Paying Tax

[Letseng]

I do want to do a tax return to show the tax man back home that I pay tax in Thailand. I have a Thai tax no. I stay here 183 days++

My income in Thailand is my pension which arrives every month. Tax free is apparently 190.000THB.

I have received conflicting info:

 

1. Money which arrives in Thailand in the year I "earned" the money is taxable.

Then my pension would be taxable.

 

2. Tax is already deducted by the bank. I can reclaim this tax. No need to report pension income.

 

Can someone help with experience and info pls?

[blackcab]

Moved to the Banking forum.

[topt]

22 hours ago, Letseng said:

1. Money which arrives in Thailand in the year I "earned" the money is taxable.

Then my pension would be taxable.

In theory yes but if you do not declare it the Thai revenue do not pursue it and this appears true for many here. 

Some people say it is to their benefit to actually pay tax due to a DTA with their specific country which makes it advantageous to them. 

 

The other point is that if you remit "income" in the calendar year after it has been earned you pay no tax - and again not heard that the Thai Revenue service ever check to ascertain what is money from current year or savings from a previous year. So basically easy not to pay any tax here.

By calendar year this means you could earn in December and transfer in January and it would qualify. 

 

22 hours ago, Letseng said:

2. Tax is already deducted by the bank. I can reclaim this tax. No need to report pension income

I take it you mean with-holding tax on interest received in a Thai bank savings account? Yes you can reclaim this after registering for a tax ID. Claim period is Jan to end of March and the bank will give you a letter if you ask regarding interest earned and tax withheld.

When registering for the tax ID, and only if asked, just say you live on savings if you want to avoid any issues over income tax. I have twice in the past had to go and sign a form some weeks after remitting my return which confirmed I had no "income" that needed to be taxed but it did not happen this year.

[Letseng]

13 hours ago, topt said:

In theory yes but if you do not declare it the Thai revenue do not pursue it and this appears true for many here. 

Some people say it is to their benefit to actually pay tax due to a DTA with their specific country which makes it advantageous to them. 

 

The other point is that if you remit "income" in the calendar year after it has been earned you pay no tax - and again not heard that the Thai Revenue service ever check to ascertain what is money from current year or savings from a previous year. So basically easy not to pay any tax here.

By calendar year this means you could earn in December and transfer in January and it would qualify. 

 

I take it you mean with-holding tax on interest received in a Thai bank savings account? Yes you can reclaim this after registering for a tax ID. Claim period is Jan to end of March and the bank will give you a letter if you ask regarding interest earned and tax withheld.

When registering for the tax ID, and only if asked, just say you live on savings if you want to avoid any issues over income tax. I have twice in the past had to go and sign a form some weeks after remitting my return which confirmed I had no "income" that needed to be taxed but it did not happen this year.

Tks for your comment.

As said in my post, I DO want to pay tax because of the DTA with my home country. 

 

[userabcd]

Do you pay tax on the pension income generated wherever.

 

Refer to your home countries DTA with Thailand, does it specifically state anything about how pension income is treated and where it would be taxed.

 

If no tax is being paid anywhere on the pension income and the earnings are being remitted to Thailand in the same tax year they were earned, if you are considered resident in Thailand (depending on your home countries rules about domicile and residence), then theoretically tax should be paid in Thailand on that income.

 

The tax tables are available on the Revenue department website along with the allowances, rebates etc..

 

Why not go along to your local tax office and discuss it with them, I'm sure they would be able to advise you.

Edited December 16, 2019 by userabcd

[freeman01]

I don't want to be annoying but from a strict legal point of view, regarding income and pension, if you spend all year long in Thailand it's very likely you owe tax whether it is remitted or not.

They can't enforce it so everyone can keep this fantasy narrative but I think it's important to be aware of this because in the coming years with Thailand entering CRS treaties things might change.

I could be wrong though, would really like to hear a good tax lawyer on this.

 

[Letseng]

On 12/16/2019 at 12:46 PM, freeman01 said:

I don't want to be annoying but from a strict legal point of view, regarding income and pension, if you spend all year long in Thailand it's very likely you owe tax whether it is remitted or not.

They can't enforce it so everyone can keep this fantasy narrative but I think it's important to be aware of this because in the coming years with Thailand entering CRS treaties things might change.

I could be wrong though, would really like to hear a good tax lawyer on this.

 

I agree with you. Acc to an accountant we saw back home he confirmed that you pay tax where you spend most of your time i.e. 183 days plus. This is Thailand. My home country has a DTA with Thailand. My pension is not taxed at source. Therefore, I opt for paying in TH before the home taxman asks questions.

Do you by chance have a recommendation for an accountant on Bangkok to help me doing the paperwork? Problem is the Thai tax form. My Thai language skills are very basic.

Edited December 18, 2019 by Letseng

[freeman01]

I try to do everything myself as I have an aversion to paying fees ????

I saw a translated tax return available on some blog recently, I will try to use that next year and along with a tiny bit of help from the officer at the revenue dept hopefully this will be enough. Will use an accountant/lawyer as a last resort.

 

[Letseng]

On 12/18/2019 at 9:16 PM, freeman01 said:

I try to do everything myself as I have an aversion to paying fees ????

I saw a translated tax return available on some blog recently, I will try to use that next year and along with a tiny bit of help from the officer at the revenue dept hopefully this will be enough. Will use an accountant/lawyer as a last resort.

 

I understand that you need to use the Thai form. Apparently the form for 2019 only comes out later in Jan. I'm a bit stuck as I leave on 28 Jan and return on 25 March. Due date is 31 March. 

My local tax office is Pathumwan. English (when I applied for tax ID) was a problem. Will figure something out.

[mshs]

The after-tax monies remitted during that tax-year, are not taxed in T.

 

[Letseng]

13 hours ago, mshs said:

The after-tax monies remitted during that tax-year, are not taxed in T.

 

What are "after-tax monies"?

 

 

[mshs]

10 hours ago, Letseng said:

What are "after-tax monies"?

 

 

It is what is left, after you filed as a single-filer earning over $52,200 in the USA.

 

If you are a Euro, it is much less; perhaps anything over €33,000 is taxed.

Brit? Perhaps £33,000? Don't know.

 

[topt]

On 12/31/2019 at 1:46 AM, mshs said:

The after-tax monies remitted during that tax-year, are not taxed in T.

 

 

12 hours ago, mshs said:

It is what is left, after you filed as a single-filer earning over $52,200 in the USA.

 

If you are a Euro, it is much less; perhaps anything over €33,000 is taxed.

Brit? Perhaps £33,000? Don't know.

 

As a generalisation completely incorrect unless there is a DTA in force and depends on the structure of the DTA. It may be correct for the US but not necessarily true for anybody else. It may even be true in practice (TIT) but not in theory.

[Letseng]

On 1/1/2020 at 1:56 AM, mshs said:

It is what is left, after you filed as a single-filer earning over $52,200 in the USA.

 

If you are a Euro, it is much less; perhaps anything over €33,000 is taxed.

Brit? Perhaps £33,000? Don't know.

 

You clearly hadn't read my post/s. 

How useful is a "don'tknow" reply?

 

[mshs]

13 hours ago, Letseng said:

You clearly hadn't read my post/s. 

How useful is a "don'tknow" reply?

 

I don't know or care to know what the threshold for tax to kick-in is for the Euros or the Great British.  But I do know that is is less than it is for Americans.

[mshs]

On 12/31/2019 at 11:11 PM, topt said:

 

It may even be true in practice (TIT) but not in theory.

Damn straight!

An American making under $50,000 will pocket nearly all of that as after-tax monies and if that is repatriated to Th in that taxable year, is not taxed in Th.

 

DTA comes into pay when he makes $150,000 (not wages obviously - it would be dividends, interest, rent and the like) and no one making that is going retire in a shole.  But let us pretend that he does,  At that point, he pays ~$38,000 in Federal & CA taxes and the monies he repatriated to Th will be subject to DTA.