LTR Visa. How many qualify?

[JimGant]

13 hours ago, K2938 said:

Just to clarify:  Did you have to show the actual drawdown or would it just be sufficient to show the amount in the account for potential drawdown? 

I haven't gone thru this drill yet, so I'm just guessing. But I would think you would need to show you've actually subtracted X amount from your IRA. Since I do my RMDs in early January (so if I croak the wife has one less block to check, since Uncle Sam wants your RMD in year of death), such proof would be easy.

 

Believing an IRA drawdown would be acceptable comes from my analysis of documents required if you're going for a global citizen LTR. In this application, you need to submit tax returns. Well, a US Form 1040 has line items for my Air Force pension, for my Social Security, and for conventional (taxable) IRAs. Also, other line items for income acceptable by BoI, namely dividends and interest (and I would believe capital gains is acceptable, as one of the "other" forms of income solicited by the BoI). So I would think this snapshot of all my taxable income would be, in full, acceptable in satisfying the income requirement.

 

But, with my Air Force and Social Security getting 8.7% cost of living raises, I won't need that IRA to cover the gap. And with the dollar up 14% against the baht, in the gravy! (Oh, yeah -- the stock market. Nevermind.)

 

 

[Mike Teavee]

On 10/14/2022 at 12:54 PM, mrmagyar said:

Something that is always overlooked by people claiming that 'nobody with that amount of money would ever want to live in Thailand' is that Thailand does not tax foreign sourced income that isn't remitted in the year that it's earned.

The problem with that argument is that I've already been taxed on that (UK sourced) income, if Thailand were to tax me on it again then I would just claim it back under the Double Taxation Agreement so there is no real gain to me

 

In fact it might even work out better, it certainly did when I was working in Singapore but being paid by a UK based company (12% income tax rate Vs 40%). 

 

 

Edited October 15, 2022 by Mike Teavee

[K2938]

7 hours ago, FarAngMoh said:

Plenty of other countries offer zero tax on overseas income… Malaysia, Philippines (for non-Filipinos) and Vietnam (for certain types of investment income), so that feature is not so special.

Malaysia has abolished this, Vietnam does not have any long-term/retirement visas and the Philippines is a rather dangerous place. 

 

[K2938]

15 hours ago, pepper402 said:

The analyst at BOI seemed to indicate that he was looking for pension income and not work income. 

This is strange as the application form for Wealthy Pensioners explicitly mentions work income as one form of income for this (https://ltr.boi.go.th/documents/Wealthy-Pensioner.pdf; part B, question 1 (2) )

[Thailand J]

I am certainly qualified, but I don't find any of the benefits enticing, and the insurance clause sticks out.

I'll stay with 800k retirement ext.

[FarAngMoh]

2 hours ago, K2938 said:

Malaysia has abolished this, Vietnam does not have any long-term/retirement visas and the Philippines is a rather dangerous place. 

 

What has Malaysia abolished? It has a territorial tax system, the same as Singapore… it doesn’t matter what visa you are on, your overseas income is not subject to tax. 
 

Vietnam had the DT visa which is good for an entire 12 months (for US passport holders) with no visa runs. Most US retirees there use that one. Although it is technically a business visa, even exploring business opportunities is sufficient. 
 

For the Philippines, I don’t deny that it is less safe than many other parts of Asia, but it is mostly petty stuff. Like many parts of the US, the usual precautions apply, plus some extra awareness and prep. 

[mrmagyar]

23 hours ago, Mike Teavee said:

The problem with that argument is that I've already been taxed on that (UK sourced) income, if Thailand were to tax me on it again then I would just claim it back under the Double Taxation Agreement so there is no real gain to me

 

In fact it might even work out better, it certainly did when I was working in Singapore but being paid by a UK based company (12% income tax rate Vs 40%). 

 

 

If you're resident in Thailand then you need not be resident in the UK (see statutory residence test).

[Mike Teavee]

6 hours ago, mrmagyar said:

If you're resident in Thailand then you need not be resident in the UK (see statutory residence test).

Have been non-UK Tax Resident for >15 years so do understand the statutory residency tests plus as an Ex-Director of a PLC & owner of a LTD I still need a UK Accountant to file my tax returns & they update me as needed. 

 

But my point was that If your Income arises in the UK then you've already paid UK Tax on it no matter where you are resident.

 

 

 

The 2 times I've found being non-tax resident to be of benefit are ...

 

1) Dividends, where you've already paid the tax (irrespective of residency) but being non-UK resident (anywhere) means you don't need to pay additional tax if that takes you to a higher rate tax bracket.

 

2 Capital Gains Tax, if you sell assets (Primary Property aside) at a profit then you don't need to pay additional tax on them 

 

Thailand not taxing this income is not really relevant as if they did, I could claim it back via the DTA in place between UK & Thailand

 

 

 

[mrmagyar]

17 hours ago, Mike Teavee said:

Have been non-UK Tax Resident for >15 years so do understand the statutory residency tests plus as an Ex-Director of a PLC & owner of a LTD I still need a UK Accountant to file my tax returns & they update me as needed. 

 

But my point was that If your Income arises in the UK then you've already paid UK Tax on it no matter where you are resident.

 

 

 

The 2 times I've found being non-tax resident to be of benefit are ...

 

1) Dividends, where you've already paid the tax (irrespective of residency) but being non-UK resident (anywhere) means you don't need to pay additional tax if that takes you to a higher rate tax bracket.

 

2 Capital Gains Tax, if you sell assets (Primary Property aside) at a profit then you don't need to pay additional tax on them 

 

Thailand not taxing this income is not really relevant as if they did, I could claim it back via the DTA in place between UK & Thailand

 

 

 

Fair one Mike.

 

Where the income can be attributed to personal services it can up options to route it through offshore structures and avoid UK income tax in the first place (though recent profit fragmentation rules have started to close the net on this).

 

For any property related income that wouldn't be an option.

[Alotoftravel]

Quote

Well, a US Form 1040 has line items for my Air Force pension, for my Social Security, and for conventional (taxable) IRAs. Also, other line items for income acceptable by BoI, namely dividends and interest (and I would believe capital gains is acceptable, as one of the "other" forms of income solicited by the BoI). So I would think this snapshot of all my taxable income would be, in full, acceptable in satisfying the income requirement

Yeah in our 1040 , the line #9 where it states total income which lists all your drawdowns , interest/dividend , ss, capital gains , etc. 

need to show 2 years worth