Tax Cut to Attract Foreign Experts to Work in Thailand

[webfact]

 

By Suwit Rattiwan

   

BANGKOK (NNT) - The Revenue Department is mulling the possibility of reducing personal income tax for foreign experts to 17% in an effort to bring in foreign talented professionals to work in Thailand.

 

Director-General of the Revenue Department, Ekniti Nitithanprapas said the highly skilled professional must be in the fields that Thailand fall short of and that they would be permitted to work anywhere in Thailand. He said the department is considering a valid period for this tax cut.

 

Thailand’s personal income tax rate is progressive, varied by salary level. Those with annual income from 150,001 baht to 300,000 baht are subject to 5% tax, while those with annual income above 5 million baht are subject to the top tax rate of 35%.

 

Nevertheless, Mr Ekniti indicated that only tax cuts measure alone might not efficient enough for foreign experts, adding that such factors as safety of the country and high quality of schools and medical care are somewhat they have to take into consideration.

 

-- © Copyright NNT 2021-10-11

 

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[gk10012001]

I would not need a tax cut.  I am a very soon to be retiring practicing engineer. I have a BS in engineering and a MS in Math and use it quite often in my testing and analysis aerospace jobs.   I would ideally like to keep my mind active and tutor maybe 10 or 15 hours a week, math, science, engineering, etc.  Topics such as basic calculus, algebra, pre calc, basic engineering first or second semester courses, even physics with or without calculus.  And any high school math for sure, based on what I see taught in Thailand, stats, or whatever. Probably 1st or 2nd university level also, depending on the student or university.  Or some Thai person that is trying to prepar to go to school in the USA or the UK and needs to get more familiar with English and technical things.  

 

     But there just is no easy way for me to legally tutor as an individual.  i could not get a work permit.  No long stay visa really allows work unless I was with a company  over there.  I still think this is a golden opportunity for some Thai company to offer tutoring services.  They can hire me, they get a cut of my hourly rate, they give me a work permit.  Seems pretty straight forward.  Any industrious people out there with some teaching background and business experience in Thailand that might want to set this up?  I am sure you could get many expats of all ages and abilities to sign up with you

[mokwit]

Just let them be paid offshore like they used to be. Clamped down on.

[DrPhibes]

4 hours ago, gk10012001 said:

I would not need a tax cut.  I am a very soon to be retiring practicing engineer. I have a BS in engineering and a MS in Math and use it quite often in my testing and analysis aerospace jobs.   I would ideally like to keep my mind active and tutor maybe 10 or 15 hours a week, math, science, engineering, etc.  Topics such as basic calculus, algebra, pre calc, basic engineering first or second semester courses, even physics with or without calculus.  And any high school math for sure, based on what I see taught in Thailand, stats, or whatever. Probably 1st or 2nd university level also, depending on the student or university.  Or some Thai person that is trying to prepar to go to school in the USA or the UK and needs to get more familiar with English and technical things.  

 

     But there just is no easy way for me to legally tutor as an individual.  i could not get a work permit.  No long stay visa really allows work unless I was with a company  over there.  I still think this is a golden opportunity for some Thai company to offer tutoring services.  They can hire me, they get a cut of my hourly rate, they give me a work permit.  Seems pretty straight forward.  Any industrious people out there with some teaching background and business experience in Thailand that might want to set this up?  I am sure you could get many expats of all ages and abilities to sign up with you

An ex-aerospace Engr also with several sci/eng degrees living in Thailand 5yrs now.  Problem here is they want the engineering skills but don't want the critical thinking skills to go beyond your job which, you know, once the veil is pulled back becoming an engr/science guy, it becomes an integral part of all you do.  One of the reasons they are trying to get high end skilled foreigners with visa schemes is they will not interfere in politics and you can kick them out whenever they want to.  If it is your intention to really want to teach with no regard to income, you can volunteer.  No restrictions on volunteering and if retiring you should be old enough for a retirement visa.

[Ralf001]

Awesome, I'd love a tax cut !!

[gk10012001]

2 hours ago, DrPhibes said:

An ex-aerospace Engr also with several sci/eng degrees living in Thailand 5yrs now.  Problem here is they want the engineering skills but don't want the critical thinking skills to go beyond your job which, you know, once the veil is pulled back becoming an engr/science guy, it becomes an integral part of all you do.  One of the reasons they are trying to get high end skilled foreigners with visa schemes is they will not interfere in politics and you can kick them out whenever they want to.  If it is your intention to really want to teach with no regard to income, you can volunteer.  No restrictions on volunteering and if retiring you should be old enough for a retirement visa.

I am plenty old enough for retirement,, 64. I thought I was punching out in Dece 2019 when I left Northrop.  But COVID started showing up and coincidentally I got a call from one of my past agents for a 135/hour gig in New Jersey.  Can't turn down 1/4 million!  So 2020 kept me busy, Now in 2021, just waiting for Thailand to sort things out a bit.  Being vaccinated, I may head there soon.  I agree totally with what you say about critical thinking skills.  I approach life and decision making so different than my family or many friends it is amazing sometimes.  it is one of the reasons I kind of enjoy contract engineering still here in the USA.  It is refreshing to go to work and be able to rationally discuss things,  As for volunteering, sure I would not mind helping out a bit here and there.  But my hope would be to make some money while keeping a bit active.  Very unlikely to happen, but getting enough to pay my condo rent and whatever else while in Thailand, just makes it a bit more fun also. 

[Toxane]

11 hours ago, DrPhibes said:

... they want the engineering skills but don't want the critical thinking skills to go beyond your job ...

This. Blocked from the get-go to think outside of the box.

[hotchilli]

17 hours ago, webfact said:

Thailand’s personal income tax rate is progressive, varied by salary level. Those with annual income from 150,001 baht to 300,000 baht are subject to 5% tax,

So why not reduce it to 15% make it a nice round figure.

[Orinoco]

Enjoy your retirement boys and girls,

Don't spoil it, by working for a Thai boss.  LOL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[The Cipher]

17 hours ago, webfact said:

BANGKOK (NNT) - The Revenue Department is mulling the possibility of reducing personal income tax for foreign experts to 17% in an effort to bring in foreign talented professionals to work in Thailand.

 

Director-General of the Revenue Department, Ekniti Nitithanprapas said the highly skilled professional must be in the fields that Thailand fall short of and that they would be permitted to work anywhere in Thailand. He said the department is considering a valid period for this tax cut.

The tax cut could attract some people, but total net compensation is also very important. Unless Thai companies intend to also offer globally competitive pay to compete for talent, the tax rate alone is not going going to move the needle.

 

Hong Kong also has a 17% tax cap and globally competitive pay. Singapore, I believe, caps at 22%. If competing for top talent employed locally, those are the destinations that Thailand will need to outcompete.

 

That being said Thailand does have some unique features also, and I do genuinely appreciate their efforts to improve diversify the expat mix in general.

 

Quote

If it is your intention to really want to teach with no regard to income, you can volunteer.

On an unrelated note to what I wrote above, I've toyed with the idea of running classes to teach investment planning and financial literacy when I'm in the country. Could be as basic or complex as folks are interested in and I'd happily do it on a pro bono basis, but I have no idea how to go about doing so.

 

The language barrier would probably be an issue tho, lol. ????

[Dogmatix]

They never make clear whether 17% is the top marginal tax rate or a flat rate, as in HK. If the latter, they would end up paying more on lower salaries.  The most important thing is going to be the overall package. Thai companies don't to hire expats at expat rates and would rather hire several unqualified Thais for the same money.  Will lowering the tax rate change this mindset?

[Freddy42OZ]

20 hours ago, gk10012001 said:

I would not need a tax cut.  I am a very soon to be retiring practicing engineer. I have a BS in engineering and a MS in Math and use it quite often in my testing and analysis aerospace jobs.   I would ideally like to keep my mind active and tutor maybe 10 or 15 hours a week, math, science, engineering, etc.  Topics such as basic calculus, algebra, pre calc, basic engineering first or second semester courses, even physics with or without calculus.  And any high school math for sure, based on what I see taught in Thailand, stats, or whatever. Probably 1st or 2nd university level also, depending on the student or university.  Or some Thai person that is trying to prepar to go to school in the USA or the UK and needs to get more familiar with English and technical things.  

 

     But there just is no easy way for me to legally tutor as an individual.  i could not get a work permit.  No long stay visa really allows work unless I was with a company  over there.  I still think this is a golden opportunity for some Thai company to offer tutoring services.  They can hire me, they get a cut of my hourly rate, they give me a work permit.  Seems pretty straight forward.  Any industrious people out there with some teaching background and business experience in Thailand that might want to set this up?  I am sure you could get many expats of all ages and abilities to sign up with you

 

There are lots of tutoring businesses here.  You just need to do a bit of research and contact as many as possible until one offers you a job with a WP.  

Or contact all the Universities.  
 

[DefaultName]

The type of people they want to attract won't be swayed by a tax cut.  They won't put up with all the petty rules and regulations.

[Longwood50]

[natway09]

Great if they could attract a specialist for Thai Airways.

It is the only way of saving it sadly