, 20,000 earned at the same bank, or 20,000 earned from the same account, but in any case if you earn more than 20,000 interest you can expect to have the 15% withholding kick in).  You would need to keep about 1.5 million baht in the MTD account (at 1.3% interest) to exceed 20,000 interest which would trigger the 15% withholding, so merely having more than 800,000 in the account will not automatically trigger the withholding. 

Obviously, you can find fixed deposit accounts that are paying more than 1.3% interest but bear in mind that using a fixed deposit account will trigger automatic withholding of interest (in that account) from the first baht earned.

[sfokevin]

Does Chiang Mai Immigration accept fixed deposit accounts?

 

Also I read an old thread that Kasikorn bank could not print an update in a passbook (as is required by Immigration) unless there was some previous activity?

 

 

[Sheryl]

On 5/8/2019 at 8:56 PM, sfokevin said:

Does Chiang Mai Immigration accept fixed deposit accounts?

 

Also I read an old thread that Kasikorn bank could not print an update in a passbook (as is required by Immigration) unless there was some previous activity?

 

 

I just had exactly this problem. Kasikorn refused to update/said they couldn't. So I presented immigration with the bankbook showing only the original deposit of 800K into a 2 year fixed account and a bank letter stating balance as of today we=was still 800K.

 

IO was not happy with this and wanted the updated book the bank won't do or some sort of  "statement" which bank likewise won't do, claiming they can't as no activity (and none allowed -can't make additional deposits).

 

They eventually agreed to issue the extension with just the bank letter and bank book (actually the 2 together make it clear the money is untouched, to me at least) but said that next year they want either an "updated" bank book ir "statement" of some sort.

 

Those of you with FD, how are you getting this from accounts with no activity?

 

[jacko45k]

13 hours ago, Sheryl said:

Those of you with FD, how are you getting this from accounts with no activity?

Would it be possible to add to the FD and update the book, and subsequently withdraw it, lose the interest only on that, but leave the 800,000 baht FD intact? 

[Sheryl]

Would it be possible to add to the FD and update the book, and subsequently withdraw it, lose the interest only on that, but leave the 800,000 baht FD intact? 

No. Additional deposits aren't allowed.

On another thread someone reported success by having them enter a zero transaction.

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