Introduction to Personal Income Tax in Thailand

[The Cyclist]

13 minutes ago, chiang mai said:

Brain fart....I had half a bottle of beer last night, dreadful hangover this AM.

 

Well spotted, apologies to all.

 

As I am now another year closer to claiming the State Pension, I was actually hoping that you were correct 😀😀

[KhunHeineken]

11 hours ago, chiang mai said:

Brain fart....I had half a bottle of beer last night, dreadful hangover this AM.

 

Well spotted, apologies to all.

Looks like you are back on it again tonight.  

[Keith5588]

Would love some advice to help me fully decide what to do this year.

I have read most of this thread and have learnt a lot so thank you all so much.

 

I am a 71 year old male from the UK. I have had a relatively simple life in that I worked for the same company for 40 years in the UK.

I came to Thailand in 2017 after giving a Letting Agency control to manage my house. Until now I have not been back to the UK and love life here in Thailand. Each year I declare my income including rent to HMRC (HM Revenue & Customs)

 

I feel for several reasons that it is now time to sell my house. I plan to go to the UK in the very near future, probably March this year to do that.

I bought my house in the UK in 1980, lived in it until 2017. Hopefully I will sell it in 2025.

I plan to spend the first 2 months decorating my house before putting it on the market so I guess I will need to spend about 6 months in the UK, so it will not be any inconvenience to make sure I spend less than 180 days in Thailand during 2025.

 

So let’s assume that I receive £350,000 for the sale of my house and I pay £5,000 CGT.

I do also have savings of over £300,000 and proof that I had that in savings accounts at the end of 2023.

My intention is to buy a house in Thailand in the future.

As an aside I have looked into the details of buying a house in Thailand, I might have more to learn but I would look for my girlfriend of 8 years who I fully trust to buy the land freehold and also have a Usufruct contract. I know the area in Thailand that I wish to live and I like the thought of having my own house, all part of preparing for when older.

 

My question’s are:-

1. Can I transfer all of the money from the sale of my house to my Thai bank account via Wise in year 2025 or future years without any need to declare it to the Thai tax department? Basically it will not be assessable?

2. Should I definitely make sure that this year I spend less than 180 days in Thailand to be on the safe side?

3. Keep the money from the sale of my house in a UK bank or Wise, somewhere that I can receive a higher interest than in Thailand. Would I be confident that I could then transfer this to Thailand in a future year without paying any Thai tax, that it would not be assessable for Thai tax?

4. Should I forget about transferring money from the sale of my house to Thailand and just invest it in the UK. I would still want to look to buy a house in Thailand but could move my savings across confident after reading this thread that it would not be assessable for Thai tax?

 

I’m very interested what others would do in my situation.

Thanks in advance

Keith

[chiang mai]

Lots of questions there so Ill just address one aspect and leave the rest to others:

 

With those sorts of amounts, you may want to think about holding multiple currencies in multiple territories. I think it would be a mistake and risky to hold only Baht and to hold it all in Thailand.

 

I would also think long and hard about whether you really need to buy a home here instead of renting.

 

 

Good luck in what you decide to do.

[oldcpu]

30 minutes ago, Keith5588 said:

My question’s are:-

1. Can I transfer all of the money from the sale of my house to my Thai bank account via Wise in year 2025 or future years without any need to declare it to the Thai tax department? Basically it will not be assessable?

2. Should I definitely make sure that this year I spend less than 180 days in Thailand to be on the safe side?

3. Keep the money from the sale of my house in a UK bank or Wise, somewhere that I can receive a higher interest than in Thailand. Would I be confident that I could then transfer this to Thailand in a future year without paying any Thai tax, that it would not be assessable for Thai tax?

4. Should I forget about transferring money from the sale of my house to Thailand and just invest it in the UK. I would still want to look to buy a house in Thailand but could move my savings across confident after reading this thread that it would not be assessable for Thai tax?

 

 

My take on those questions , noting I am NOT a tax expert, nor do I know the UK-Thai Double Tax Agreement (DTA).  Hopefully some who are familiar with that DTA will chime in.  And hopefully those and others will correct my assessment  if I am wrong.

 

My opinion correspond to your questions

.

1.  If you are a non-resident to Thailand, you can transfer the money from the sale of your house to your Thailand bank tax free in Thailand in the year in which you are a non-resident to Thailand (I know nothing about UK tax on such a sale).  However (ignoring the Thai-UK DTA) if you bring the money into Thailand in a year in which you are a resident of Thailand, then profit on the sale of that house may be taxable in Thailand. IMHO you need to consult the UK-Thai DTA to assess this.

 

2. To be on the safe side, spend less than 180 days in Thailand in the year in which you bring the money from the (profit of ? the ) sale of your house, into Thailand.

 

3. Yes, you can also keep the money (in particular, I believe keep the profit) from the sale of your house in a UK bank, so to receive a higher interest. I do NOT recommend keeping large amounts of money in Wise as I believe funds there are not-insured.   However once you bring this money (from a UK bank) into Thailand, then it could be considered assessable and taxable and the paper trail on this (to prove money comes from before 1-Jan-2024) could be complex. 

 

Its possible you could keep a record of proof of the ORIGINAL purchase price ... and maybe bring that amount in tax free into Thailand when a resident of Thailand.  BUT I do not know if that opinion is accurate

 

4.   You could keep the money in the UK, but there are ways to bring the money into Thailand if you do so when not a resident of Thailand.

[Liquorice]

55 minutes ago, Keith5588 said:

Would love some advice to help me fully decide what to do this year.

I have read most of this thread and have learnt a lot so thank you all so much.

 

I am a 71 year old male from the UK. I have had a relatively simple life in that I worked for the same company for 40 years in the UK.

I came to Thailand in 2017 after giving a Letting Agency control to manage my house. Until now I have not been back to the UK and love life here in Thailand. Each year I declare my income including rent to HMRC (HM Revenue & Customs)

 

I feel for several reasons that it is now time to sell my house. I plan to go to the UK in the very near future, probably March this year to do that.

I bought my house in the UK in 1980, lived in it until 2017. Hopefully I will sell it in 2025.

I plan to spend the first 2 months decorating my house before putting it on the market so I guess I will need to spend about 6 months in the UK, so it will not be any inconvenience to make sure I spend less than 180 days in Thailand during 2025.

 

So let’s assume that I receive £350,000 for the sale of my house and I pay £5,000 CGT.

I do also have savings of over £300,000 and proof that I had that in savings accounts at the end of 2023.

My intention is to buy a house in Thailand in the future.

As an aside I have looked into the details of buying a house in Thailand, I might have more to learn but I would look for my girlfriend of 8 years who I fully trust to buy the land freehold and also have a Usufruct contract. I know the area in Thailand that I wish to live and I like the thought of having my own house, all part of preparing for when older.

 

My question’s are:-

1. Can I transfer all of the money from the sale of my house to my Thai bank account via Wise in year 2025 or future years without any need to declare it to the Thai tax department? Basically it will not be assessable?

2. Should I definitely make sure that this year I spend less than 180 days in Thailand to be on the safe side?

3. Keep the money from the sale of my house in a UK bank or Wise, somewhere that I can receive a higher interest than in Thailand. Would I be confident that I could then transfer this to Thailand in a future year without paying any Thai tax, that it would not be assessable for Thai tax?

4. Should I forget about transferring money from the sale of my house to Thailand and just invest it in the UK. I would still want to look to buy a house in Thailand but could move my savings across confident after reading this thread that it would not be assessable for Thai tax?

 

I’m very interested what others would do in my situation.

Thanks in advance

Keith

 

You may find the answer to your questions from this very informative (UK specific) video.

 

 

[KhunHeineken]

1 hour ago, chiang mai said:

I would also think long and hard about whether you really need to buy a home here instead of renting.

Completely contradicts your theory that there is no need for people to hold off buying a property here until they see how this unfolds.  Ahhhh, maybe that's because the member is not Chinese or Russian.  

[KhunHeineken]

1 hour ago, Keith5588 said:

Would love some advice to help me fully decide what to do this year.

Best advice is to do nothing this year.  Keep the status quo and see how this unfolds.  Be patient.

[oldcpu]

52 minutes ago, KhunHeineken said:

Best advice is to do nothing this year.  Keep the status quo and see how this unfolds.  Be patient.

 

Why ?  Because ONLY of concerns over future taxation implementations?  Or because of other factors (such as market value, interest rates .. etc) ?

 

 

[oldcpu]

2 hours ago, chiang mai said:

I would also think long and hard about whether you really need to buy a home here instead of renting.

 

 

IMHO thats good advice all the time - regardless as to timing.  Typically, the vast majority of people spend a substantial amount of money on a home, so clearly a long and hard think is appropriate.

 

But the question I see ... is doing such a hard and long think today (when such is a good idea) different from doing such a long and hard think 10 years ago?  ... and if it is different today, ... then why is it different today?

[chiang mai]

8 hours ago, KhunHeineken said:

Completely contradicts your theory that there is no need for people to hold off buying a property here until they see how this unfolds.  Ahhhh, maybe that's because the member is not Chinese or Russian.  

I never suggested that anyone should hold off from buying property, where did I say that?

 

I don't think that buying property in Thailand in your 70's is a great idea, especially when you have good levels of cash to support yourself as the poster does, Renting allows for far greater flexibility.