Being taxed whilst waiting for work visa & permit. Fair?

[JBChiangRai]

You can't have it both ways.

 

Would you accept not being paid whilst waiting for work permit & visa?

 

I thought not

[Doctor Tom]

2 hours ago, Pouatchee said:

Not an idea, a fact.

There are precious few 'facts' about and in Thailand.  You work, you pay tax, we all know that. Even online teachers using a VPN are liable to tax if they are living here, its just that many seem to avoid it or can't do it legally on their visa. 

[FriendlyFarang]

7 hours ago, Pouatchee said:

Not true. Teachers DONT NEED TO PAY ANY TAX in their first year here. After a year of work, you then must pay taxes no matter whether you change job or not. Also, any new job you take you don't need to pay taxes until you have work permit.

Are you just trolling or are you serious?

In any case, what you write is wrong.

[Pouatchee]

14 hours ago, FriendlyFarang said:

Are you just trolling or are you serious?

In any case, what you write is wrong.

You are more than welcome to go to the tax dpartment to fact check my statement before calling me a troll. Wonder who is the troll?

[FriendlyFarang]

1 hour ago, Pouatchee said:

You are more than welcome to go to the tax dpartment to fact check my statement before calling me a troll. Wonder who is the troll?

I just asked them. They told me that everybody who is working has to pay tax, but the first 150,000 Baht income per year are tax free. They also pointed out that working without a work permit is illegal, but if somebody does he would theoretically still have to pay tax.

[george]

On 1/31/2023 at 2:29 PM, Deserted said:

Well, I asked them what my tax number is and they don't know. 

If you don't have a Tax ID, the employer can not deduct tax. Ask the school accountant for receipts of paid income tax. You are likely to find that the tax has not been paid to the Revenue Department. 

[Deserted]

I did that and yes it was being paid. 

[youreavinalaff]

5 hours ago, FriendlyFarang said:

I just asked them. They told me that everybody who is working has to pay tax, but the first 150,000 Baht income per year are tax free. They also pointed out that working without a work permit is illegal, but if somebody does he would theoretically still have to pay tax.

More than 150k in some cases.

 

Being married and having children helps. As does having life insurance.

 

I seem to remember I could earn 210k before paying tax.

[Scott]

From the first year I worked, I paid taxes.   The taxes began only after the Work Permit was issued.  Prior to getting the Work Permit, I didn't pay tax.  At the end of the tax year, the staff prepared a document that we filled out and sent to the Revenue Department and every year there was a refund, issued by check from the Revenue Department.  

 

We were also issued with a small slip of paper that we were asked to keep in our passport.  It gave information on the employee, tax paid, etc.  It was to be used in the event any employee leaving the country had any trouble with immigration.  

 

[Dan O]

12 hours ago, Deserted said:

I did that and yes it was being paid. 

How are they paying if you have no ID #? Sounds like they are saying they are paying to cover the salary deduction but probably not actually submitting to RD 

[Deserted]

Of that I cannot be entirely sure, yes you might be right. I insisted on asking whether they knew what my tax number was and they did and showed proof of it. Shortly after this we got a visit from the Immigration Police who wanted to see my passport. There then followed a very protracted discussion about my Non-Immigrant B visa being under process and documents having been submitted and so on. They said because there is evidence that you are paying tax deductions and that there is evidence that the process to get your work visa clearly is underway, we are not going to do anything and arrest you. But we are going to come back at the beginning of the next academic year (mid-May) to double-check that you are telling the truth as the process should have been completed by then and you should have your work permit and visa by then. If you have not then we are going to take action. 

 

That was what happened.  

[Deserted]

On top of that, when the Immigration Police came, the owners of the school became highly flustered and didn't want the school to get a bad reputation so when they spoke to me in person, they attempted to accuse me of causing the problem of not having a Non-Immigrant B. I said to them you have offered me absolutely no assistance whatsoever, and it has taken me a long time to work out what to do and how to go about it, which has delayed the whole process. It's also common knowledge that the school has been breaking the law as well as I for accepting the work when the process hadn't started, so it's incorrect to lay all the blame on me, as you have two other employees in exactly the same position, and have caused them huge problems too by offering them no assistance whatsoever, telling them to go and sort everything out by yourself, go and pay for it yourself too and go and tell us when its done. In the end I became so annoyed and tired of their total incompetence I told them that they were just downright lazy and completely useless, and if you don't mind we can put the process of a work permit on hold, and I will go and work somewhere else instead, which is exactly what I went and did because the approach of the school was well its your passport, your visa and your work permit, so you need to arrange that all by yourself, that has nothing to do with us, its not our business. Our business is to make sure the students are in class and having lessons, its not to go running around government offices chasing documents. That's your business so you got and do the whole lot yourself and tell us when its done. 

 

I have since left that school and am glad to have done so. To say they were useless, lazy and unhelpful is quite an understatement.  

[ubonr1971]

OP is talking about piddly amounts of tax put aside. Hardly worth raising this thread. 

[Menken]

On 3/14/2023 at 6:09 PM, FriendlyFarang said:

Are you just trolling or are you serious?

In any case, what you write is wrong.

He's not incorrect just not correct.

 

Often times teachers hired later in year given their wages (35k) they will never hit the tax liability limit.

 

My wife makes about 260k per year in her office job plus huge benefit package. She pays no taxes