Expat Tax Twists in Thailand: Navigating the New Landscape in 2024

[tomkenet]

On 2/10/2024 at 4:29 PM, ChasingTheSun said:

Is this the bottom line for those who already had significant capital/assets overseas already at December 31 2023?….
 

This new tax grab only applies to expats residing in Thailand who live off of their overseas pension/biz/investment income and cap gains which is generated after December 31 2023 and brought into Thailand?

If you simply bring in capital that was existing pre-2024 into Thailand you will be tax exempt on that pre-2024 capital.

Income/cap gains generated after December 31 2023 is never taxed in Thailand unless it is brought into Thailand at a future date.

I believe many of us will remit and live on pre24 savings, perhaps combined with a small portion of post24 income, dividends , gains (low enough to keep the tax reasonable).

 

In a few years the pre24 savings will run out and will have to be replaced with generated post24 income.

 

This funds will be taxable when remitted to Thailand. 

 

If relocating out of Thailand at that time these funds will be tax-free and will create a huge incentive to move .

 

This is a situation Thailand must avoid and probably there will be new regulations in place.

I guess we will see a world wide income taxation (remitted or not) in a few years with amnesty for the generated post24 income. 

[Dogmatix]

On 2/20/2024 at 5:33 AM, CharlesHolzhauer said:

I appreciate your contribution and personal views regarding the gift tax issue in both this and previous posts;

It reads and sounds reassuring, providing a sense of confidence and comfort. Apart from the 'Gift Tax Case' you provided in another thread, would you be able to lay your hands on the Royal Decree amending the Revenue Code, which includes gifts originating from abroad?

Gifting relatively large sums of money on an annual or bi-annual basis without a specific worded document from RD is wide open for different interpretations; It could come back to haunt either the Gifter or Giftee, depending on the official in charge assessing the gift.

 

Sorry. It was an Act of Parliament amending the RC.  Here is google translate.

Gift Tax Case RD KK0702-530 11 Feb 2023.docx

Revenue Code Amendment Act (No. 40) B.E. 2015

1. In the case of giving movable property

  (1) Person liable to pay taxes:

(a) a natural person who receives money from support or from a gift from parents, descendants or spouse

(b) a natural person who receives money from patronage out of duty of morality; or from giving by affection during ceremonies or on occasions of customs and traditions From another person who is not parents, descendants, or partners

Married

  (2) Property subject to tax:

  All types of movable property that can be calculated in terms of money

  (3) Income that is exempt:

·         Income received from support or from gifts from parents, descendants, or married spouses, only income that does not exceed 20 million baht throughout that tax year.

·         Income received from patronage as a duty of moral conduct or from gifts given in ceremonies, or according to customary occasions, from persons who are not parents, descendants, or spouses, only money received in an amount not exceeding 10 million baht throughout that tax year.

·         Income received which the giver expresses or is seen to intend to use for the benefit of the business, religion, educational affairs, or public interest affairs According to the criteria and conditions specified in the ministerial regulations.

  (4) Tax rate:

  The rate is 5 percent of the value of the property received in excess of 20 million baht or 10 million baht.

 

I attach the case study from 11 Feb 2023 in google translate and in the original.

 

 

 

 

[Danderman123]

With Thailand installing automatic gates for departure, lots of people won't have exit stamps in their passport.

 

So, how to prove your length of residence in Thailand if you don't have exit stamps when you go abroad for 6 months?

[Dogmatix]

7 hours ago, JimGant said:

 

Let's not confuse income tax with gift tax. A gift tax is a 5% tax on gift amounts exceeding 20M/10M, depending on recipient. But, gifts are all from "after tax" monies, so there's no escaping income tax by calling a remitted amount of money a "gift." If a remitted amount qualifies as assessable income, this assessable amount is not affected by whether or not it is characterized as a "gift." Nice try, however.

 

Can you cite any reference to support this view or is it just your assumption?  The RD case กค 0702/530 of 1 February 2024 doesn't mention that whether or not the foreign partner's overseas funds had been subject to foreign tax was a criterion for determining whether the remittances were assessable for Thai tax or not. If it were the case, they could have said under the previous interpretation that it would have been necessary to prove that the amount remitted was not from income arising in the same tax year.

 

At the American Chamber seminar I attended at the end of last year the tax advisors from Mazars and KPMG were both of the opinion that gifts remitted from overseas  to spouses in Thailand would be exempt without any further conditions. If it is necessary to prove that the overseas funds were from income already taxed overseas, why would they have recommended this?  There would be no advantage in making the gift, if it were subject to the same rules as remitting the money to yourself with the added disadvantage that, if is more than 20 million in a tax year, it would be subject to a further 5% tax on top of 35% income tax.   case กค 0702/530 just suggests that, if the couple had been legally married, the overseas remittances could have been omitted from assessable income in the Thai woman's tax return without further ado.

[Dogmatix]

24 minutes ago, Danderman123 said:

With Thailand installing automatic gates for departure, lots of people won't have exit stamps in their passport.

 

So, how to prove your length of residence in Thailand if you don't have exit stamps when you go abroad for 6 months?

I would keep copies air tickets, evidence of arriving in the other country - entry stamp, hotel bill etc. The RD should theoretically be able to verify departure and entry dates from Immigration but that would involve the dreaded interaction between government departments.

[UKresonant]

2 hours ago, Danderman123 said:

With Thailand installing automatic gates for departure, lots of people won't have exit stamps in their passport.

 

So, how to prove your length of residence in Thailand if you don't have exit stamps when you go abroad for 6 months?

Suppose I will have to keep scans of the e ticket, boarding pass and the frequent flyer activity log!

 

I'm just tidying the 'days where' spreadsheet and files on the PC, ( will backtrack to2018 at least.

[JimGant]

3 hours ago, Dogmatix said:

At the American Chamber seminar I attended at the end of last year the tax advisors from Mazars and KPMG were both of the opinion that gifts remitted from overseas  to spouses in Thailand would be exempt without any further conditions

I guess stranger things have happened. Shielding $600,000 from all taxation by sending it to your wife as a gift doesn't quite resonate with me; nor does paying only 2.5% vice nearly 35% on $1,200,000. But, maybe I'm applying OECD logic to a non-OECD world.

[Mike Lister]

4 hours ago, JimGant said:

I guess stranger things have happened. Shielding $600,000 from all taxation by sending it to your wife as a gift doesn't quite resonate with me; nor does paying only 2.5% vice nearly 35% on $1,200,000. But, maybe I'm applying OECD logic to a non-OECD world.

There will be additional rules and caveats, of that I am certain, the idea that everything is carte blanche under Gift Tax rules wont last long. The vast majority of Thai people do not even allow their wealth to be impacted by a tax return, they never reach that stage. Foreigners however are used to finding loop holes in such system, which will be closed as soon as they are abused on any scale.

[Yumthai]

5 hours ago, Mike Lister said:

Foreigners however are used to finding loop holes in such system, which will be closed as soon as they are abused on any scale.

Will be closed ... or not.

Again, do not underestimate Thai RD lawyers and officials vision. My view is gift tax rules have been elaborated on purpose, allowing wealthy locals to avoid tax burden and keep money from overseas flowing into Thailand. Foreigner residents are just a tiny community collaterally and positively impacted by this.

If ever they close this kind of tax loopholes, legal new ones will be implemented if they want to avoid an economical suicide.

  

[JimGant]

26 minutes ago, Yumthai said:

My view is gift tax rules have been elaborated on purpose, allowing wealthy locals to avoid tax burden and keep money from overseas flowing into Thailand.

So, the Thai fat cat can no longer send overseas income back to Thailand in the following year to avoid taxes. Whadaya gonna do? Well, send 10 million each to your cook, your six maids, your three chauffeurs, your two pool boys, your five gardeners, your ten mia nois -- which, of course, means the wife gets double that of each mia noi, which she legally can do at 20 million baht. Of course, you wink wink, nod nod, and have your fingers crossed when you "gift" these transfers, with the understanding on how it's going to be paid back. Two mia nois skip town with your money? Hey, hit men are cheap in Thailand. 

 

Farfetched? Maybe. Maybe not....

[Dogmatix]

2 hours ago, Yumthai said:

Will be closed ... or not.

Again, do not underestimate Thai RD lawyers and officials vision. My view is gift tax rules have been elaborated on purpose, allowing wealthy locals to avoid tax burden and keep money from overseas flowing into Thailand. Foreigner residents are just a tiny community collaterally and positively impacted by this.

If ever they close this kind of tax loopholes, legal new ones will be implemented if they want to avoid an economical suicide.

  

 

The purpose of the gift tax imposed by the coup government was made quite clear when it was introduced in 2015.  It was intended to close a potential loophole when they introduced inheritance tax. When you think that IHT kicks in at 100 million charged to heirs, not to the estate, it makes sense.  Spouses are exempted from IHT but the 20 million exemption from gift tax also applies to parents and children who are not exempted from inheritance tax.  Thus, if you were to spend 7 years gifting 20 million a year to a child and died at the end of that, you could effectively give a tax free estate of 240 million including the 100 million IHT exemption.  (I use 7 years to make a parallel with the UK gifting limit, although there is requirement to survive 7 years in Thailand.

 

Srettha said he ordered the RD to review IHT and gift tax when he first took office to increase revenue and the RD announced that it had done so soon afterwards. But no more has been heard of that until now.  Bear in mind that the sleight of hand tactic employed by the RD to completely change the tax regime for foreign remittances by reinterpretation is not going to be available for amending IHT and gift tax thresholds and rates.  These will have to be amended by Act of Parliament.  I am sure change is coming to gift tax but I guess it will again be in tandem with IHT amendments, not related to this reinterpretation by the RD DG which may not survive anyway, since it is only an admin order to staff by a civil servant and neither a Royal Decree nor an Act of Parliament.  

[Dogmatix]

To follow on re gift tax and IHT.  Although the RD apparently prepared some draft amendments to toughen up these taxes at the request of Srettha, they haven't been publicised and don't seem to be a priority for PT at the moment.  Srettha is finance minister as well as PM but has probably only been to the Finance Ministry once to light some joss sticks at the spirit house and order a costly renovation of the minister's office, given the previous incumbent was there for 8 years. As finance minister his only remit from PT/Thaksin is to get the digital wallet done and even this he has left largely to his deputy.  Given the powerful PT factions and coalition parties, he has a very limited remit on things he can actually do on domestic policy and the party factions may not be keen on gift tax and IHT (or remittance tax).  It looks like Srettha is short dated and is only left in place to fall on his sword, if there are legal problems with the digital wallet.  Either way he will probably be pushed out by Thaksin soon after the digital wallet.  I guess that by 2025 we will be looking at a new PM and finance minister who may or not get tough on all these taxes.  But I seriously doubt that Srettha will get done whatever he ordered the RD to draft on IHT and gift tax.

[Klonko]

On 2/21/2024 at 2:35 PM, JimGant said:

 

Wrong. That you characterize the remittance as a "gift" doesn't affect the Thai taxation assessability of that remittance. A remittance to buy a condo, to buy fish sauce, or to be a gift to your lover -- no affect on the assessability of that remittance for income tax purposes.

I have not seen any evidence in the tax code or court rulings that gifts from the foreign account of person A foreign account  to the Thai account of  person B are taxable income of person A although the money was never remitted to person A in Thailand, provided that the money is not passed on to person A in Thailand.

 

[Dogmatix]

Re Gift Tax again. The RD's answer in its Q&A on the remittance tax appears to specify that qualified gifts would be exempted. Here is the imperfect google translate.  It mentions the gift tax exemption explicitly a propos of the remittance tax without adding that the gift must be taxed overseas and subject to a DTA or taxed in Thailand first. In some cases, it would not even be possible to pay tax on it first. Consider the case of capital gains in HK or Singapore that are not taxable where they arise? How would the gifter pay Thai tax on the income before gifting it, unless he is obliged to remit it to himself in Thailand first which is not the case.  The Gift Tax law places the receiver under no burden to show the gift has been taxed. If a spouse, they are only obliged to declare an amount over 20 million in a year and pay a flat rate of tax of 5%.

 

I agree that being conservative in the tax guide is OK but I don't agree with laying down the law and telling people categorically that gifts must be from taxed income without anything to support this view.  I think it would be useful to tell people that this, like many aspects of this remittance tax, is not yet clear.  

 

QUESTION #4

What are the types of assessed income that must be subject to income tax under Section 41?, the second paragraph of the Revenue Code?

ANSWER:

Money has not been assessed from foreign sources at If you stay, you are forced to pay income tax including assessable income according to Section 40 (1) to (8) of the Revenue Code.

However, if it is assessable income received that has received tax exemption according to law, taxpayers do not have to include it as assessable income to be taxed in Thailand, such as receiving an inheritance or receiving income received through the support of parents and trusted people, or from a spouse, as long as the money that is received does not exceed 20 millions of baht for the entire tax year.

[Mike Lister]

2 hours ago, Dogmatix said:

Re Gift Tax again. The RD's answer in its Q&A on the remittance tax appears to specify that qualified gifts would be exempted. Here is the imperfect google translate.  It mentions the gift tax exemption explicitly a propos of the remittance tax without adding that the gift must be taxed overseas and subject to a DTA or taxed in Thailand first. In some cases, it would not even be possible to pay tax on it first. Consider the case of capital gains in HK or Singapore that are not taxable where they arise? How would the gifter pay Thai tax on the income before gifting it, unless he is obliged to remit it to himself in Thailand first which is not the case.  The Gift Tax law places the receiver under no burden to show the gift has been taxed. If a spouse, they are only obliged to declare an amount over 20 million in a year and pay a flat rate of tax of 5%.

 

I agree that being conservative in the tax guide is OK but I don't agree with laying down the law and telling people categorically that gifts must be from taxed income without anything to support this view.  I think it would be useful to tell people that this, like many aspects of this remittance tax, is not yet clear.  

 

QUESTION #4

What are the types of assessed income that must be subject to income tax under Section 41?, the second paragraph of the Revenue Code?

ANSWER:

Money has not been assessed from foreign sources at If you stay, you are forced to pay income tax including assessable income according to Section 40 (1) to (8) of the Revenue Code.

However, if it is assessable income received that has received tax exemption according to law, taxpayers do not have to include it as assessable income to be taxed in Thailand, such as receiving an inheritance or receiving income received through the support of parents and trusted people, or from a spouse, as long as the money that is received does not exceed 20 millions of baht for the entire tax year.

If the tax guide was exclusively for the benefit of totally reasonable people, I might agree with what what you have written. But what we have seen thus far is enormous but anecdotal interest in the Gift Tax as a means of skirting Thai tax, many have said outright that it is their easy and simple answer. If ultimately, Thai tax law confirms everyone's hopes that the law is available to use as seen by some, that will be a fabulous outcome, but we are not at that point, yet. The concern is that a majority will see that glass as half full rather than half empty and will end up in difficulty as a result.

 

We have several choices. We can leave the issue open, pending further clarification or we can steer people towards a safer scenario and advise caution.  I chose the latter, because, human nature suggests it will mean that people will be less likely to act using Gift Tax. 

 

With regard to laying down the law: the simple tax guide is explicit, it is a starting point for people to begin to manage their tax affairs and nothing in the guide will contradict anything said by the RD or the major tax consultancies. There is no obligation for anyone to adhere to what is written in the guide which makes it very clear that further information is  needed in several areas. We have already exceeded the boundaries of our initial remit in producing the simple tax guide. We said we would not be able to delve into specifics' of elements such as Capital Gains because it was beyond our knowledge levels and expertise plus the rules vary from country to country. Such things would be reliant on further information from the RD. Despite that, we have continued to push forward and in six weeks have produced a guide that has helped thousands and put an equal number of minds at ease.

 

I am perfectly happy for debates to be held on any aspect of tax, both in this thread and in the 250 page thread that has run for the past six months. I am less comfortable those debates take place in the Simple Tax Guide thread which I see as reserved for known answers, assistance for those with more simple needs and for the identification of unknowns. Any direction provided in that thread will be towards lower risk alternatives and avoid giving false hope. Any discussion in that  thread needs to be less complex so that those with limited understanding of tax can easily find the answers they are looking for, unlike in the 7,000 post thread.

 

 

[Dogmatix]

On 2/22/2024 at 8:04 PM, Mike Lister said:

If the tax guide was exclusively for the benefit of totally reasonable people, I might agree with what what you have written. But what we have seen thus far is enormous but anecdotal interest in the Gift Tax as a means of skirting Thai tax, many have said outright that it is their easy and simple answer. If ultimately, Thai tax law confirms everyone's hopes that the law is available to use as seen by some, that will be a fabulous outcome, but we are not at that point, yet. The concern is that a majority will see that glass as half full rather than half empty and will end up in difficulty as a result.

 

We have several choices. We can leave the issue open, pending further clarification or we can steer people towards a safer scenario and advise caution.  I chose the latter, because, human nature suggests it will mean that people will be less likely to act using Gift Tax. 

 

With regard to laying down the law: the simple tax guide is explicit, it is a starting point for people to begin to manage their tax affairs and nothing in the guide will contradict anything said by the RD or the major tax consultancies. There is no obligation for anyone to adhere to what is written in the guide which makes it very clear that further information is  needed in several areas. We have already exceeded the boundaries of our initial remit in producing the simple tax guide. We said we would not be able to delve into specifics' of elements such as Capital Gains because it was beyond our knowledge levels and expertise plus the rules vary from country to country. Such things would be reliant on further information from the RD. Despite that, we have continued to push forward and in six weeks have produced a guide that has helped thousands and put an equal number of minds at ease.

 

I am perfectly happy for debates to be held on any aspect of tax, both in this thread and in the 250 page thread that has run for the past six months. I am less comfortable those debates take place in the Simple Tax Guide thread which I see as reserved for known answers, assistance for those with more simple needs and for the identification of unknowns. Any direction provided in that thread will be towards lower risk alternatives and avoid giving false hope. Any discussion in that  thread needs to be less complex so that those with limited understanding of tax can easily find the answers they are looking for, unlike in the 7,000 post thread.

 

 

 

 

Thais and foreigners will definitely be using the gift tax exemption to cover overseas remittances, particularly as it was apparently suggested by the RD in its #4 to its first Q&A on P. 161/2566, possibly as a way for taxpayers to mitigate the impacts of the announcement. So it will take some time to know, if there is an issue, since the RD will not be able to follow up on overseas gifts made to circumvent P. 161/2566 until after 2024 tax returns have been filed.  Since they have a backlog, it may take some time. If nothing is said, we might have to wait for a few years to be sure that receivers of overseas gifts from spouses have not been made to show that their spouses had paid tax on the gifts overseas (assuming the income was taxable in the jurisdiction it arose) and/or taxed and penalised.  If that is the case, it would be difficult to place the burden on the receiver, as they cannot automatically be expected to have access to their spouse's overseas tax records.  So the burden would more appropriately be placed on the giftor who may not be a Thai tax resident or even living in Thailand, as in the RD's case study กค 0702/530 on the topic of gifts made to a Thai resident by a foreigner resident overseas. 

 

As far as the Simple Tax Guide is concerned, I can see that it is probably useful to a number of AN members but I personally would hesitate to publish a tax guide rather than just post a regular exchange of views on tax, as in this thread or the big thread. A tax guide, unless it just quotes from the RC and the RD, contains opinions that AN has to be responsible for as the publisher and, if someone decided to claim they had been damaged by any part of it and filed a complaint, it could be problematic and disclaimers may not offer much protection. An area I have experience of is publishing opinions on Thai stocks which I know you have to very careful about to avoid the SEC coming around demanding to see licenses, WPs etc. Some publishers of such newsletters have gone to great pains to make it look, as if they were published overseas.  Just my thoughts.

[Mike Lister]

57 minutes ago, Dogmatix said:

 

 

Thais and foreigners will definitely be using the gift tax exemption to cover overseas remittances, particularly as it was apparently suggested by the RD in its #4 to its first Q&A on P. 161/2566, possibly as a way for taxpayers to mitigate the impacts of the announcement. So it will take some time to know, if there is an issue, since the RD will not be able to follow up on overseas gifts made to circumvent P. 161/2566 until after 2024 tax returns have been filed.  Since they have a backlog, it may take some time. If nothing is said, we might have to wait for a few years to be sure that receivers of overseas gifts from spouses have not been made to show that their spouses had paid tax on the gifts overseas (assuming the income was taxable in the jurisdiction it arose) and/or taxed and penalised.  If that is the case, it would be difficult to place the burden on the receiver, as they cannot automatically be expected to have access to their spouse's overseas tax records.  So the burden would more appropriately be placed on the giftor who may not be a Thai tax resident or even living in Thailand, as in the RD's case study กค 0702/530 on the topic of gifts made to a Thai resident by a foreigner resident overseas. 

 

As far as the Simple Tax Guide is concerned, I can see that it is probably useful to a number of AN members but I personally would hesitate to publish a tax guide rather than just post a regular exchange of views on tax, as in this thread or the big thread. A tax guide, unless it just quotes from the RC and the RD, contains opinions that AN has to be responsible for as the publisher and, if someone decided to claim they had been damaged by any part of it and filed a complaint, it could be problematic and disclaimers may not offer much protection. An area I have experience of is publishing opinions on Thai stocks which I know you have to very careful about to avoid the SEC coming around demanding to see licenses, WPs etc. Some publishers of such newsletters have gone to great pains to make it look, as if they were published overseas.  Just my thoughts.

 

The same risks exist for any poster when they post their opinion on a social media platform, be it you, me or any other poster. That said, there is nothing in the tax guide that is opinion from other than quoted sources. The other consideration is that AN is based in Hong Kong, not in Thailand, as the sign on the bottom of the page confirms.

 

[TigerCat]

This is from Mike Listers' Personal Income Tax Guide:

 

10) Assessable Income - this is income that must be declared on a tax return. It excludes income that the RD says is not assessable, it excludes income earned before 1 January 2024 and it excludes any income specifically excluded under the terms of the DTA.

 

I've read something similar to those on a few websites.

 

 

But a few other websites have language such as this:

All foreign-earned income brought into Thailand will be taxable, regardless of the earning period. 

 

This seems contradictory to me.  Are the websites that have language such as regardless of the earning period incorrect? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[TheAppletons]

Self-edit, deleted.

[Keep Right]

But I thought the left wing Democrats in the U.S. and left wing Labour Party in the UK enjoy paying taxes as it distributes the wealth across the masses.  So you should also enjoy paying taxes here in Thailand to distribute your wealth.

[TigerCat]

If I remit funds into Thailand after January 1st, 2024, and the funds were earned in 2022 and 2023, but I already paid taxes on it in 2022 in the United States - do I automatically have to file a tax return in Thailand?  Or because the taxes were already paid on it in the U.S., do I not need to file a tax return in Thailand? 

[Mike Lister]

49 minutes ago, TigerCat said:

This is from Mike Listers' Personal Income Tax Guide:

 

10) Assessable Income - this is income that must be declared on a tax return. It excludes income that the RD says is not assessable, it excludes income earned before 1 January 2024 and it excludes any income specifically excluded under the terms of the DTA.

 

I've read something similar to those on a few websites.

 

 

But a few other websites have language such as this:

All foreign-earned income brought into Thailand will be taxable, regardless of the earning period. 

 

This seems contradictory to me.  Are the websites that have language such as regardless of the earning period incorrect? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes.

[TigerCat]

Sorry, I also paid taxes on it to the U.S in 2023, so I still automatically have to file a tax form in Thailand? 

[TigerCat]

Sorry, I also paid taxes on it to the U.S in 2023, so I still automatically have to file a tax form in Thailand? 

[TigerCat]

If I remit funds into Thailand after January 1st, 2024, and the funds were earned in 2022 and 2023, but I already paid taxes on it in 2022 and 2023 in the United States - do I automatically have to file a tax return in Thailand?  Or because the taxes were already paid on it in the U.S., do I not need to file a tax return in Thailand? 

 

(Sorry for the multiple posts, I don't know how to delete my previous three posts.) 

[Mike Lister]

I'm moving this discussion to this thread so as to keep the simple tax guide thread free of debate and easy to understand for those seeking known factual answers thus far. The issue is this:

 

One poster believes that he can remit any amount of money to Thailand in a year when he is not tax resident here and that it will not be taxable, because he is not tax resident. Another poster believes that when the money was earned is key to the determination whether or not it is assessible but the first poster thinks the earnings year is irrelevant. Because it was not a quick matter to resolve the issue, I put it on the list of unknowns, pending a conclusive answer. It seems like a worthwhile debate to have so over to you.

[Mike Lister]

Poster A

 

According to the current rules, if the tax payer is not TH tax resident in 2025 he can remit any amount of offshore money tax-free in Thailand because he doesn't have to fill any tax declaration in Thailand in 2026 regarding the foreign-sourced money he remitted in 2025. Whether the remitted money has been earned during a year he was Thai resident for tax purposes or not is irrelevant.

 

Poster B

 

I do not agree.

 

The key is whether or not you were tax resident in Thailand, when the money was earned. If you were, regardless of when it is remitted, it is assessible here.

 

 

Question:

 

Which scenario is correct?

[Mike Lister]

12 hours ago, Mike Lister said:

Poster A

 

According to the current rules, if the tax payer is not TH tax resident in 2025 he can remit any amount of offshore money tax-free in Thailand because he doesn't have to fill any tax declaration in Thailand in 2026 regarding the foreign-sourced money he remitted in 2025. Whether the remitted money has been earned during a year he was Thai resident for tax purposes or not is irrelevant.

 

Poster B

 

I do not agree.

 

The key is whether or not you were tax resident in Thailand, when the money was earned. If you were, regardless of when it is remitted (post 2023), it is assessible here.

 

 

Question:

 

Which scenario is correct?

My opinion on the above is that taxpayers cannot escape prior year (post 2023) Thai tax, solely by remitting earned income to Thailand in a year when they were not tax resident. Had they been tax resident when the funds were remitted, the funds would be assessible. If the taxpayer left for overseas, worked for a year and then remitted those funds to Thailand and returned here to live, they would not be assessible because they were earned in a year when the taxpayer was not resident in Thailand. But by earning the funds whilst they were tax resident here, delaying the remittance and then leaving the country, does not negate the taxable event.

 

I accept that, given the circumstances above, the tax payer would not be tax resident when the funds were remitted and that this is something of an anomaly. The alternative however is an obvious loop hole that far exceeds the magnitude of the tax law that was recently neutralised, which makes no sense. @Yumthai @JohnnyBD @Klonko @JimGant @UKresonant

[UKresonant]

For a Tax resident of Thailand who derives foreign sourced assessable income from 1st January 2024 onward,  such foreign source assessable income is brought into Thailand either in the 2024 year or a subsequent year. Appears to be the general jist of POR 162 /2566.

 

So if I were Tax Res in Thailand 2024 and non-tax Res 2025 and remitting the 24 assessable stuff in 2025, even if not tax resident then, you may have to have a think about that, as it has been theoretically tagged as Thai Tax Assessable if remitted later.  

 

Probability & practicality = up to you.  

 

Would hope folks would not to be waving the 24 docs later, with assumption they are immune from possible attention  when Tax resident again, at some future event.

 

But hopefully there won't be an Oh-dear report with some bear testing it at a future event.

 

[Mike Lister]

The spirit and intent of the new ruling is to close loopholes and create a level playing field. All of that seems to be negated if a non-citizen is able to take six months and one day outside the country before opening up the tax free sluice gates! The only reason those funds are not taxable is because the taxpayer wasn't physically in the country in order to file the tax return and wasn't deemed tax resident, even though the funds were earned when they were. Not only does that not pass the sniff test, it doesn't pass any test other than the strict interpretation of tax residency which in this instance may not be enough.