Introduction to Personal Income Tax in Thailand

[oldcpu]

35 minutes ago, The Cyclist said:

 

Dear Gawd in heaven

 

Say what?  How silly.  Do you need religion to support your untenable arguments?

 

 

35 minutes ago, The Cyclist said:

Do you agree that Thailand is currently going through the accession process to join the OECD ?

 

Yes and please note;

 

To re-iterate, the OECD sets guidelines for tax cooperation, compliance, and transfer pricing rules, but it does not mandate a particular taxation system (global vs. remittance). Instead, it focuses on preventing tax avoidance, encouraging transparency, and ensuring that multinational companies pay their fair share of taxes, especially under its Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) initiative.

 

That says NOTHING about a system whether it be 'remitted' or 'global' taxation.

 

Lets stick with facts and not your tangents and illogical religious rants that I quoted above.   OK?  I put such in bold as clearly you missed that.

 

35 minutes ago, The Cyclist said:

 

You can either accept that changes will be happening as long as Thailand continues on the path of OECD membership.

 

Or you can stick your head in the sand, which is always a great policy. It means you never see things coming up and biting you on the @rse. 

 

Who are you arguing with?  Did you read my post above ... or are you just ranting for showmanship and a sense of paranoia.

 

May I politely point out to you where I typed (below a quote from myself):

 

Quote

In Thailand’s case, the current system taxes foreign-sourced income of residents only when remitted to Thailand, and yes, proposed changes to tax worldwide income (even if not remitted) are being discussed under the excuse to align with global tax practices and OECD standards.

 

Clearly you either did NOT read that from my post, or you chose to ignore it because it detracted from the podium you are wobbling on.  May I suggest coming down from your paranoid podium?

 

Let me re-iterate another quote from myself

Quote

 the OECD sets guidelines for tax cooperation, compliance, and transfer pricing rules, but it does not mandate a particular taxation system (global vs. remittance). Instead, it focuses on preventing tax avoidance, encouraging transparency, and ensuring that multinational companies pay their fair share of taxes, especially under its Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) initiative. :

 

Thus far you have totally failed to show ANY OECD REQUIREMENT for a remitted taxation system  to be abandoned.  And do you know why you failed?  You failed because there is none.  OECD does not mandate either a global , territorial nor remitted tax system.  Rather OECD sets guidelines for tax cooperation, compliance, and transfer pricing rules, but it does not mandate a particular taxation system (global vs. remittance). Instead, it focuses on preventing tax avoidance, encouraging transparency, and ensuring that multinational companies pay their fair share of taxes.

 

Perhaps you should just leave this discussion, as you simply do not understand OECD's goals and requirements. 

 

Stick with your religious circle (noting your quote above at the start of this post).

[The Cyclist]

8 minutes ago, oldcpu said:

Thus far you have totally failed to show ANY OECD REQUIREMENT for a remitted taxation system  to be abandoned. 

 

Perhaps because I am not saying it will be abandoned

 

According to this thread. The changes to remitted income for Tax year 2024 resulted in a large drop in tax revenue.

 

 

Changes to taxation of remitted income might not have been a good idea.

 

Perhaps the next change will be to a taxation of Global income.

 

 

[BritManToo]

33 minutes ago, The Cyclist said:

Perhaps the next change will be to a taxation of Global income.

How could they possibly know what a foreigners global income was?

[The Cyclist]

4 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

How could they possibly know what a foreigners global income was?

 

How does every other Country that taxes Global Income do it ?

 

You declare and pay tax as appropriate / applicable, or run the risk of being nabbed for tax evasion / avoidance.

[TroubleandGrumpy]

1 hour ago, JackGats said:

Quote: "provided that the income has been subjected to tax in the jurisdiction of origin". I don't see this as an exemption of foreign assets from tax on world-wide income!

Read it again slowly.  Malaysia does not hit the money that retired Expats bring into Malaysia - they extended that deal for another 10 years earlier this year. 

[JackGats]

8 minutes ago, TroubleandGrumpy said:

Read it again slowly.  Malaysia does not hit the money that retired Expats bring into Malaysia - they extended that deal for another 10 years earlier this year. 

Yes but if I stick to the letter of the law, in order to bring money tax free into Malaysia I'd have to go and ask the "jurisdiction of origin" to first tax it. That's not what I understand as "tax free".

[TroubleandGrumpy]

2 minutes ago, JackGats said:

Yes but if I stick to the letter of the law, in order to bring money tax free into Malaysia I'd have to go and ask the "jurisdiction of origin" to first tax it. That's not what I understand as "tax free".

Try again.  Tax Free ........... in Malaysia.  You want to avoid all income taxation world wide then I suggest you move to Monaco.   

[JohnnyBD]

So sad... This one poster has infected every tax thread on this forum with his global taxation agenda and speculation, causing needless disagreements & discussions. His agenda will not change, so I for one, will not waste anymore of my time with this person. I wish all others would do the same, but to each his own.

[JimGant]

1 hour ago, oldcpu said:

Perhaps you should just leave this discussion, as you simply do not understand OECD's goals and requirements. 

Thanks oldcpu for your articulate take on the subject. Hopefully, the Cyclist will just pedal off, into the sunset. Sadly, however, I fear -- since he has no air in his tires -- that he'll hang around with his incomplete thoughts.

[The Cyclist]

8 minutes ago, JimGant said:

Thanks oldcpu for your articulate take on the subject. Hopefully, the Cyclist will just pedal off, into the sunset. Sadly, however, I fear -- since he has no air in his tires -- that he'll hang around with his incomplete thoughts.

 

Articulate take 😀😀😀

 

Appear to me that there are posters that are filling their knickers at the thought of Thailand changing its tax system.

 

I couldn't possibly guess as to why that might be.

[JimGant]

1 hour ago, The Cyclist said:

Appear to me that there are posters that are filling their knickers at the thought of Thailand changing its tax system.

 

I couldn't possibly guess as to why that might be.

You have no logic, so let's just say, most of us rationale types are just scrutinizing how Thailand is apparently just rewickering its remittance tax system. First and foremost -- Por 161 was badly thought out, and now fixes are being put in place. And the fixes are now to allow foreign remittances to flow in, without taxation, and to thus bolster Foreign Direct Investment. Seems this is where matters will congeal -- and the removal of the remittance qualifier is not being considered by Thailand authorities [and furthermore, its removal will in no way effect Thailand joining the OECD club -- as has been said too much -- the OECD doesn't care about Thailand's remittance qualifier].

[yozah]

Cyclist is trolling, resentful bootlicker or glowie. But anyway Thailand went against it's identity as land of smiles with the "we gonna tax your money you generously bring to our country". Now they came back to their senses.

[The Cyclist]

38 minutes ago, JimGant said:

You have no logic,

 

Not my logic, EOCD logic.

 

https://www.oecd.org/en/about/news/press-releases/2024/10/oecd-kicks-off-accession-process-with-thailand.html

 

Thailands current tax regime, is not compatible with the OECD best practice on tax avoidance / evasion.

 

So it will have to change.

 

You might want to read " Obligations of Membership " on page 3

 

https://one.oecd.org/document/C(2024)118/FINAL/en/pdf

 

You can either accept that. or hope and pray that Thailand drops its OECD membership.

 

[Presnock]

On 5/21/2025 at 6:59 PM, TroubleandGrumpy said:

Go and have a good sleep - we are not going doing that road that another poster dragged everyone - the one that is no longer here, who was proven wrong many times, and who the current proposal cuts off at the knees. 

 

Quote from the article "The new (proposed rule change) policy encourages Thai nationals to repatriate foreign income for domestic investment. Under these new rules, foreign income earned and remitted within the same or following year will not incur tax. For instance, income from 2025 brought into Thailand in either 2025 or 2026 would not be taxed. Beyond this timeframe, usual tax rules will apply."

 

They have made another mess of things obviously (what about after 2026), but the short and long of the current situation if that rule is implemented, is that it now looks AOK for retired Expats living in Thailand who are remitting money into the country.  If you want to go ahead and calculate your income taxes, then go to the Provincial Office and get a TIN and lodge a tax return - or pay someone else to do that for you - then go right ahead - if you have already done that then I feel for you. 

 

If you dont know what the proposed change means - then you dont know what is going on - so I will tell you this. They screwed up - they recognise this only because 'declared remittances' in the lodged tax returns for 2024 was drastically lower than previous years - overall the remittances into Thailand have also dramatically reduced - they will not apologise - they want money remitted into Thailand ASAP and are willing to let it in tax free - because the economy is tanking.  They are holding up the Baht as much as possible by using their reserves to buy the Baht whenever the value starts to drop - they are desperately trying to hold the Baht at 30-35 USD - otherwise their loan and financial repayments will be too much to cover up - and because those bringing in expensive items like machinery and luxury cars and military equipment etc etc, will have to pay more - and Thais wanting to buy overseas things like property or investments etc etc., will have to pay more.  I hope you now understand a bit of what is going on.    

Yes, in one of the recent articles on this problem, the finance people indicate that by Sept 2025 they will be short by 20 Billion yes Billion baht and need folks that have money outside Thailand should bring it in ASAP to help fill the coffers.  But we still do not know what any changes might occur in the next Royal Decree.

[The Cyclist]

33 minutes ago, yozah said:

Cyclist is trolling,

 

Ask yourself why I would be trolling.

 

1. The current remittance based taxation suits me just fine. No Thai tax to pay.

 

2 Move to worldwide taxation. Still would have no, or very little tax to pay in Thailand, all sources of income are taxed in the UK.

 

https://www.oecd.org/en/about/news/press-releases/2024/10/oecd-kicks-off-accession-process-with-thailand.html

 

This is happening, it is not trolling.

[Presnock]

7 hours ago, The Cyclist said:

 

I never said it did.

 

I said it is not beyond the realms of possibility that Thailand could cancel all current DTA's IF they move to Global Taxation.

 

 

No, my previous posts do not indicate that at all. My previous posts, backed up by directly linking the OECD website, indicate that the OECD are in favour of Global Taxation.

 

I hope you are able to understand the following, and can think through the implications.

 

 

https://www.oecd.org/en/about/news/press-releases/2024/10/oecd-kicks-off-accession-process-with-thailand.html

 

Especially this part

 

 

I don't think anyone would be mental enough ( maybe you ) to argue that Thailands current Tax Policy is anywhere near OECD standards or levels of best practice.

 

So it will be changing, as accession talks progress. Will it change to global taxation, time will tell, but global taxation is the OECD preference. So it makes sense that, that is the road that Thailand goes down.

Yes If I remember correctly, the average personal taxes paid in the OECD countries is 34% of workers while Thailand has slipped to 13% of Tax residents/workers paying income taxes.

[The Cyclist]

3 minutes ago, Presnock said:

Yes If I remember correctly, the average personal taxes paid in the OECD countries is 34% of workers while Thailand has slipped to 13% of Tax residents/workers paying income taxes.

 

I don't know what the %ages are

 

But it doesn't take a forensic accountant to work out

 

Canada, pop 40 million, taxpayers 29 million

 

Thailand, pop 75 million, taxpayers 4 million.

 

Something is drastically wrong, and the most likely answer is tax avoidance / evasion.

[Presnock]

1 minute ago, The Cyclist said:

 

I don't know what the %ages are

 

But it doesn't take a forensic accountant to work out

 

Canada, pop 40 million, taxpayers 29 million

 

Thailand, pop 75 million, taxpayers 4 million.

 

Something is drastically wrong, and the most likely answer is tax avoidance / evasion.

Yes, basically the finance and trd folks have said that it is necessary to grow the taxable income base if they are to collect enough money each year.

[oldcpu]

19 minutes ago, The Cyclist said:

 

Not my logic, EOCD logic.

 

https://www.oecd.org/en/about/news/press-releases/2024/10/oecd-kicks-off-accession-process-with-thailand.html

 

Thailands current tax regime, is not compatible with the OECD best practice on tax avoidance / evasion.

 

So it will have to change.

 

You might want to read " Obligations of Membership " on page 3

 

https://one.oecd.org/document/C(2024)118/FINAL/en/pdf

 

You can either accept that. or hope and pray that Thailand drops its OECD membership.

 

 

Do you ever read the links you post?  or do you just post them in the hope that no one else will - and as a result believe you?

 

There is NO NEED to "HOPE and pray" based on those links.  Is this your religious tendencies coming through again?  I think it is.

 

For anyone reading - to be clear - there is NO OECD requirement for a country to have a global taxation system as opposed to a remitted taxation system.  That is NOT to say Thailand will not some day go for a global taxation, but saying a Global taxation is an OECD requirement is simply WRONG.  Let me type that again - WRONG.  Now a global system may make it easier to implement some of the information sharing aspects that OECD want, but a remitted taxation system can also be tuned to do such as well.

 

Ergo - for anyone else on this thread (and not for you Cyclist - I won't waste my time here with you),  if you read of a Thailand official stating 'Global taxation is an OECD requirement', that is political BS to cover up aspects of the implementation of the current Thai taxation, where there ARE OECD countries (which I pointed out previous) that have a mixed system, with major parts being like a remitted taxation system, and some monetary aspects added to meet OECD requirements (but NOT to implement a global system). 

 

Having typed that, I do believe there are those in the Thailand government who would like to see a global system.  But again, it is NOT an OECD requirement - despite the paranoia some on this thread are spouting.

 

[The Cyclist]

3 minutes ago, oldcpu said:

That is NOT to say Thailand will not some day go for a global taxation, but saying a Global taxation is an OECD requirement is simply WRONG. 

 

If you want to throw insults, sharpen up your reading skills.

 

I have never said that global taxation is an OECD requirement. The OECD website will tell you it is their preferred method.

 

Got that ?
 

Do you see the issue below ? I used Canada just for you.
 

10 minutes ago, The Cyclist said:

But it doesn't take a forensic accountant to work out

 

Canada, pop 40 million, taxpayers 29 million

 

Thailand, pop 75 million, taxpayers 4 million.

 

Something is drastically wrong, and the most likely answer is tax avoidance / evasion.

 

Do you think those people at the OECD might have also worked this out ?

[oldcpu]

11 minutes ago, The Cyclist said:

 

I don't know what the %ages are

 

But it doesn't take a forensic accountant to work out

 

Canada, pop 40 million, taxpayers 29 million

 

Thailand, pop 75 million, taxpayers 4 million.

 

Something is drastically wrong, and the most likely answer is tax avoidance / evasion.

 

 One thing wrong is your figures appear out of date and don't refer to the taxation year ..   (not that it will change the conclusion - but it would be good to have more accurate numbers).

 

More accurately:

 

Canada: ~28.1 million taxpayers (2021), ~73.6% of population. High filing rate due to comprehensive tax system and mandatory reporting.

Thailand: ~10.5 million taxpayers (2023, est.), ~14.7% of population. Lower filing rate due to higher tax-free threshold and narrower tax base.

Australia: ~16.9 million taxpayers (2022-23), ~63.5% of population. Moderate filing rate, with a system similar to Canada’s but a slightly lower participation rate due to population and income distribution.

[oldcpu]

6 minutes ago, The Cyclist said:

 

If you want to throw insults, sharpen up your reading skills.

 

I have never said that global taxation is an OECD requirement. The OECD website will tell you it is their preferred method.

 

Good.

 

So you agree then.  Global taxation is NOT an OECD requirement.

 

 

 

6 minutes ago, The Cyclist said:

Do you see the issue below ? I used Canada just for you.
 

 

So?

 

... also, the numbers of people submitting tax returns, depends on the taxation year, and it changes.  Your post without a taxation year reference is poorly submitted.

[oldcpu]

6 minutes ago, oldcpu said:

 

 One thing wrong is your figures appear out of date and don't refer to the taxation year ..   (not that it will change the conclusion - but it would be good to have more accurate numbers).

 

More accurately:

 

Canada: ~28.1 million taxpayers (2021), ~73.6% of population. High filing rate due to comprehensive tax system and mandatory reporting.

Thailand: ~10.5 million taxpayers (2023, est.), ~14.7% of population. Lower filing rate due to higher tax-free threshold and narrower tax base.

Australia: ~16.9 million taxpayers (2022-23), ~63.5% of population. Moderate filing rate, with a system similar to Canada’s but a slightly lower participation rate due to population and income distribution.

 

Further to my post ... some more statistics on the tax filing threshold:

 

• Thailand: Filing required above $3,360 USD (฿120,000). Lowest threshold, but deductions often mean no tax is owed until ~$4,200 USD. Reflects a developing economy with a low tax base.
• Canada: Filing required above $11,151 USD (C$15,705). Moderate threshold, with credits ensuring low earners often owe no tax. Filing is widespread due to benefits and refund systems.
• Australia: Filing required above $12,194 USD (A$18,200). Highest threshold, with a generous tax-free amount for residents, encouraging filing for offsets even if no tax is owed.

[The Cyclist]

3 minutes ago, oldcpu said:

Thailand: ~10.5 million taxpayers (2023, est.), ~14.7% of population. Lower filing rate due to higher tax-free threshold and narrower tax base.

 

I think that should read 10.5 million Tax filers, and about 4 million taxpayers.

 

Quote

For example, salaried employees bear 80% of the total personal income tax burden. However, only 4 million individuals pay personal income tax, though the labour force tallies 40 million. This means only 10% of the total workforce pays income tax. 
 

 

10% Of the workforce

 

Which represents a massive 0.53% of the population

[The Cyclist]

8 minutes ago, oldcpu said:

Good.

 

So you agree then.  Global taxation is NOT an OECD requirement.

 

I would agree with you, if I had ever said it was an OECD requirement.

 

But as I have consistently said it is the OECD's preferred method, no I don't agree with you

[oldcpu]

1 minute ago, The Cyclist said:

 

I would agree with you, if I had ever said it was an OECD requirement.

 

But as I have consistently said it is the OECD's preferred method, no I don't agree with you

 

There is a difference between a preferred method and a required method. Your refusal to agree there is no requirement simply illustrates you are wrong.

[oldcpu]

Also, one should compare the gross national income (GNI) per capital (year 2023 - Atlas method) when comparing numbers of people who file tax returns in a country:

Thailand - GNI per capita - ~$7,000 USD where filing required above $3,360 USD (฿120,000).
Canada - GNI per capita - ~$52,000 USD where filing required above $11,151 USD (C$15,705).
Australia - GNI per capita - $63,000 USD where filing required above $12,194 USD (A$18,200).

 

From that it should be clear that the average Thai is MUCH MUCH closer to the threshold limit to file a tax return, compared to that of a Canadian or an Australian. 

 

Also , Thailand has a much larger spread between the poor and the wealthy than Australia and Canada, which skewers the data for Thailand for GNI per capita.

[The Cyclist]

1 minute ago, oldcpu said:

 

There is a difference between a preferred method and a required method. Your refusal to agree there is no requirement simply illustrates you are wrong.

 

I think I have to conclude that your desperation is clouding your thinking.

 

You are now talking absolute nonsense.

[oldcpu]

1 minute ago, The Cyclist said:

 

I think I have to conclude that your desperation is clouding your thinking.

 

You are now talking absolute nonsense.

 

So - in addition to religion, you now believe insults will support your lost argument?   Only you will believe yourself here.

 

Clearly you know nothing about OECD. You should simply stay out of the discussion.

[The Cyclist]

13 minutes ago, oldcpu said:

Clearly you know nothing about OECD. You should simply stay out of the discussion.

 

I would say it is you that knows nothing about the OECD

 

Section 11 page 3 lays out obligations of OECD membership and what members must accept.

 

https://one.oecd.org/document/C(2024)118/FINAL/en/pdf

 

And a tax system where approx 0.53% of the population or 10% of the workforce pays income tax will not meet the OECD's obligations and aims concerning tax avoidance / evasion.

 

Crying shame you have no idea how Supranational organisations actually operate.