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Posted
22 hours ago, oldcpu said:

It is actually very standard that those renting long term in Thailand will also, in addition to the rent, need to pay for water and electricity. The landlord can not guess in advance how much water and electricity the tenant will use, so the bill for those will be passed on to the tenant.  As for cleaning, many landlords will require that the tenant pay for a maid to come some TBD time per month (from 1 to 4 times per month) to clean.  Having the placed cleaned after departure is very common.

 

I rented in Germany for 2 decades, and it was common there for the tenant to pay for electricity, water, and for cleaning.

Yes I understand what you mean, but the rent I was referring to where they were charged for stay and separare bill for electric and cleaner was a hotel style rent scheme of pool villas in Hua Hin. Imagine you going in any hotel in Thailand and they charge you separate...it would lead to an uproar all over social media and give bad publicity one the visitor is back home.

Posted

Saw this on a Reddit Sub Forum.   Very much of interest to LTR VIsa holders given the discussions on overseas remittances.  It comes from an AM-Cham meeting specifically to discuss the RD’s announcement on taxing overseas remittance.  

Just listened in on the AMCHAM presentation.

Key takeaways -

As of Jan 1, 2024

-You are a Tax resident in Thailand regardless of your Visa status if you stay here 180 days or more. Always been the case, but not enforced. Stay less than 180 days, you can transfer as much money as you want into the country - no need to declare or file thai tax.

- Any transfers into the country will need to be declared. To avoid double taxation, you will need to file taxes in Thailand yearly and claim exemption.

- Thai Elite Visa does not help. The only visa classes that will allow tax free transfers the 4 categories of LTR. https://www.belaws.com/thailand/ltr-visa-tax-benefits/ - under theses visas you will need to work anyway, but income tax is capped at 17%, transfers into Thailand, are tax free.

- They will be monitoring foreign credit card and debit card transactions in Thailand and will tie into the global system. How they will do that is anyone's guess.”


 

 

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Posted
28 minutes ago, SHA 2 BKK said:

Saw this on a Reddit Sub Forum.   Very much of interest to LTR VIsa holders given the discussions on overseas remittances.  It comes from an AM-Cham meeting specifically to discuss the RD’s announcement on taxing overseas remittance.  

Just listened in on the AMCHAM presentation.

Key takeaways -

As of Jan 1, 2024

-You are a Tax resident in Thailand regardless of your Visa status if you stay here 180 days or more. Always been the case, but not enforced. Stay less than 180 days, you can transfer as much money as you want into the country - no need to declare or file thai tax.

- Any transfers into the country will need to be declared. To avoid double taxation, you will need to file taxes in Thailand yearly and claim exemption.

- Thai Elite Visa does not help. The only visa classes that will allow tax free transfers the 4 categories of LTR. https://www.belaws.com/thailand/ltr-visa-tax-benefits/ - under theses visas you will need to work anyway, but income tax is capped at 17%, transfers into Thailand, are tax free.

- They will be monitoring foreign credit card and debit card transactions in Thailand and will tie into the global system. How they will do that is anyone's guess.”


 

 

My first impression /knee jerk reaction, is that expecting 180 day+ residents to voluntarily "..file taxes in Thailand yearly and claim exemption", would be an administrative nightmare.

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Posted
1 hour ago, aublumberg said:

At long last we may see a rapid rise in LTR visa interest if the tax exempt benefit for LTR-T/P/W categories remains (and no indication for any changes).

There is indeed a remittance tax benefit of the LTR visa, but since it appears to only apply to earnings which have arisen while holding the LTR visa, the benefit is probably not so great.  Moreover, it is still entirely unclear how mixed funds will be treated and mixed funds will be the category in which most prior earnings/savings probably will be for most people which could make bringing any prior money into Thailand a nightmare.   Probably things are taxable unless you can prove otherwise and the proving otherwise could be extremely difficult/impossible in many or even most instances.  If it is concerning current salary, then the benefit is clearly there, but most LTR visa holders do not work.

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Posted
On 9/29/2023 at 10:20 PM, leedm said:

regarding the marriage Visa, do you know if that will allow me to work for my foreign company ?   I assume I’d need to apply for a work permit?   Any idea where I can find more information about that

 

Sorry for the slow response (I was travelling off the beaten track with little Internet access).

 

You cannot get a work permit based on working for a foreign company. However, if your company is willing to allow you to be in technical violation of the rules, there is actually no issue in practice. The Thai authorities are aware that they have no current solution for digital nomads, and working for a foreign employer (without you having any interaction with Thai clients) is 100% tolerated although technically in violation of the labour laws. The problem many run into is the paranoia of corporate lawyers. They will tend to insist that this is illegal and exposes the company to possible legal penalties (which is ridiculous but invariably advice accepted by executive management).

Posted
3 minutes ago, SHA 2 BKK said:

10 year LTR Visa and no foreign remittance tax!   “…the benefit is probably not so great”.  Would love to hear your reasoning matey. 

Feel free to read what is written here and in the general foreign remittance tax thread and you will get a better understanding.

Posted
1 minute ago, K2938 said:

Feel free to read what is written here and in the general foreign remittance tax thread and you will get a better understanding.

Righto cobber - you sound like you would make a good politician!  Good luck to you.  

Posted
2 hours ago, K2938 said:

There is indeed a remittance tax benefit of the LTR visa, but since it appears to only apply to earnings which have arisen while holding the LTR visa, the benefit is probably not so great.  Moreover, it is still entirely unclear how mixed funds will be treated and mixed funds will be the category in which most prior earnings/savings probably will be for most people which could make bringing any prior money into Thailand a nightmare.   Probably things are taxable unless you can prove otherwise and the proving otherwise could be extremely difficult/impossible in many or even most instances.  If it is concerning current salary, then the benefit is clearly there, but most LTR visa holders do not work.

About prior earnings/savings: you buy then sell any low volatility asset (transactions happen outside of Thailand) while holding LTR visa. Sale proceed can be remitted tax-free in Thailand because you have an evidence if asked that capital gain occurred while you were holding LTR visa.

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Posted
40 minutes ago, Yumthai said:

About prior earnings/savings: you buy then sell any low volatility asset (transactions happen outside of Thailand) while holding LTR visa. Sale proceed can be remitted tax-free in Thailand because you have an evidence if asked that capital gain occurred while you were holding LTR visa.

Could work or not depending on how far back they look and how mixed funds are treated.  So while holding a LTR visa if offshore you put 98 in a short-term bond fund which you then sell at 100 and then remit this to Thailand, then the 2 (100-98) is certainly tax free because it is foreign income while holding a LTR visa.   But what about the 98 which is income from prior years where you did not hold an LTR visa?  Is this now also "cleaned" or not.  That is currently not clear at all. 

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Posted
On 9/30/2023 at 11:37 AM, Middle Aged Grouch said:

I knew a family who rented a pool villa in Hua Hin. They were charged for the rent, separate bill for electricity and another one for getting the house cleaned at their departure.

WHAT? The audacity! And they were even presented with the bills! UN <deleted> BELIVABLE!

Posted
24 minutes ago, K2938 said:

Could work or not depending on how far back they look and how mixed funds are treated.  So while holding a LTR visa if offshore you put 98 in a short-term bond fund which you then sell at 100 and then remit this to Thailand, then the 2 (100-98) is certainly tax free because it is foreign income while holding a LTR visa.   But what about the 98 which is income from prior years where you did not hold an LTR visa?  Is this now also "cleaned" or not.  That is currently not clear at all. 

Depends on whether you were Thai Tax Resident in the years the income was earned & what Tax was paid on that income.

 

E.G. I moved to Thailand full time in 2020 so any money I bring into Thailand that was earned before then is not taxable. 
 

 

Posted
2 minutes ago, Mike Teavee said:

Depends on whether you were Thai Tax Resident in the years the income was earned & what Tax was paid on that income.

 

E.G. I moved to Thailand full time in 2020 so any money I bring into Thailand that was earned before then is not taxable.

I agree with this.  But most LTR visa holders are pensioners who have already lived here on other visas for ages and just switched, so their situation is frequently probably rather different.  And then you still have the currently not yet clear issue of how mixed funds are treated. 

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Posted
3 hours ago, K2938 said:

There is indeed a remittance tax benefit of the LTR visa, but since it appears to only apply to earnings which have arisen while holding the LTR visa, the benefit is probably not so great. 

Dunno, what your situation is. But my 100000 USD/Year worth of pensions would remain tax free. I have about two years worth of savings of which I'll transfer one half or two thirds to my BB FCD accounts this year, so very minor benefit ?.. 

 

But I'll keep my fingers crossed, hope it is all true.

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Posted
5 hours ago, K2938 said:

Could work or not depending on how far back they look and how mixed funds are treated.  So while holding a LTR visa if offshore you put 98 in a short-term bond fund which you then sell at 100 and then remit this to Thailand, then the 2 (100-98) is certainly tax free because it is foreign income while holding a LTR visa.   But what about the 98 which is income from prior years where you did not hold an LTR visa?  Is this now also "cleaned" or not.  That is currently not clear at all. 

You sell an asset be it property, car, gold, jewelry, watch, stock, bond, ... you name it.

You get a sale receipt/certificate while holding LTR Visa.

You transfer sale proceed to Thailand.

TRD asks you where the money comes from.

You show the sale receipt/certificate that indicates a year you were under LTR visa.

Remittance is tax exempted.

 

TRD will never ask you the full history of when/how did you buy the asset in the first place because it's a never-ending story. You could have made multiple trades of multiple assets with multiple accounts within the same calendar year.

 

Posted
28 minutes ago, Yumthai said:

TRD will never ask you the full history of when/how did you buy the asset in the first place because it's a never-ending story. You could have made multiple trades of multiple assets with multiple accounts within the same calendar year.

Well, some other countries having remittance taxation do.  So I am not saying that it necessarily will be like this, but this is a real possibility.  We will see.

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Posted
15 hours ago, K2938 said:

Could work or not depending on how far back they look 

What makes you think it would be retroactive? Any indication in any announcement or regulatory changes? Their announcement says effective 01 Jan 2024.

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Posted

I guess no one knows the answer yet but will LTR Visa holders, who are Thai Tax Residents, have to lodge a Tax Return for foreign funds remitted (earned in the previous year) even though such remittances will remain Tax Free because of the Visa Status?  
 

Personally I can’t see why one would need to be lodged as no tax would be due.  
 

I have emailed the BOI and will revert if answered but there may be a forum member who can answer more quickly!   
 

Safe weekend all. 

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Posted
33 minutes ago, SHA 2 BKK said:

I guess no one knows the answer yet but will LTR Visa holders, who are Thai Tax Residents, have to lodge a Tax Return for foreign funds remitted (earned in the previous year) even though such remittances will remain Tax Free because of the Visa Status?  
 

Personally I can’t see why one would need to be lodged as no tax would be due.  
 

I have emailed the BOI and will revert if answered but there may be a forum member who can answer more quickly!   
 

Safe weekend all. 

Well I don't know, but  I believe that we will have to file a return to claim the 10% or 15%  withholding tax that will be slapped on incoming remittance.  Think of it this is the  only way the system could work.

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Posted
Just now, Ben Zioner said:

Well I don't know, but  I believe that we will have to file a return to claim the 10% or 15%  withholding tax that will be slapped on incoming remittance.  Think of it this is the  only way the system could work.

That would be a bugger mate.  Bloody crazy and more paperwork.  Let see how this plays out but if that’s the case I will keep my coin out of Thailand.  
 

I do business in 7 countries.  Some Third World.  None charge a withholding tax on incoming credits.   Interest yes but TIT!  

Posted
On 9/30/2023 at 4:37 PM, Middle Aged Grouch said:

I knew a family who rented a pool villa in Hua Hin. They were charged for the rent, separate bill for electricity and another one for getting the house cleaned at their departure.

Seems reasonable to me.  Often like that.   Read the small print on contracts.  Surely electricity was mentioned as extra, in the big print. 555.

 

Cleaning fees are annoying, yes.

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Posted
On 10/6/2023 at 9:30 AM, SHA 2 BKK said:

Saw this on a Reddit Sub Forum.   ...  The only visa classes that will allow tax free transfers the 4 categories of LTR. https://www.belaws.com/thailand/ltr-visa-tax-benefits/ ...   transfers into Thailand, are tax free.

 

Reads to be good news for LTR visa holders whose pension income brought into Thailand comes from abroad ....

Posted
3 hours ago, JimGant said:

What countries might those be? Remittance taxation vs income taxation seems so weird. Are these OECD countries? Thanx.

The UK and various former colonies of the UK or countries with a legal system in the UK tradition for example have remittance taxation for certain non-domiciled, but tax resident individuals.  You can google on the internet.  Somewhere higher up in this or the LTR thread I also as an example posted a link to some of the rules from the UK which can give you an indication of how complex things might become.

Posted
14 hours ago, aublumberg said:

What makes you think it would be retroactive? Any indication in any announcement or regulatory changes? Their announcement says effective 01 Jan 2024.

There appear to be two things to differentiate:

(1) The time at which the money is remitted to Thailand:  The new tax law interpretation indeed only covers remittances made on or after Jan 1, 2024.

 

(2) The other thing however is the time the foreign income arose, i.e. not when it was remitted, but when it arose.  According to the Thai language Q&A from the Thai Revenue Department on the new tax law interpretation from a few days ago the link to which is posted higher up in this or the general tax thread it would appear that this is NOT limited to income which only arose on or after Jan 1, 2024. 

 

 

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