Expats seeking a new life face challenges with stricter banking and taxation rules being pushed

[Neeranam]

5 minutes ago, crazykopite said:

If you move to the Philippines you will get your yearly OAP increase from the U.K. unlike Thailand where it’s frozen I currently miss out on £30+ per week

I would never move to a country like the Philippines to save 30 quid a week. Also, how many years would I have to live for that? I don't get my pension until I'm 67. 

Try buying great food like Thailand has for 30 quid a week! 

Edited October 12, 2023 by Neeranam

[crazykopite]

3 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

Yes, they speak good English and that is part of the problem.  My experience with Phils girls are they are more western attitude and with their English, more argumentative and demanding.  Add the Phillipines is really a hole 3rd world desperate down grade from Thailand.  Good luck to those who choose it.

If that’s the case then there’s a simple solution it’s called one night stands I’ve been doing that here in Thailand for several years and I’m not talking bar girls I’ve currently got 62 likes on my Tinder account !

[sambum]

50 minutes ago, Lopburikid said:

Correct, but under the double taxation treaty between the UK and Thailand Expats residing/living in Thailand can be taxed on income from the UK. State pensions maybe exempt, but private, company, disability can be taxed at 25% State pensions should be taxed at the countries tax rate, which in Thailand is 5% of any income over 150,000 per year.

State pensions maybe exempt, but private, company, disability can be taxed at 25% State pensions should be taxed at the countries tax rate, which in Thailand is 5% of any income over 150,000 per year.

 

I am confused - first of all you say 'State Pensions should be exempt', then you say "State Pensions should be taxed at the countries tax rate,.............."?????????

[Expat68]

6 hours ago, FarAway said:

Still a lot of countries to go if you wanna live tax-free:

 

Antigua and Barbuda	No	No	No	No personal income tax.[3][4]
Bahamas	No	No	No	No personal income tax.[5]
Bahrain	No	No	No	No personal income tax.[5]
Brunei	No	No	No	No personal income tax.[5]
Cayman Islands	No	No	No	No personal income tax.[5]
Kuwait	No	No	No	No personal income tax.[5]
Monaco	No	No	No	No personal income tax.[6]
Oman	No	No	No	No personal income tax.[5]
Pitcairn Islands	No	No	No	No personal income tax.[7]
Qatar	No	No	No	No personal income tax.[5]
Saint Barthélemy	No	No	No	No personal income tax.[8][Note 1]
Saint Kitts and Nevis	No	No	No	No personal income tax.[11]
Turks and Caicos Islands	No	No	No	No personal income tax.[12]
United Arab Emirates	No	No	No	No personal income tax.[5]
Vanuatu	No	No	No	No personal income tax.[13]
Vatican City	No	No	No	No personal income tax.[14]
Wallis and Futuna	No	No	No	No personal income tax.[15]
Western Sahara	No	No	No	No personal income tax.[16]
North Korea	No*	No**	No	No tax on income of resident citizens,[17] residence-based taxation of foreigners, territorial taxation of nonresident citizens.[18] * Except foreigners and nonresident citizens. ** Except foreigners.
Angola	Yes	No	No	Territorial taxation.[5]
Anguilla	Yes	No	No	Territorial taxation.[19]
Belize	Yes	No	No	Territorial taxation.[20]
Bermuda	Yes	No	No	Territorial taxation.[5]
Bhutan	Yes	No	No	Territorial taxation.[21][22]
Bolivia	Yes	No	No	Territorial taxation.[23][24]
Botswana	Yes	No	No	Territorial taxation.[5]
British Virgin Islands	Yes	No	No	Territorial taxation.[5]
Costa Rica	Yes	No	No	Territorial taxation.[5]
Democratic Republic of the Congo	Yes	No	No	Territorial taxation.[5]
Djibouti	Yes	No	No	Territorial taxation.[25]
Eswatini	Yes	No	No	Territorial taxation.[5]
Georgia	Yes	No	No	Territorial taxation.[5]
Grenada	Yes	No	No	Territorial Taxation.[26]
Guatemala	Yes	No	No	Territorial taxation.[5]
Guinea-Bissau	Yes	No	No	Territorial taxation.[27][28]
Hong Kong	Yes	No	No	Territorial taxation.[5]
Lebanon	Yes	No	No	Territorial taxation.[5]
Libya	Yes	No	No	Territorial taxation.[5][29]
Macau	Yes	No	No	Territorial taxation.[5]
Malawi	Yes	No	No	Territorial taxation.[5]
Marshall Islands	Yes	No	No	Territorial taxation.[30]
Micronesia	Yes	No	No	Territorial taxation.[31]
Namibia	Yes	No	No	Territorial taxation.[5]
Nauru	Yes	No	No	Territorial taxation.[32]
Nicaragua	Yes	No	No	Territorial taxation.[5]
Palau	Yes	No	No	Territorial taxation.[33]
Palestine	Yes	No	No	Territorial taxation.[5]
Panama	Yes	No	No	Territorial taxation.[5]
Paraguay	Yes	No	No	Territorial taxation.[5]
Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha	Yes	No	No	Territorial taxation.[34][35][36][Note 2]
Seychelles	Yes	No	No	Territorial taxation.[5]
Singapore	Yes	No	No	Territorial taxation.[5]
Somalia	Yes	No	No	Territorial taxation.[37]
Syria	Yes	No	No	Territorial taxation.[38]
Tokelau	Yes	No	No	Territorial taxation.[39]
Tuvalu	Yes	No	No	Territorial taxation.[40]
Zambia	Yes	No	No	Territorial taxation.[5]

All you have to do is live Thailand 179 days, another country of your choice 179 days, stopover 7 days, bit messy but no tax in any country 

[crazykopite]

3 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

I would never move to a country like the Philippines to save 30 quid a week. Also, how many years would I have to live for that? I don't get my pension until I'm 67. 

I’m on the old system you would be on the new system if I was my pension would be an extra £55+ per week how old are you to get a full U.K. pension you have to have paid into the system for 35 years anything less and you will not get the full entitlement 

[Neeranam]

Just now, crazykopite said:

I’m on the old system you would be on the new system if I was my pension would be an extra £55+ per week how old are you to get a full U.K. pension you have to have paid into the system for 35 years anything less and you will not get the full entitlement 

I've paid in 27 years, and can pay the rest before I'm 67. 

So, you have missed out on 55 pounds a week because of the freeze?

 

[Celsius]

6 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

I would never move to a country like the Philippines to save 30 quid a week. Also, how many years would I have to live for that? I don't get my pension until I'm 67. 

Try buying great food like Thailand has for 30 quid a week! 

What great food? I am sure Manila has big malls and supermarkets like Bangkok.

[Neeranam]

2 minutes ago, Celsius said:

What great food? I am sure Manila has big malls and supermarkets like Bangkok.

When I was in Manila, the only food I liked was the American food like Big Mac. My point was we can get cheap, great food in Thailand for say $1, but in the Phillipines, more like $5+. So moving there to save $30 a week makes no sense at all. 

[topt]

6 minutes ago, Expat68 said:

All you have to do is live Thailand 179 days, another country of your choice 179 days, stopover 7 days, bit messy but no tax in any country 

Depending on your specific circumstances the cost of doing that may be more than paying the tax in the first place.......unfortunately as nobody knows precisely how this is going to work yet it is difficult to plan properly.

[Andrew65]

7 hours ago, SuperSaiyan said:

Philippines is the way to go. It's 20 years behind in time, like it or hate it. No taxes on world income, no visa hassles and by that I mean absolutely ZERO. More young marriage type girls available and they speak English and not just "I go boom boom".

 

 "Falang think too mut!!"????

[sambum]

I am from the UK, and recently had a "dispute" with RBS about my tax affairs, as they wanted my Thai Tax Code Number. I am retired in Thailand, married to a Thai, do not work in Thailand, do not own any property in Thailand, and consequently do not have a Thai Tax Code Number. I pay tax on part of my company pension in the UK as combining my State Pension and Company pension takes me over the Personal Allowances limit. I finally got an apology from them for "harassment", but do these latest proposals from the Thai Government mean that I will have to pay tax on money that has already been taxed?

[Andrew65]

6 hours ago, SuperSaiyan said:

Yes, indeed. They actually (still) like White foreigners. The only thing what pisses me of majorly is the lack of good sea view property even though the PH shouldn't be lacking. Except for that, it's a dream. I don't know why people still want to be treated like <deleted> in Thailand and basically beg to stay there.

The Phils isn't famous for it's food, also I get the impression that it's not as safe as Thailand.

[Neeranam]

4 minutes ago, sambum said:

I am from the UK, and recently had a "dispute" with RBS about my tax affairs, as they wanted my Thai Tax Code Number. I am retired in Thailand, married to a Thai, do not work in Thailand, do not own any property in Thailand, and consequently do not have a Thai Tax Code Number. I pay tax on part of my company pension in the UK as combining my State Pension and Company pension takes me over the Personal Allowances limit. I finally got an apology from them for "harassment", but do these latest proposals from the Thai Government mean that I will have to pay tax on money that has already been taxed?

I highly doubt you will have to pay tax. 

I've never been questioned by the RBS. 

[JimTripper]

8 hours ago, SuperSaiyan said:

Philippines is the way to go. It's 20 years behind in time, like it or hate it. No taxes on world income, no visa hassles and by that I mean absolutely ZERO. More young marriage type girls available and they speak English and not just "I go boom boom".

 

Curious to how it has zero hassles. I read that you need to deposit 20k usd over 50 with no pension/10k with pension for the retirement visa, under 35 yo. it jumps to 50k usd deposit & apply with a bunch of documents.

 

sounds about the same as thailand hassles to me. are you border bouncing?

 

https://visaguide.world/retirement-visa/philippines/

Edited October 12, 2023 by JimTripper

[whitfield]

So pay for your big purchases like school fees by direct transfer.  Pay by credit card wherever you can, like Revolut.  Send your day to day living expenses to the gf.  It won't be possible for Thailand to demand 800k in the bank and then take 20%.  There'll be a lot more discussion before any of this actually happens.

[stix40]

39 minutes ago, alanrchase said:

Sour sceptic? Where is my scepticism? CRS has been on the cards since 2017 and Thailand complying with it now is no surprise. Perhaps reading up on what is involved to comply with the CRS would be of help. Thailand will be required to share the financial details of tax resident expats with the home countries of those expats. No surprise that a tax resident expat will need to file a tax return for Thailand to comply.

Sorry predictive text !!

Septic ! 

[daveAustin]

 

1 hour ago, The Theory said:

My guess is more to come. This is just a beginning for farang squeeze since Taksin is the gov. advisor. 

Mine too. If they were really keen on moving on farangs (can’t blame them when observing the drunken antics in certain places), all they’ll need to do is double the marriage/retirement amounts, expensive compulsory health insurance for O visa types, and put a stop to the agent loophole. Some will take it, but there’d be a glut of expats applying for teaching jobs, while the monied ones will squander funds on the Elite visa and the rest will go home or jump ship. 

[Expat68]

7 minutes ago, topt said:

Depending on your specific circumstances the cost of doing that may be more than paying the tax in the first place.......unfortunately as nobody knows precisely how this is going to work yet it is difficult to plan properly.

But at least you see a different place, which maybe more to your liking, after over 30 years of coming/living in Thailand I feel I have seen the best of times, change is as good as a rest. If anyone is reading this who is coming to Thailand for the first time, my advice, take it for what it is, do not marry and settle down here, nor build a house, it is only going to get worse

[crazykopite]

1 hour ago, mikeymike100 said:

Don't understand what you mean? The 3 years I lived and worked there, I found the local girls to be very warm, funny and friendly, the fact they can all speak pretty good English is a plus. They were not just after money like Thai girls!

My brother is married to a phil girl shes a qualified master diver / instructor they enjoy a very good lifestyle in Dubai 

[alanrchase]

Just now, stix40 said:

Sorry predictive text !!

Septic ! 

No, just a Brit who saw this coming several years ago. Used to be regular topics asking when Thailand was going to start complying, will a Thai TIN be needed etc.. Exactly how it will affect my tax situation is yet to be seen.

[Andrew65]

12 minutes ago, whitfield said:

So pay for your big purchases like school fees by direct transfer.  Pay by credit card wherever you can, like Revolut.  Send your day to day living expenses to the gf.  It won't be possible for Thailand to demand 800k in the bank and then take 20%.  There'll be a lot more discussion before any of this actually happens.

For 3 or 4 years in the late 90's/early 2,000's I survived by just using my UK-based Abbey National or HSBC account in Thailand, and it wasn't a very big problem.

Edited October 12, 2023 by Andrew65

[lexxy]

For those who dont like to, or cannot cook thailand is better ofcourse.

For those who go to supermarkets Phils is just as good as thai. Rustans in manila have cheap veges, pastas, pork etc.

[crazykopite]

26 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

I've paid in 27 years, and can pay the rest before I'm 67. 

So, you have missed out on 55 pounds a week because of the freeze?

 

By the time you reach retirement it will most probably of gone up to 70 years of age Im not worried on what I miss out as I can well afford it I was just making the point that if you live in Thailand your U.K. OAP is frozen that is not the case in the Philippines and if all you have is your U.K. pension then you need every £ you can get 

[freeworld]

54 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

Where Is TransferWise from?

UK

From Wiki

Type of business Public company

Traded asLSE: WISE

Founded January 2011; 12 years ago

Headquarters London, United Kingdom

Country of origin United Kingdom

Founder(s) Taavet Hinrikus, Kristo Käärmann

Chairman Taavet Hinrikus

CEO Kristo Käärmann

Industry Financial services

Services Foreign exchange, remittance

 

 

Edited October 12, 2023 by freeworld

[Neeranam]

Just now, freeworld said:

UK

 

Wikipedia gives the following

Type of business	Public company
Traded as	LSE: WISE
Founded	January 2011; 12 years ago
Headquarters	London , United Kingdom
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Founder(s)	Taavet Hinrikus, Kristo Käärmann
Chairman	Taavet Hinrikus
CEO	Kristo Käärmann
Industry	Financial services
Services	Foreign exchange, remittance

Thanks. 

 

[JCauto]

7 hours ago, Bim Smith said:

I am a little lost on how. climate change has anything to do with having a bank account in your home country. As Thailand is preparing for a cashless society in addition to many countries forgive me if I am a little cynical over the whole global cabal dominated governance.

This is a hallmark of conspiracy theory. The guv'ment is both all-powerful and bent on complete manipulation of the masses in total secrecy without thousands of Co-conspirators peaching, while also being utterly incompetent and speaking continuously to the press. 

[Banana7]

6 hours ago, SuperSaiyan said:

The same way (stupid) people say Covid (flu) crashed the economies - it did not, the reaction to it crashed it. Or now they (the stupid people) say its the Ukraine war responsible for Germany going into a massive recession or increasing massive inflation, no, it's not the war, the reaction to it. They want to establish the same narrative for climate change (hoax, no emergency) so that people think stuff magically happens because of climate change and not because of the changes the gov's are doing.

It's called "social engineering" altering peoples' view on a matter by providing facts but making incorrect conclusions. The masses are getting suckered in everyday.

[redwood1]

4 hours ago, AhFarangJa said:

I keep being told to wear my tin hat. I ignore them. It has nothing to do with climate change, it is ALL about control, control, control. The W.E.F., W.H.O. UN, and  others want cashless societies so they can implement 15 minute cities, and control what you do, where you do it, what you spend, and where you spend it. Break one of their rules, they freeze your cards. You only have to look at the lorry driver strike in Canada early January, when the Government froze all their bank accounts.....all card only. Banks will be able to charge whatever they want for transactions, and you will have no choice but to pay. No more cash work, not even a tenner from Grandad at birthday time. The younger generation with all their pay by phone apps just cannot see it. Covidiocy was an experiment on control, and to an extent it worked. Now, I sit back and wait for all the negative posts about conspiracies. I fear for my children, what dystopian society they will grow up in, at least there is one benefit to getting old, i will not have to comply.

This is a good post......Only sheep will try and deny unpleasent things are in the works...

[SpanishExpat]

4 hours ago, Lacessit said:

I can't see how this affects me. My pension is paid into an Australian financial institution. I transfer funds periodically to Thailand via WISE.

Unless the Thai government is going to start taxing ALL transfers from foreign countries into Thailand, which would be an administrative nightmare.

It won’t! I’m not doubting that they implement it this time, but they will just go after the big guys.

 

They won’t ever have the resources to go after everyone.

[Neeranam]

4 minutes ago, crazykopite said:

By the time you reach retirement it will most probably of gone up to 70 years of age Im not worried on what I miss out as I can well afford it I was just making the point that if you live in Thailand your U.K. OAP is frozen that is not the case in the Philippines and if all you have is your U.K. pension then you need every £ you can get 

Thanks.

 

My thinking: if I don't get my pension until I'm 70, the odds are I don't live for more than 10 years. I'm trying to find out how much the UK pension rises every year. Probably not enough to affect my decision to leave Thailand. 

I estimate after 5 years, I could be missing out on 10 pounds a week. Frankly, if I live to be 75, it's a bonus and I won't care about 10 quid a week. Same at 80, 20 quid etc.