Thanks for the replies!

 

I cannot provide an income tax return as cap gains in General do not turn up on tax statements in Germany as they are handled directly by the bank. In addition the idea is to not pay taxes on cap gains and either being in TH or an other country without cap gains when cap gains arise 😉 

 

But as always this is Thailand.

 

Even when in TH for 2 years before applying one cannot provide the needed docs for LTR in the case of cap gains as those gains are currently not taxable when not transmitted 🙂

There is another thread on hear about emails from K-Bank asking customers to supply TIN's etc.  As an LTR Visa holder (and with some accounts outside of Thailand here is my response).  May be of interest to some.

 

"I got a letter from HSBC Australia last week, where I have a very small sum of money, to self certify my Thai Tax residency and TIN.  So not just Thai Banks caught up in this.  I was in Malaysia last week to open a new account with Maybank and also had to self certify - Identical form apart from Bank Logo. 

 

I am a K Bank customer but no email (yet)!

 

The HSBC - Maybank Self Certification gives three choices re TIN (A), (B) and (C) - from memory (A) is the Thai TIN (13 Digits), (B) is TIN cannot be obtained and (C) is Country does not issues TIN's or equivalent.

 

I ticked (B) in my case as I have no assessable income in Thailand and I have an LTR Visa which I stated via Royal Decree 743 means I don't pay tax on remitted income and am not entitled to a TIN (that's what the RD on Pahonyonthin Road told me).  

 

Anyway both Banks accepted this - but I'd really like to put this on the record with my Thai accounts!!!"

 

 

What are your thoughts on the meaning of "derived in the previous tax year" in Royal Decree 743? Does it mean LTR visa holders need to wait until 2025 to remit assessable income derived in 2024 for it to be tax exempt? Or, can LTR visa holder's remit assessable income in the same year it was derived, and it still be tax exempt? Thanks...

 

"shall be exempted for a foreigner categorised as Wealthy Global Citizen, Wealthy Pensioner, or Work-from-Thailand Professional who is granted a Long-Term Resident Visa under immigration law for assessable income under section 40 of the Revenue Code derived in the previous tax year from an employment, or from business carried on abroad, or from a property situated abroad, and brought into Thailand."

1 hour ago, JohnnyBD said:

What are your thoughts on the meaning of "derived in the previous tax year" in Royal Decree 743? Does it mean LTR visa holders need to wait until 2025 to remit assessable income derived in 2024 for it to be tax exempt? Or, can LTR visa holder's remit assessable income in the same year it was derived, and it still be tax exempt? Thanks...

 

"shall be exempted for a foreigner categorised as Wealthy Global Citizen, Wealthy Pensioner, or Work-from-Thailand Professional who is granted a Long-Term Resident Visa under immigration law for assessable income under section 40 of the Revenue Code derived in the previous tax year from an employment, or from business carried on abroad, or from a property situated abroad, and brought into Thailand."

 

Yes, definitely, this is why I haven't changed anything to my money transfers since early 2015. IMO RD 743 just grandfathered the rules as they were before the September 2023  change. My recommendation would be to be very cautious with that as I don't expect any particular sympathy from RD towards LTR visa holders.

6 hours ago, JohnnyBD said:

What are your thoughts on the meaning of "derived in the previous tax year" in Royal Decree 743?

 

 

My take on this is as follows:  if one needs to file an income tax return, one DOES NOT file for income earned IN THE CURRENT (ONGOING) TAX YEAR, but rather one files for income in the PREVIOUS tax year. PREVIOUS ! 

 

Ergo this applies to when/if one TYPICALLY files a tax return (which if an annual return and if filed on time, this is ALWAYS filed for the previous tax year). ie ... taxation is exempt for any nominal tax return (if filed).

 

But I am no taxation expert. 

 

I am fortunate to have the financial luxury to wait a few years to see all of these taxation changes 'play out' before I bring any more money into Thailand.

I believe my application might be rejected. I work for a large international corporation with numerous subsidiaries worldwide. My employment contract is with one of these subsidiaries based in Switzerland. I submitted the consolidated financial statement, but they are insisting on seeing the financial statements for the specific subsidiary I work for. Unfortunately, this subsidiary, being a small part of the global group, does not meet the $150 million threshold. They seem to be focusing on this issue now. Does anyone in this forum have experience dealing with a similar problem? Any help would be appreciated. 

On 11/21/2024 at 1:03 PM, Pib said:

Probably not going to fly because Nov-Dec of previous year thru Jan-Feb of the following year is only 4 months max of financial data; not the required 12 months of data.   

 

Proof of income doesn't have to cover the calendar year period of Jan-Dec....it can be any 12 month period like say Oct 2023 thru Sep 2024, etc., but you'll need the financial docs to prove it like for those Jan-Sep months since you will not have an income tax return for those 9 months.  This may require you to provide more than 12 months worth of proof like maybe your previous year income tax return "and" part of the current calendar year you are currently in thru the use of bank/brokerage statements, pension statement, etc.   

 

Can keep in mind the "type" of LTR visa you are applying for will determine the "type" of income BOI will accept.   For example when going for a LTR "Pensioner" visa BOI is looking for unearned/passive income; not income from wages/employment.

 

 

Thx! I though it was 2 years financial data? There will be no income tax statement I can provide where cap gains show. I will go for wealthy pensioner LTR. Even if stay 2 years in TH before I cannot provide an income tax statement as cap gains are not taxable if not remitted TiT...

15 minutes ago, stat said:

Thx! I though it was 2 years financial data? There will be no income tax statement I can provide where cap gains show. I will go for wealthy pensioner LTR. Even if stay 2 years in TH before I cannot provide an income tax statement as cap gains are not taxable if not remitted TiT...

The LTR website does say 2 years for a Work from Thailand visa but there have been posts of 1 year being enough depending on the nature of the person's finances/employment.   Plus, I thought you wanted to try for the Work from Thailand visa by using  only 4 months of financial data which wouldn't fly.   1 year's worth will possibly fly depending on the nature of the finances/person's situation, but 2 years is indeed what the BOI says they want to see.

 

Now, if going for a LTR pensioner visa then they will ask for only 1 year of tax returns and since some pensions are not taxed at all or only partially taxed (i.e., not even reported on a tax return) that where other financial docs is critical such as a pension benefit letter/certificate saying you are paid X-amount per month/quarter/year....and just to repeat an amount that may not even be reflected on a tax return depending on tax laws/regulations which vary from country to country.   And if you just started a pension(s)/some kind of passive income that takes you over the minimum financial requirement but it could be a year (or more) before a tax return would possibly reflect such then a tax return might not even be required if your pension docs clearly show you just started a the pension like says some type of govt pension that BOI is sure will continue.  And a short memo explaining your pensions such as not being taxable/partially taxable, just started, etc., will help prove/show you do meet the required income requirements although a tax return might show you falling a little short. 

10 minutes ago, Pib said:

The LTR website does say 2 years for a Work from Thailand visa but there have been posts of 1 year being enough depending on the nature of the person's finances/employment.   Plus, I thought you wanted to try for the Work from Thailand visa by using  only 4 months of financial data which wouldn't fly.   1 year's worth will possibly fly depending on the nature of the finances/person's situation, but 2 years is indeed what the BOI says they want to see.

 

Now, if going for a LTR pensioner visa then they will ask for only 1 year of tax returns and since some pensions are not taxed at all or only partially taxed (i.e., not even reported on a tax return) that where other financial docs is critical such as a pension benefit letter/certificate saying you are paid X-amount per month/quarter/year....and just to repeat an amount that may not even be reflected on a tax return depending on tax laws/regulations which vary from country to country.   And if you just started a pension(s)/some kind of passive income that takes you over the minimum financial requirement but it could be a year (or more) before a tax return would possibly reflect such then a tax return might not even be required if your pension docs clearly show you just started a the pension like says some type of govt pension that BOI is sure will continue.  And a short memo explaining your pensions such as not being taxable/partially taxable, just started, etc., will help prove/show you do meet the required income requirements although a tax return might show you falling a little short. 

Thanks for your post! There will be no pension and no pension letter in my case just passive income in the form of dividends and cap gains. I can trigger cap gains whenever I want just by selling some positions hence my idea of showing the last 12 months with 2 months of 80K plus income and the other months like 8K a month.

 

 

There more I think about it they would not let even Elon Musk get a wealthy pensioner LTR, as he has no pension and no steady income stream. 🙂

1 minute ago, stat said:

Thanks for your post! There will be no pension and no pension letter in my case just passive income in the form of dividends and cap gains. I can trigger cap gains whenever I want just by selling some positions hence my idea of showing the last 12 months with 2 months of 80K plus income and the other months like 8K a month.

 

 

There more I think about it they would not let even Elon Musk get a wealthy pensioner LTR, as he has no pension and no steady income stream. 🙂

Elon's tax return is probably bigger (i.e., number of pages declaring tax write-off/deduction/credits) than all the tax returns "combined" by all LTR applicants to date.  And when the dust settles Elon's tax bill is probably close to zero....pretty much like Donald's....which as you said might not allow him to qualify for an LTR visa.😜    But Elon is not worried....he would just fork out Bt5M in pocket change for an Elite Reserve 20 year visa if he wanted to spend a lot of time in Thailand and have an army of tax CPAs/lawyers ensuring he paid no tax in Thailand.  

Deleted. Wrong thread.

57 minutes ago, Pib said:

Elon's tax return is probably bigger (i.e., number of pages declaring tax write-off/deduction/credits) than all the tax returns "combined" by all LTR applicants to date.  And when the dust settles Elon's tax bill is probably close to zero....pretty much like Donald's....which as you said might not allow him to qualify for an LTR visa.😜    But Elon is not worried....he would just fork out Bt5M in pocket change for an Elite Reserve 20 year visa if he wanted to spend a lot of time in Thailand and have an army of tax CPAs/lawyers ensuring he paid no tax in Thailand.  

 Anyone with that sort of money can easily restructure a portion of their funds to meet BoI requirements instead of stubbornly sticking with their current financial structure.

 

However such restructuring costs some money and one has to decide if such is worth it.

32 minutes ago, oldcpu said:

 Anyone with that sort of money can easily restructure a portion of their funds to meet BoI requirements instead of stubbornly sticking with their current financial structure.

 

However such restructuring costs some money and one has to decide if such is worth it.

Anyone north of 500K or 1M USD should get an LTR without any hassle but I know TiT ...

57 minutes ago, oldcpu said:

 Anyone with that sort of money can easily restructure a portion of their funds to meet BoI requirements instead of stubbornly sticking with their current financial structure.

 

However such restructuring costs some money and one has to decide if such is worth it.

The problem is that the main idea to have an LTR for me is to not pay tax. But in order to get an LTR I should pay tax in another country (need for tax statement) while I do not have to pay taxes if I do not realize the cap gains in the first place. In my case I can cross the threshold just with dividends but again they do not show on a tax statement because it is either withholding tax or dealt by the (German) banks directly.

I arrived Phuket International Airport (with my Thai wife) after us being out of country for a week.

 

There was a massive line up of foreigners waiting to clear immigration at the airport - I dare say it would take 60-to-90-minutes to clear that line.

 

Someone in a uniform caught my attention and pointed out a Fast Track line, that had FAR less people in it, ... but they advised it cost 200 baht to enter that line.

 

My Thai wife grabbed and hand and reminded me to go to the Thai citizen line instead.  She saw no point to pay 200 THB.

 

At the entrance to the Thai line was a sign noting it was for "Thai citizens, aircrew, and priority passengers" (I may have that wording inexact).  There was NO ONE in that line.

 

So we went to that line, and I was accepted and was through in about one minute.  My permission to stay stamped for me to stay until June-2028 (as I am on an LTR visa - I obtained my LTR visa in June-2023 and I am on the 1st 5-years of that 10 year Visa). I believe I qualified for the "priority" line because I am age-70 and also because I have an LTR visa. And I also 'qualified' for the "Thai line" as I was accompanied by my Thai wife.

 

Having that sign (by the line entrance) stating it was for "Thai citizens, aircrew, and priority passengers"  is IMHO an improvement over the past, where I do not recall seeing such a sign.

 

Being allowed to use that short line sure made a big difference in making the return to Thailand more pleasant.

On 11/25/2024 at 8:48 PM, Pib said:

Elon's tax return is probably bigger (i.e., number of pages declaring tax write-off/deduction/credits) than all the tax returns "combined" by all LTR applicants to date.  And when the dust settles Elon's tax bill is probably close to zero....pretty much like Donald's....which as you said might not allow him to qualify for an LTR visa.😜    But Elon is not worried....he would just fork out Bt5M in pocket change for an Elite Reserve 20 year visa if he wanted to spend a lot of time in Thailand and have an army of tax CPAs/lawyers ensuring he paid no tax in Thailand.  

Highly doubtful Elon would be applying for the LTR Visa.

16 minutes ago, oldcpu said:

I arrived Phuket International Airport (with my Thai wife) after us being out of country for a week.

 

There was a massive line up of foreigners waiting to clear immigration at the airport - I dare say it would take 60-to-90-minutes to clear that line.

 

Someone in a uniform caught my attention and pointed out a Fast Track line, that had FAR less people in it, ... but they advised it cost 200 baht to enter that line.

 

My Thai wife grabbed and hand and reminded me to go to the Thai citizen line instead.  She saw no point to pay 200 THB.

 

At the entrance to the Thai line was a sign noting it was for "Thai citizens, aircrew, and priority passengers" (I may have that wording inexact).  There was NO ONE in that line.

 

So we went to that line, and I was accepted and was through in about one minute.  My permission to stay stamped for me to stay until June-2028 (as I am on an LTR visa - I obtained my LTR visa in June-2023 and I am on the 1st 5-years of that 10 year Visa). I believe I qualified for the "priority" line because I am age-70 and also because I have an LTR visa. And I also 'qualified' for the "Thai line" as I was accompanied by my Thai wife.

 

Having that sign (by the line entrance) stating it was for "Thai citizens, aircrew, and priority passengers"  is IMHO an improvement over the past, where I do not recall seeing such a sign.

 

Being allowed to use that short line sure made a big difference in making the return to Thailand more pleasant.

As the holder of a LTR VISA you can use the Fast Track lane regardless of age.  
 

One of the benefits.

One further LTR travel related comment.

 

I flew from Penang Malaysia to Phuket.  In Penang at the Firefly airline  check-in counter, they puzzled over my passport, and I was asked, did I have a Visa for entering Thailand?

 

I pointed out the LTR visa stamp in the passport - noting it was a 10 year visa to 2033.  Once the airline staff saw that and had it explained to her, she printed my boarding pass.  (I note prior to arriving at Penang airport, the online checkin did not work for me).

 

I went away wondering, given the online checkin was not working (for me as a non-Thai), and the puzzlement at check-in might have meant they would have asked for an on-ward ticket (out of Thailand) if I was entering Visa-exempt (without an LTR visa or without a non-O/OA or other long term visa) ??   That is only pure speculation on my part - and with hindsight , out of curiousity, I could have asked the person at the airline counter - but it never occurred to me to do so until later.

 

 

6 minutes ago, G_Money said:

As the holder of a LTR VISA you can use the Fast Track lane regardless of age.  
 

One of the benefits.

 

The crazy thing was (according to my wife) they were asking 200 baht for people to use the fast track (announcing such out loud, albeit I did not hear such).  I wonder if they would have 'waived' the 200 baht fee for an LTR visa holder?

6 minutes ago, oldcpu said:

 

The crazy thing was (according to my wife) they were asking 200 baht for people to use the fast track (announcing such out loud, albeit I did not hear such).  I wonder if they would have 'waived' the 200 baht fee for an LTR visa holder?

I believe they would have waived it.  Most likely the 200 was for non LTR waiting in line.

6 minutes ago, G_Money said:

I believe they would have waived it.  Most likely the 200 was for non LTR waiting in line.

 

Probably true.  ... The fast track line only had a couple of dozens of what looked to be foreigners waiting in it - which would be far superior to the hundreds of foreigners waiting in the regular foreigner immigration line.

 

Still, with no one waiting in the combined "Thai-citizen/air-crew/priority" line (and us walking right up to an immigration booth with no wait) , it was a far more pleasant experience than any of the other lines.

A word of caution to anyone applying for the LTR visa.  Mine was the Pensioner.

 

Make sure your passport doesn’t have any small holes in the pages.  Immigration loves to staple everything such as 90 day reports etc.

 

I normally take them out.  Unfortunately I didn’t have a staple puller so I took it out by hand as carefully as possible. Resulting in a small hole in the passport page.

 

 I applied and was approved for the LTR “Wealthy Pensioner “ visa.  Their words, not mine.

 

I book my appointment at the BOI office in BKK.  Along with my hotel room.

 

Arrived at the BOI office and showed them my appointment letter and documentation.  BOI took my passport to the Immigration office located next to the BOI office.

 

BOI staff returned and informed me they cannot issue the Visa in my current passport due to the small hole in one of the pages. I need a new passport.

 

So back to Pattaya I go and send my package to the US consulate in Bangkok for a new passport.

 

Should arrive in a few weeks and the BOI LTR application is good for 60 days.

 

Then back to Bangkok.

 

Moral of the story.  Check your passport pages when applying for LTR.

 

Photo attached.

 

 

 

2 minutes ago, G_Money said:

A word of caution to anyone applying for the LTR visa.  Mine was the Pensioner.

 

Make sure your passport doesn’t have any small holes in the pages.  Immigration loves to staple everything such as 90 day reports etc.

 

I normally take them out.  Unfortunately I didn’t have a staple puller so I took it out by hand as carefully as possible. Resulting in a small hole in the passport page.

 

 I applied and was approved for the LTR “Wealthy Pensioner “ visa.  Their words, not mine.

 

I book my appointment at the BOI office in BKK.  Along with my hotel room.

 

Arrived at the BOI office and showed them my appointment letter and documentation.  BOI took my passport to the Immigration office located next to the BOI office.

 

BOI staff returned and informed me they cannot issue the Visa in my current passport due to the small hole in one of the pages. I need a new passport.

 

So back to Pattaya I go and send my package to the US consulate in Bangkok for a new passport.

 

Should arrive in a few weeks and the BOI LTR application is good for 60 days.

 

Then back to Bangkok.

 

Moral of the story.  Check your passport pages when applying for LTR.

 

Photo attached.

 

 

 

Totally anal IMHO. But that's Immigration not BOI, right?

19 minutes ago, Ben Zioner said:

Totally anal IMHO. But that's Immigration not BOI, right?

 Correct.  Immigration.  
 

 

1 hour ago, oldcpu said:

 

The crazy thing was (according to my wife) they were asking 200 baht for people to use the fast track (announcing such out loud, albeit I did not hear such).  I wonder if they would have 'waived' the 200 baht fee for an LTR visa holder?

Is it always the case that one can use the priority lane for 200 Baht? Thanks!

7 hours ago, stat said:

Is it always the case that one can use the priority lane for 200 Baht? Thanks!

I don't  know.

 

It's the first time I have seen such in Phuket airport.

19 hours ago, Ben Zioner said:

Totally anal IMHO. But that's Immigration not BOI, right?

Now I have another reason for a second passport (of the same country in my case)

Does anyone know if it's possible for an accompanying passenger to use the LTR visa's fast track option in Suvarnabhumi for both arrivals and departures when flying in economy class, or is it only available to the visa holder?

On 11/25/2024 at 12:52 PM, Thomas4628 said:

I believe my application might be rejected. I work for a large international corporation with numerous subsidiaries worldwide. My employment contract is with one of these subsidiaries based in Switzerland. I submitted the consolidated financial statement, but they are insisting on seeing the financial statements for the specific subsidiary I work for. Unfortunately, this subsidiary, being a small part of the global group, does not meet the $150 million threshold. They seem to be focusing on this issue now. Does anyone in this forum have experience dealing with a similar problem? Any help would be appreciated. 

I was in a similar situation when I applied for a LTR-WP around June of last year. My employer's parent company is a large and publicly traded US company with many subsidiaries around the world. I was able to resolve various other queries they had, but they insisted on receiving the subsidiary company's financial statements and I was not able to provide them. I ended up abandoning the application and instead took a DTV visa in September of this year. The DTV was far easier and suits my situation almost as well as the LTR-WP. The only reason I may consider going for the LTR again would be if Thailand starts taxing worldwide income and the LTR remitted income exemption turns out to remain valid after the tax code update. I wonder if under a literal interpretation of current law all global income may have to make a roundtrip through a thai bank account in the first few months of the year after it was earned in order to remain exempt? If so it could become awfully cumbersome. Hopefully BOI/TRD would amend the code to strengthen and clarify the tax exemption if worldwide income tax becomes law.

So I managed to exhaust the pages of my passport and did the LTR visa transfer to the new passport the other day. Emailed LTR Visa Unit to get the requirements and they send me as below- fairly painless except no special window for LTR holders so had the mandatory 3 hours queuing the window 14/15. Also the new stamps have already taken up 3 pages of the new passport!

Please note that no appointment is required to transfer your LTR Visa to a new passport. You may visit us during working hours, any time before 3:30 PM. To complete the visa transfer process, kindly follow these steps:

 

1. Please visit the Immigration One Stop Service Center for Visa and Work Permit (OSS). You don't need to appear in person; instead, you can authorize a representative or someone you know to bring your passports for the visa transfer. There is no additional fee for this service.

 

2. Bring the following documents:

   - Original former and new passports

   - Transfer stamp to new passport form, download here: https://bangkok.immigration.go.th/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Transfer-Stamp-to-New-Passport-Form.pdf

   - Certificate of visa transfer from your embassy (Your passport will require this document, when getting a new passport, please make sure to request for passport transfer certificate as well)

   - Copies of former and new passports with your photo

   - Copy of the last arrival stamp in your passport

   - Copy of the LTR Visa stamp in your passport

   - Copy of the last extended visa in your passport

   - Copy of T.M. 6 Card (if applicable)

   - Notification letter of qualification endorsement addressed to the Immigration Bureau (found within your LTR Visa account under the check status tab)

   - 1-Year notification card (if applicable)

 

Please ensure that you transfer the visa before your current passport expires. If not, the LTR visa will become invalid and unusable.