Foreigners and their overseas income: what next?

[Mike Lister]

3 hours ago, Lorry said:

I was almost going to click onto the video,  thinking, oh, another video,  this time with the Swedish ambassador...

 

Never mind, you are from Australia,  you are excused. 

(Most Europeans I know think that New Zealand is near Australia, whereas the distance between Australia and New Zealand is much bigger than the distance between Switzerland and Sweden)

You couldn't make it up if you tried. 🙂

[TroubleandGrumpy]

On 5/18/2024 at 12:56 AM, Lorry said:

I was almost going to click onto the video,  thinking, oh, another video,  this time with the Swedish ambassador...

 

Never mind, you are from Australia,  you are excused. 

(Most Europeans I know think that New Zealand is near Australia, whereas the distance between Australia and New Zealand is much bigger than the distance between Switzerland and Sweden)

Click it and listen - you might learn something - for a change.  

[Presnock]

On 4/4/2024 at 12:14 PM, AhFarangJa said:

Something I do not see written about, yet to my mind is a serious issue, and that is the retired people on annual extensions to stay using the monthly income method. Surely, with a sum of about 65,000 per month coming in regularly to meet visa requirements, the taxman will want to get his grubby paws on some of it.   

well onthis note, the immigration officers want to see the bankbook that shows 65000 remitted but is the taxable percentage taken off before the immigration sees the 65000 or what...Not sure how all that will work out.  How about the cost of visas - is the tax added on as the money comes in for that purpose or are the visas all going up in price (i.e. 800K - tax so have to add the taxed amount too for the cost of the visa?  Just wondering as that is what I used to do for my yearly extension.  If I had to bring in 50K for an LTR would I first have to pay tax on it and then 50K for the visa?  just wondering and hope that the RD folks would put out some official word so we know how to start complaining officially and to where.

[Presnock]

On 5/9/2024 at 11:40 AM, nitayagirl said:

 

The proverb is โลภมาก ลาภหาย.

Funny, that is an Aesop's children's fable (133) saying the exact same thing and based on translations of Latin similar story with many other civilizations having basically the same moral meaning of an animal having some type of food in its mouth, sees a reflection water or in some stories a fish in the water, drops his food to grab the fish, loses it as meanwhile a buzzard flew down and stole the food he was carrying.  Lots of different stories...  take your pick.

 

[Presnock]

On 5/10/2024 at 12:21 PM, Mike Lister said:

Don't forget there is a large segment of the expat community who have pensions remitted directly to Thailand, in the month they are paid. I receive my UK State pension that way and also my US SSc income, both by direct deposit. Many of those people will use the income method to obtain their visa's, I do not and am on the 400k in the bank method. So when you say, "most of us" I think it's more appropriate to say, "some of us".

 

If you have pre 1 January 2024 savings and you have a bank statement showing the amounts on that date on near to, you are in the clear to remit those funds, why wouldn't you be?

 

And, I don't know what the average statistics are but if 100 people remit funds to Thailand, and file a tax return, what percentage do you think will get singled out for audit? I'm guessing perhaps one!

 

well as there aRE AT LEAST 7000+ LTR approved folks so far, that is at least 7000+ that will not have to pay taxes on foreign funds remitted into Thailand, but those working inside Thailand will probably have to pay taxes but at a cheaper rate.  By the time tax time comes around there will be more so the RD will not be getting their monies.  Plus in listening to the "experts" one from the RD department, DTA's will be honored too and that will limit even more folks from how much they would have to pay if any.  But, if people have been able to obtain an LTR, they have most likely already been paying taxes to another country, and some will have exemptions from certain pensions, etc so it does appear to me that the RD might think they will be getting more from ex-pats...on top of which many ex-pats will cease to be tax

residents this year and others will remit funds much lower than normal so Thailand will lose a lot more than they gain from the ex-pats in my opinion.  But, as usual until we see the final law interpretation, who really knows what the outcome might be.  Good luck to all!

[Presnock]

On 5/10/2024 at 7:49 AM, Mike Lister said:

A fella's got to be fair and reasonable about this. It's not a half baked mess and it's not a so called tax! It's a single adjustment to one of the tax rules, that's all. The half baked mess part is the panic and scurrying that many foreigners have created that results from their very recent awareness that they too have to pay tax in Thailand and have been required to do so all along. That coin is now dropping!

just remember, one of the reasons they are changing how they interpret their law is to weed out those that have not been paying taxes elsewhere nor here - this is part of the international OECD CRS, etc from some governments feeling they have been shortchanged especially pushed by the US which taxes their citizens no matter where they are.  Ben Franklin made the comment after they did the declaration of Independence ---only constant forever - death and taxes

[MartinBangkok]

On 5/16/2024 at 3:28 AM, Presnock said:

I agree.  Part of the OECD  CRS and FACTA are all programs aimed at various targets i.e. tax evasion, money laundering, corruption, and probably a lot more as control over the masses gets more and more difficult in my opinion.  I do read about the US from which I hail and I realize that people are not financially robust as many people think.  Housing is totally out of control and people are even resorting to living in a foreign country and driving across the border to come to work in border states as they can't afford the state housing (which would also include property and other taxes).  I have lived overseas more than the US since I got out of HS in 1964 and have filed taxes on my earnings every single year except VN war resident and tax exempt.  I haven't had a lot of the freebie stuff that taxpayers reportedly get like during the COVID fiasco but my tax bill is paid regularly.  I divested myself of any holdings in the states or some state/city/district there would be after me to pay their taxes too.  While I was working overseas, I was a govt employee so me state of residence took their share of my paycheck and my house there required me to pay property taxes too.  Now I have to file my Foreign Bank and Financial Report (FBAR) every year as well as inform the tax folks that I do have a foreign bank account.  But still, I guess a sizeable number of US citizens working overseas do not or have not been paying their "fair share" so the govt resorts to different schemes to find ways to hunt those people down.  Now, the Thais and other foreign countries are going to aid the US Justice and Tax offices in tracking down those people.  I am pretty sure that the Thais when checking remittances into Thailand which are supposedly going to be reported by tax ID and tax forms and claims of exemption are going to be asked to verify large remittances.  It will be interesting to note how far that can and will go to track down expats financials.  I read today another article about the "dire" condition of the Thai national finances while they seek more tax monies to fund populist promises but which weigh heavily on the empty coffers.  So, I guess maybe after June the RD will put out the final on the new interpretation of the Thai tax law.  Sorry for this boring tale of my opinion and why I see it the way I do.  As said by Benjamin Franklin, "nothing is certain except taxes and death".  Good Luck to all...I noted on the news that the Thai weather department says that we will enter into the rainy season on the 20th of this month.

Another thing, this new global tax idea, isn't it a breach of basic human rights? I mean, Thailand, and the global system with OECD at the forefront, wants western expats to pay tax in return for nothing, absolutely nothing. It's even worse, paying tax to a totally corrupt country where the only thing you get is government mandated discrimination (property market, double, triple or 10 times prices in hospitals, tourist attractions, traffic fines, hotels, taxis, not to mention a reporting system like you are a criminal and the exorbitant expat rates in the justice system). I could go on!

 

I could try telling the clowns running Thailand what paying tax gets me in return in Norway, but they probably wouldn't believe me.

 

It's not right, the new global tax regime.

Edited May 23 by MartinBangkok

[Mike Lister]

The subject is Thai tax, not the price of cars

[MartinBangkok]

Just now, Mike Lister said:

The subject is Thai tax, not the price of cars

Yes, sorry about that.

[Rimmer]

An off topic ramble has been removed

[Presnock]

11 hours ago, MartinBangkok said:

Another thing, this new global tax idea, isn't it a breach of basic human rights? I mean, Thailand, and the global system with OECD at the forefront, wants western expats to pay tax in return for nothing, absolutely nothing. It's even worse, paying tax to a totally corrupt country where the only thing you get is government mandated discrimination (property market, double, triple or 10 times prices in hospitals, tourist attractions, traffic fines, hotels, taxis, not to mention a reporting system like you are a criminal and the exorbitant expat rates in the justice system). I could go on!

 

I could try telling the clowns running Thailand what paying tax gets me in return in Norway, but they probably wouldn't believe me.

 

It's not right, the new global tax regime.

I agree...national tax US no matter where we earn it or where we are residents, in addition, if in the US, most likely a state tax too, some district taxes, some city taxes, and property taxes where they continue to raise the value of the property...in many states now the average national wage earner can not even think about buying a house!  In San Francisco,  Calf.  there are no houses for sale under 1 million dollars according to the media.  Hospitalization is now zooming and health insurance cost is getting prohibitive too.  Big pharma prices also continue rising to enable them get record profits each year.  Just look at the people, ask them - very few are happy with the current situations throughout the country.  Now one would think that with a national election, select a "new" president, that things might look better after

November....dream on as the two leading candidates are WWII baby boomers and mentally both seem to have lost it yet their party has no one else waiting...so the losers are the citizens AGAIN, with on candidate promising lower taxes for the rich!  Go figure.  Best of luck to all especially those of us lucky enough to live here in Thailand.