Taxed on foreign income ?

[racoon35]

Hello everyone,

Maybe some of you would have the answer to a question I have been asking myself lately.

I will probably soon sell a few high rated domain names from a previous business and the amount is a bit over 2 million Baht.

The buyer is in Europe, I live in Thailand on an Elite visa (I'm less than 50 and live 10 months out of 12 in Thailand). I'm supposed to give my Bank account in Thailand to receive the funds. 

Is this alright ? Will they ask me anything ? (If they do, it's not an issue, I can easily prove what's been sold) ? Should I pay any tax ?

Thanks for your answers,

Marc


 

[Naam]

35 minutes ago, racoon35 said:

Is this alright ? Will they ask me anything ? Should I pay any tax ?

it's alright.

there might be the bank's question what you are planning to do with the money.

correct answer: most probably buying real estate.

no tax.

[racoon35]

Thank you Naam for your answer.

I like the real estate thing ????  

I had read somewhere, but I probably misunderstood, that foreign income could be taxed or something ? Do you know by chance what it refers to ?

 

[userabcd]

If tax is not paid elsewhere you may need to pay tax here on the capital gain. This is all explained on the Thai RD website.

[racoon35]

Yes I see,
So I guess it it's sent from a company it is seen as capital gain.
If sent from an individual, then it's not.

[teutonian]

Income earned overseas may be repatriated into Thailand tax exempt the year following. Technically you should park it somewhere and then bring it in. 
 

however, transferring money for purposes of purchasing real estate is never questioned as far as I know. 

[helloagain]

Im not saying what you have been told is wrong cos i dont know. BUT for somebody who seems to have alot of spare cash why not go and talk with a thai accountant . Our lawyer doesnt charge to much so perhaps accountants are the same. Just a thought. 

[justin case]

keep it out of thailand if possible... don't have farang bank account ?

 

wanna share those high ranked domain names or is it porn related ????

 

lol

[maprao]

Unless you are a US Citizen I wouldn't worry about it.

[Naam]

22 hours ago, racoon35 said:

Thank you Naam for your answer.

I like the real estate thing ????  

I had read somewhere, but I probably misunderstood, that foreign income could be taxed or something ? Do you know by chance what it refers to ?

Racoon,

the real thing is that the proceeds from selling your domains are NOT INCOME. you've sold assets for a fair price. 'nuff said, tax case closed... as simple as that. lean back, enjoy your money and don't listen to people who possess a wealth of no idea pertaining to income tax. i hope you made a nice profit.

 

and if you have additional questions don't hesitate to ask (publicly or by personal message).

[Naam]

2 hours ago, teutonian said:

Income earned overseas may be repatriated into Thailand tax exempt the year following. Technically you should park it somewhere and then bring it in. 
 

however, transferring money for purposes of purchasing real estate is never questioned as far as I know. 

his proceeds are NOT income!

[Naam]

21 hours ago, userabcd said:

If tax is not paid elsewhere you may need to pay tax here on the capital gain. This is all explained on the Thai RD website.

rubbish!

[Naam]

20 hours ago, racoon35 said:

Yes I see,
So I guess it it's sent from a company it is seen as capital gain.
If sent from an individual, then it's not.

no no no! don't assume. what part of "relax" is it you don't understand?

 

2 hours ago, teutonian said:

however, transferring money for purposes of purchasing real estate is never questioned as far as I know. 

no transfer of mine was ever questioned during the last 15 years. my advice "purchase of real estate" is based on the issue of a document pertaining to transfer of foreign exchange which enables the OP in case he wants to transfer the money out of Thailand without the usual big hassle.

[4MyEgo]

23 hours ago, racoon35 said:

I had read somewhere, but I probably misunderstood, that foreign income could be taxed or something ? Do you know by chance what it refers to ?

I know if your an Aussie, you are taxed on your worldwide income if you are a resident of Australia for tax purposes, now if your an Aussie and live out of the country for more than 183 days in any income year, you are deemed a non-resident for tax purposes, so no tax is payable, unless you make income coming from Australia, and if you own property in Australia, ou might as well forget it as you will pay a lot of tax, higher land taxes and capital gains tax without a tax free threshold of 50%, so its straight up the $hit shoot.

 

You should be able to find this stuff out on Google relating to your country with regard to worldwide income and residency status if your not an Aussie. 

[DrPhibes]

3 hours ago, teutonian said:

Income earned overseas may be repatriated into Thailand tax exempt the year following. Technically you should park it somewhere and then bring it in. 
 

however, transferring money for purposes of purchasing real estate is never questioned as far as I know. 

Yup, that is what I do for my business.  Have a few accounts in the US and clearly show the amounts in the account I send money from has the money put in the previous year only and not sent over until the next year with no deposits in the year I move money over.  Keeps things clean.

Edited August 10, 2019 by DrPhibes
Content Change

[oznomad]

1 hour ago, 4MyEgo said:

now if your an Aussie and live out of the country for more than 183 days in any income year, you are deemed a non-resident for tax purposes, so no tax is payable,

Incorrect. A misconception, propagated by forums and the like.

Here is one of a million pages on the subject.

https://community.ato.gov.au/t5/Working-visa/Non-Resident-for-Tax-Purposes/td-p/4607

[Pdavies99]

Why give a Thailand Bank account?  Sutely you have an offshore accoyunt?  Now is not really the best time ref exchange arates.  Providing the sale and profit is not derived from Thailand, then you should not have at all any Tax Issues here, however you might have a tax demand in the country of Domain names originated or sold in.

[Pdavies99]

4 hours ago, Naam said:

Racoon,

the real thing is that the proceeds from selling your domains are NOT INCOME. you've sold assets for a fair price. 'nuff said, tax case closed... as simple as that. lean back, enjoy your money and don't listen to people who possess a wealth of no idea pertaining to income tax. i hope you made a nice profit.

 

and if you have additional questions don't hesitate to ask (publicly or by personal message).

Not really correct, ie purchased for say $1,000 then sold for say $10,000 = a capital gain of $9,000 of which a capital gains tax is applied where sold.

[wgdanson]

On 8/9/2019 at 11:14 AM, racoon35 said:

Thank you Naam for your answer.

I like the real estate thing ????  

I had read somewhere, but I probably misunderstood, that foreign income could be taxed or something ? Do you know by chance what it refers to ?

 

But then you could change your mind afterwards to Singha, Sang Som, bar fines, nookie etc etc. Then just blow whatever you have left.

[ThomasThBKK]

Clearly taxed as income if directly received to your thai bank account, even tho most people here ignore that and are dodging the taxes. 

 

The correct way to do it is to park it outside of thailand till 1 january 2020, then you can transfer it into thailand. 

 

 

Everything else is wrong, you might get away with it, it might also bite you years later. 

 

 

Up 2 you.

[Kalasin Jo]

The money you get from selling an asset (unless you are a working girl selling a different kind of "asset" which anyway she just rents out???? ) is not income, but capital, perhaps with a  gain. A domain name you own is an asset. Don't know anything about tax on capital gains in Thailand

[4MyEgo]

4 hours ago, oznomad said:

Incorrect. A misconception, propagated by forums and the like.

Here is one of a million pages on the subject.

https://community.ato.gov.au/t5/Working-visa/Non-Resident-for-Tax-Purposes/td-p/4607

When quoting me, it is best to quote my entire post instead of a snip, therefore I have copied and pasted it below at the very bottom, from my previous post i.e. #14 on page 1

 

"I know if your an Aussie, you are taxed on your worldwide income if you are a resident of Australia for tax purposes, now if your an Aussie and live out of the country for more than 183 days in any income year, you are deemed a non-resident for tax purposes, so no tax is payable, unless you make income coming from Australia, and if you own property in Australia, ou might as well forget it as you will pay a lot of tax, higher land taxes and capital gains tax without a tax free threshold of 50%, so its straight up the $hit shoot.

 

You should be able to find this stuff out on Google relating to your country with regard to worldwide income and residency status if your not an Aussie". 

 

You cannot say this is incorrect. A misconception, propagated by forums and the like unless you can back it up, and not by just a forum, legislation or links to the ATO would suffice, i.e. unless you are ignorant, to add to that, I have covered this below by just Googling it, although I have all the legislation, Acts, precidents bookmarked if I need to back it up further, so back it up before you have a go by throwing a forum link to back yourself up. But thanks for the link, will have a read later to see if it's any good or not.

 

FROMGoogle: 

The law treats residents and non-residents differently. Australian residents are generally taxed on all of their worldwide income. Non-residents are taxed only on income sourced in Australia. The marginal tax rates are different for income below $37,000, and the effective tax rates are much higher for non-residents. Generally, non-residents are not required to pay income tax or the Medicare levy on income earned while working internationally. However, you will still need to pay tax in Australia on any investment income you earn in Australia.May 7, 2018

 

FROM Google: 

Do I pay tax in Australia if I am a non resident?

No claims can be made for deductions for share portfolio expenses. Income from investments in foreign countries held by non-residents is not taxed in Australia. CGT – Only certain assets (such as real property located in Australia) are subject to capital gains tax for non-residents and temporary residents.Aug 10, 2018

 

 

[Naam]

2 hours ago, Pdavies99 said:

Not really correct, ie purchased for say $1,000 then sold for say $10,000 = a capital gain of $9,000 of which a capital gains tax is applied where sold.

depending on a number of variables. the OP is a Thai resident after spending >183 days here, the domains he sells are registered in country Y and the buyer's tax residence is in country Z then no capital gains tax is levied. even if the circumstances were different the OP could always claim that he added value to the software of the domain, i.e. actual gains were not made.

 

summary: a fair assumption is that nobody will ask him to pay.

[Pdavies99]

1 hour ago, Naam said:

depending on a number of variables. the OP is a Thai resident after spending >183 days here, the domains he sells are registered in country Y and the buyer's tax residence is in country Z then no capital gains tax is levied. even if the circumstances were different the OP could always claim that he added value to the software of the domain, i.e. actual gains were not made.

 

summary: a fair assumption is that nobody will ask him to pay.

I am sure you are likely right, but having worked all my life in Offshore Taxation etc, my experience is that in the country revenue dept that the domains are sold / registered will be in touch.  (How did he add value, its just a domain name?) 

But like you mentioned he may be forgotten.

[Naam]

19 minutes ago, Pdavies99 said:

I am sure you are likely right, but having worked all my life in Offshore Taxation etc, my experience is that in the country revenue dept that the domains are sold / registered will be in touch.  (How did he add value, its just a domain name?) 

But like you mentioned he may be forgotten.

concerning domain names i concede you might be right. but assuming he's a citizen of X, sold the names in the U.S. and is now a resident of TH the IRS won't have a recourse to levy capital gains tax.

 

moreover it's not clear whether any tax applies. i am investing since many years in high yield bonds of U.S. corporates. i.e. proceeds are generated in the U.S. to pay for the debt service of the U.S. corporates but all interest payments are paid without any withholding tax. that also applies to my other bond holdings in a variety of countries.

[mrfaroukh]

I don't think you can work while in Thailand. So best is when you are outside Thailand for example short trip to Malaysia then sell your domain so it is not registered that you did the business in Thailand and then just transfer the money to Thailand.  I don't think you have to pay any tax.

[gearbox]

20 hours ago, oznomad said:

Incorrect. A misconception, propagated by forums and the like.

Here is one of a million pages on the subject.

https://community.ato.gov.au/t5/Working-visa/Non-Resident-for-Tax-Purposes/td-p/4607

Ditto. I was away for more than 183 days last financial year, and I'm still tax resident. I can try to become non-resident,  but at this time all my income is Australian, and the tax treatment seems to be better for residents if you can transform yourself to "low income earner".

[oznomad]

20 hours ago, 4MyEgo said:

When quoting me, it is best to quote my entire post instead of a snip, therefore I have copied and pasted it below at the very bottom, from my previous post i.e. #14 on page 1

 

"I know if your an Aussie, you are taxed on your worldwide income if you are a resident of Australia for tax purposes, now if your an Aussie and live out of the country for more than 183 days in any income year, you are deemed a non-resident for tax purposes, so no tax is payable, unless you make income coming from Australia, and if you own property in Australia, ou might as well forget it as you will pay a lot of tax, higher land taxes and capital gains tax without a tax free threshold of 50%, so its straight up the $hit shoot.

 

You should be able to find this stuff out on Google relating to your country with regard to worldwide income and residency status if your not an Aussie". 

 

You cannot say this is incorrect. A misconception, propagated by forums and the like unless you can back it up, and not by just a forum, legislation or links to the ATO would suffice, i.e. unless you are ignorant, to add to that, I have covered this below by just Googling it, although I have all the legislation, Acts, precidents bookmarked if I need to back it up further, so back it up before you have a go by throwing a forum link to back yourself up. But thanks for the link, will have a read later to see if it's any good or not.

 

FROMGoogle: 

The law treats residents and non-residents differently. Australian residents are generally taxed on all of their worldwide income. Non-residents are taxed only on income sourced in Australia. The marginal tax rates are different for income below $37,000, and the effective tax rates are much higher for non-residents. Generally, non-residents are not required to pay income tax or the Medicare levy on income earned while working internationally. However, you will still need to pay tax in Australia on any investment income you earn in Australia.May 7, 2018

 

FROM Google: 

Do I pay tax in Australia if I am a non resident?

No claims can be made for deductions for share portfolio expenses. Income from investments in foreign countries held by non-residents is not taxed in Australia. CGT – Only certain assets (such as real property located in Australia) are subject to capital gains tax for non-residents and temporary residents.Aug 10, 2018

 

 

I can say it's incorrect, because it is.

It's not my job to provide you with a pile of reading matter. I supplied a single link (to an ATO forum no less). That should be enough for you to understand that you are sending people down the wrong path, do some more research if you see fit, and right your wrongs.

 

The two Google quotes, whilst mostly true, are not relevant to what I said, about what you said.

It appears you have a very shallow understanding of the tax resident vs non-resident issue.

That's fine. We can't know everything about everything, but please dont make statements which the lazy among us might take as reality, and bugger up their own situation.

 

 

[oznomad]

4 hours ago, gearbox said:

Ditto. I was away for more than 183 days last financial year, and I'm still tax resident. I can try to become non-resident,  but at this time all my income is Australian, and the tax treatment seems to be better for residents if you can transform yourself to "low income earner".

Becoming tax non-resident can be quite complex. As you have found out, the 183 day rule is only a part of the deal. 

Yes, unless you have other income to offset the (outrageous) non-resident tax rates then best to remain tax resident.

I simply dont understand the logic of charging people that do not use any services more for those services. 

Quick example.

Lets use 26k income.

A tax resident would pay less than 2k tax, a non-resident over 8k.

Madness I say.

 

[4MyEgo]

1 hour ago, oznomad said:

I can say it's incorrect, because it is.

It's not my job to provide you with a pile of reading matter. I supplied a single link (to an ATO forum no less). That should be enough for you to understand that you are sending people down the wrong path, do some more research if you see fit, and right your wrongs.

You know every now and again a newbie comes along thinking they know it all, but "fail" because they say, it's not my job to back up what they say.

 

If you have ever read a single post of mine in the Australian forum side of TVF you would not that when I have commented and sent people, links to the legislation, links to court rulings, ATO information, never a forum regardless whether its an ATO forum or other because:

 

A) The legislation is LAW and binding

B) Precedents open a new path from court cases

C) Don't hold any substance to A or B when talking about tax, they are there for discussion, and when someone knows what they are talking about or quote something, should back it up with a link.

 

But like I said, a newbie comes along every now and again and thinks he knows everything because he read it on an ATO forum, can you hear yourself, and mate, don't you EVER have a go at me, I have contributed more to this forum and back it up for my Ozzie expats who have appreciated my knowledge and input greatly as it has opened their eyes.

 

Now get back to what you were doing before you came onto TVF, i.e. continue being a keyboard warrior with no substance and bugger off, as I have wasted enough time on the disrespectful newbie's that come along and dummy spit vulgarity before they can even talk.

 

No need to reply as you would be one step closer to getting put on my "timewaster" TVF block member list !

Edited August 11, 2019 by 4MyEgo