Something new - I earned 20 baht in interest and they took out 3 baht TAX

[Pib]

On 6/25/2019 at 2:45 PM, Pib said:

 

I'm still waiting for monthly Krungsri MTD interest payment (occurs last day or so of the month) to see if providing my tax ID did indeed stop the withholding....and also waiting for the Bangkok Bank interest payments on my regular savings accounts which occur twice a year in June and December.    Past years that Bangkok Bank interest payment occurred "mid" month...but mid month has come and gone with no interest payment yet...maybe this year it will change to the last day or so of June and December due to new tax withholding rule. 

 

 

My Krungsri MTD interest for June was paid yesterday/27 June---no tax withheld like the month before. So providing the bank my Thai tax ID number did the trick.    See post link at bottom for more info.

 

Still waiting for Bangkok Bank to pay their semi-annual interest (by end of June) on my "regular savings" accounts...no interest paid as this post time/date.  As mentioned earlier the Bangkok Bank rep I talked to in early June said not to worry....no tax will be withheld if earning Bt20K or less interest per year and no need to provide a tax ID.  But based on all the posts from farangs who "are" getting hit with the 15% withholding tax on regular savings accounts I have low confidence the Bangkok Bank rep was correct "if you are a farang" as all the posts sure indicate farangs are being taxed but not taxed if Thai. 

 

I hope I'm wrong....will need to wait until Bangkok Bank posts semi-annual interest by end of June to know for sure.  If my accounts are taxed after being told they would not be if earning Bt20K or less interest per year, the Thai wife and I will be visiting Bangkok Bank again next week to ask why we were told a fib by one of their reps.   Yeap, hope I'm wrong....keeping my fingers crossed.

 

 

 

Edited June 28, 2019 by Pib

[Nobody55]

2 hours ago, Pib said:

 

My Krungsri MTD interest for June was paid yesterday/27 June---no tax withheld like the month before. So providing the bank my Thai tax ID number did the trick.    See post link at bottom for more info.

 

Still waiting for Bangkok Bank to pay their semi-annual interest (by end of June) on my "regular savings" accounts...no interest paid as this post time/date.  As mentioned earlier the Bangkok Bank rep I talked to in early June said not to worry....no tax will be withheld if earning Bt20K or less interest per year and no need to provide a tax ID.  But based on all the posts from farangs who "are" getting hit with the 15% withholding tax on regular savings accounts I have low confidence the Bangkok Bank rep was correct "if you are a farang" as all the posts sure indicate farangs are being taxed but not taxed if Thai. 

 

I hope I'm wrong....will need to wait until Bangkok Bank posts semi-annual interest by end of June to know for sure.  If my accounts are taxed after being told they would not be if earning Bt20K or less interest per year, the Thai wife and I will be visiting Bangkok Bank again next week to ask why we were told a fib by one of their reps.   Yeap, hope I'm wrong....keeping my fingers crossed.

 

 

 

I went to my Krungsri branch a few days ago, they did not want to accept my thai id tax and also this month I found the taxes on my account Mee Tee Dai what should I do? Do you have any advice?

[Pib]

I went to my Krungsri branch a few days ago, they did not want to accept my thai id tax and also this month I found the taxes on my account Mee Tee Dai what should I do? Do you have any advice?

I would just go back and press them as to specifically why they are refusing your Thai tax ID number since other branches are. And if you have filed for tax refund in previous years show the branch the receipt paperwork the dept gives when filing as that will show your tax ID, name, and other info. Maybe your branch thinks you tax ID card is fake....or your branch is "just one of those branches" which are out of step. You may need to contact HQ Krungsri asking for their intervention.

[Nobody55]

3 hours ago, Pib said:

3 hours ago, Nobody55 said:

I went to my Krungsri branch a few days ago, they did not want to accept my thai id tax and also this month I found the taxes on my account Mee Tee Dai what should I do? Do you have any advice?

I would just go back and press them as to specifically why they are refusing your Thai tax ID number since other branches are. And if you have filed for tax refund in previous years show the branch the receipt paperwork the dept gives when filing as that will show your tax ID, name, and other info. Maybe your branch thinks you tax ID card is fake....or your branch is "just one of those branches" which are out of step. You may need to contact HQ Krungsri asking for their intervention.

I think you are right....I gave them a copy of the thai ID tax released to me by the RD and they were to run around for a while, then they asked me to provide a document like the one you can see attached here I don't know what it is about (staff of idiots gave me a copy of another client's personal document!) then they started to tell me that 20K tax exemption is for Thai citizens only (bullshit!) they really pissed me off!????????

So now I am writing a letter to HQ Krungsri , I 'll see what they will answer

However many thanks???? 

[Pib]

Bangkok Bank interest paid....tax withheld on the acct in my name only and the 2 joint accts with Thai wife but not the acct in the Thai wife's name only. So that confirms it for me...farangs are getting taxed but not Thais. TIT.

[JimGant]

6 hours ago, Pib said:

Bangkok Bank interest paid....tax withheld on the acct in my name only and the 2 joint accts with Thai wife but not the acct in the Thai wife's name only. So that confirms it for me...farangs are getting taxed but not Thais. TIT.

Same result for me.

 

Pib, on your joint accounts, does your name come first, or your wife's? Not sure that makes any difference for withholding -- but someone has to be lead with a joint account, like in the US, it's lead's SSN used for 1099 and similar reporting.

[mahjongguy]

" This might just be free-easy money for the banks but we will never really know.  "

 

The banks get nothing out of this. They immediately transfer that withheld money to the Revenue Department.

 

 

[Pib]

Same result for me.
 
Pib, on your joint accounts, does your name come first, or your wife's? Not sure that makes any difference for withholding -- but someone has to be lead with a joint account, like in the US, it's lead's SSN used for 1099 and similar reporting.

My name appears first. Yeap, it could be a name order thing but my guess it's purely one of the joint owners is farang. Will be visiting my Bkk Bk branch again this week to discuss the withholding issue and why the branch gave incorrect info on my first visit. I hope I get the same rep again, but that would be pure luck since the branch is so large...it's the main branch in the HQ Bkk Bk building in Bkk. This visit I will be pressing hard for them to accept my Thai tax ID number to stop the tax withholding since that worked with Krungsri.

[avvocato]

On 6/26/2019 at 10:55 AM, KhunKenAP said:

Just had a call from my bank Krungsri. If you have a Thai Tax Id, all those with a Work Permit will have one, if you bring your Thai Tax Id card or last years Income Tax form that shows the number, they will not take out tax out until you get over 20,000 baht in interest.

 

If not it is an automatic 15%. You could get it back at the end of the year, but I am sure very difficult.

How does one get a tax ID Number or file (at the end of the tax year) for a return of the withheld interest.  And where does OUR withheld tax go since WE do not have a tax ID Number, i.e how is it tracked to US. This might be a problem when WE file for a return.

[mahjongguy]

1 hour ago, avvocato said:

How does one get a tax ID Number or file (at the end of the tax year) for a return of the withheld interest.  And where does OUR withheld tax go since WE do not have a tax ID Number, i.e how is it tracked to US. This might be a problem when WE file for a return.

A Thai tax ID (TIN) is obtained from your district Revenue Department office. Bring your passport and a residence cert from Immigration. If you don't have a work permit then you may be asked to show evidence of bank interest withholding. 

 

Money withheld by banks is sent to the Revenue Department and is keyed to the name and passport number on the account if no TIN is provided.

 

As far as words go, it's not a tax unless and until they refuse to give it back to you, which won't happen unless your total Thailand-based income exceeds ~240,000 baht. 

[avvocato]

On 6/29/2019 at 5:38 PM, mahjongguy said:

A Thai tax ID (TIN) is obtained from your district Revenue Department office. Bring your passport and a residence cert from Immigration. If you don't have a work permit then you may be asked to show evidence of bank interest withholding.

Do you think a yellow book and ID card will suffice for the Revenue Department? TIA

[orientalist]

Just checked and my K-bank savings account had tax withheld in June. My Thanachart accounts (including E-savings and Ultra Savings) did not.

[mahjongguy]

6 hours ago, avvocato said:

Do you think a yellow book and ID card will suffice for the Revenue Department? TIA

That's hard to predict. Is the bank account linked to your passport number or to your pink ID number?

 

It depends on which is more inconvenient in your case: getting a res cert from Immigration first, or trying the pink ID at RD and maybe getting turned away.

[Pib]

I did go to my Bangkok Bank branch again today regarding the tax withholding on my regular savings accounts.  They were now aware that farangs must provide their Thai tax ID number to avoid a withholding on Bt20K or less interest earned per year.  Apparently they had only been made aware of that fine print last week. So, they happily accepted my Thai tax ID info to prevent further withholding if earning Bt20K or less interest per year just like for a Thai (except Thais do not have to provide their tax ID number).  And the branch also provided a refund in cash...probably because the tax withholding was still less than 24 business hour old.  It all worked out well.

[Sheryl]

Kasikorn regular savings accouny. Interest paid June 27th no tax witheld.

 

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[orientalist]

CIMB Thai and Krung Thai did not withhold tax from my interest in June.

 

My experience with Kasikorn was painful. My branch had never heard of this. They told me all interest is taxed. It took a lot of explaining to get them to accept that this was a new rule and savings accounts weren't taxed before. Then more explaining to convince them I already knew why it was being taxed but I wanted to know HOW to change this. They called the call centre, but they didn't seem to know. They handed me the phone and the call centre started asking me a series of "security" questions. In frustration I handed back the phone and said I just wanted to know the documents and procedure required so that tax is not withheld. They then got a number at HQ to call. That person gave them another number. I went outside to wait as it was freezing inside. The security guard brought me a stool. 15 minutes later they called me back in as they had started the process on their computer. It took a long time as they were getting instructions over the phone and had never done it before. All they required was my passport number and tax number. They said no refund was possible, but it was only 3 baht anyway.

 

This was a small mall branch in central Bangkok. I guess they didn't get the memo, but at least they were willing to get things done for me.