3 hours ago, Peter Crow said:

Sorry to barge in, but have we heard of any foreigner that has been audited or summoned to file a Tax return? While I reckon that those who have filed aren't a majority. I am mostly speculating as I don't have facts, hence the question.

Not a peep.

However, I have heard of at least a handful of foreigners who volunteered to file (even though they didn't owe anything and didn't need to file) and had to jump through several hoops to prove that they didn't owe anything. They opened a can of worms all over themselves.

Perhaps tangential to the topic but useful to those to whom it applies.

I queried Gemini with:

give an example comparing the two options available to determine tax owed on dividend income in Thailand.

Results:

Comparison Scenario

• Ordinary Income (Salary/Business): THB 600,000 net taxable income per year.

• Dividend Income: THB 100,000 gross dividend from a Thai company (with THB 10,000 withheld at 10%).

• Corporate Tax Paid by Payer: Assume the dividend carried a 20% corporate income tax credit.

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Option 1: Exclude Dividend (Final Tax)

• How it works: You leave the THB 100,000 dividend out of your annual filing. The 10% (THB 10,000) already withheld is your final tax on this income.

• Tax on salary: Calculated on THB 600,000 = THB 50,000.

• Tax on dividend: THB 10,000 (already paid via withholding).

• Total Tax Owed: THB 50,000 + THB 10,000 = THB 60,000.

• Refund/Additional Due: No extra tax due, and no refund possible.

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Option 2: Include Dividend (Progressive with Tax Credit)

• How it works: You add the THB 100,000 dividend to your total assessable income and add the statutory dividend tax credit (imputation system).

• Total income: THB 600,000 (salary) + THB 100,000 (dividend) = THB 700,000.

• Tax on total income (progressive rates): Calculated on THB 700,000 = THB 65,000.

• Less Withholding Tax already paid: Minus THB 10,000.

• Net Tax Due before credit: THB 55,000.

• (Note: Actual credit calculation multiplies dividend by (Corporate Rate) / (100- Corporate Rate), which can lower final liability or trigger a refund depending on your effective personal tax bracket).

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Key Takeaway

• Option 1 is better if your personal income tax bracket is high (e.g., 20% to 35%), protecting you from higher progressive rates.

• Option 2 is better if your personal tax bracket is low (e.g., 0% to 10%), because the tax credits attached to the corporate payout often result in a tax refund.

Edited August 6Aug 6 by gamb00ler