Its Happening - Law to Tax Overseas Income Now in Progress

[CharlieH]

Courtesy of Revenue Dept.

 

The Thai Revenue Department is currently drafting legislation to tax the overseas income of individuals residing in Thailand.

 

According to Kulaya Tantitemit, the director-general of the department, this draft is aligned with the international principle of worldwide income under the residence rule.

 

This principle mandates that an individual's income, regardless of its origin, should be taxed by the country where the individual resides for a specific period.

 

To implement this, an amendment to Section 41 of the Revenue Code is required. The proposed amendment would require individuals residing in Thailand for 180 days or more to pay personal income tax on overseas income, even if that income is not brought into Thailand.

In the first 11 months of the 2024 fiscal year, the Revenue Department collected 1.963 trillion baht, surpassing its target by 0.4% or 8.44 billion baht.

 

This strong performance was attributed to government measures aimed at stimulating consumption, such as the easy e-Receipt program, which boosted the collection of value-added tax from domestic consumption. 

 

Ms. Kulaya anticipates that by the end of this fiscal year on September 30, the department will meet its target of 2.28 trillion baht.

 

For the fiscal year 2025, beginning on October 1, the Ministry of Finance has set a target for the department to collect 2.372 trillion baht.

 

Credit Bangkok Post.

 

2024-09-07

 

 

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[Pouatchee]

happy days... not

so now the nightmare begins

 

4 minutes ago, CharlieH said:

The proposed amendment would require individuals residing in Thailand for 180 days or more to pay personal income tax on overseas income, even if that income is not brought into Thailand.

 

so now they will have access to our home records... big brother... reallyyyy. 

 

double taxation? these matters really need to be cleared up and imho double taxation is just plain wrong... hope tere will be provisions blocking this.

 

NO TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION!!!

[CallumWK]

Time to empty my Thai bank accounts

[NoDisplayName]

It's bad enough I have to pay tax on interstellar/multi-dimensional income to Uncle Sam for life, but Thailand wants a cut also?

 

I ran the numbers.........I manage my finances to remain at the zero tax limit in the USA, which will result in $10,000 paid annually to Thailand.  All capital gains are taxed as normal income with no offset for capital losses.

 

I don't think so.  How do you say 'hello' in Khmer?

[Guderian]

1 hour ago, CallumWK said:

Time to empty my Thai bank accounts

 

Why? That's the only bit of your money that's atcually safe from the TRD now if you spend more than 180 days here in a tax year, lol.

 

I wonder if they're going to time this like they did the change in the remittance rules last year so that it comes into force wef the start of the New Year, i.e. 1/1/2025 in this case?

[Pouatchee]

i dunno if this can work out, but i am offered a new job back home and i plan on sending money to my bank account here. i will only be visiting my better half 1-2 months a year... dont think they can tax me sending myself money here if i dont live here...

[CallumWK]

7 minutes ago, Guderian said:

Why? That's the only bit of your money that's atcually safe from the TRD now if you spend more than 180 days here in a tax year, lol.

 

It gives them a source to confiscate if you don't pay taxes, and I definitely have no plans to pay tax on money that I don't remit

[biervoormij]

49 minutes ago, NoDisplayName said:

It's bad enough I have to pay tax on interstellar/multi-dimensional income to Uncle Sam for life, but Thailand wants a cut also?

 

I ran the numbers.........I manage my finances to remain at the zero tax limit in the USA, which will result in $10,000 paid annually to Thailand.  All capital gains are taxed as normal income with no offset for capital losses.

 

I don't think so.  How do you say 'hello' in Khmer?

I do the same with my US taxes. When I have run my numbers it will be a little less than $10,000 but high enough I will most likely leave Thailand. I hope they give me a year to spend down the 800K setting in my bank before I leave.

 

Doesn't Cambodia also have global income tax or are you just planning on spending half the year there?

[NoDisplayName]

3 minutes ago, biervoormij said:

I do the same with my US taxes. When I have run my numbers it will be a little less than $10,000 but high enough I will most likely leave Thailand. I hope they give me a year to spend down the 800K setting in my bank before I leave.

 

Doesn't Cambodia also have global income tax or are you just planning on spending half the year there?

 

That was a minimum $10K per year.  If I take a large amount of capital losses to offset gains in the US, the bill could be much, much larger.

 

Cambodia also has a worldwide system, but from what I've read it's loosely enforced, and only taxes foreign SALARY.  I could keep the O-visa/retirement here, and get similar in Cambodia.  Spend half a year in each, plus a couple weeks in China.

 

Of course if China ever offers a retirement visa.....

[Kinnock]

Thailand can't tax its own people, so they want to tax foreigners.

 

[swissie]

Plenty of Thai "legal eagles" that made it possible for Farangs to stay in Thailand as far as Visas are concerned. For a price.

As I write, a new generation of Thai "legal eagles" are preparing to find possibilities for Farangs to circumvent taxation.
For a price.

Actually the new "business" for Thai Lawyers will be more rewarding than the old "hum drum" Visa business.

A new source of income for underemployed lawyers in Thailand has just opened.

[stoner]

1 hour ago, Pouatchee said:

i dunno if this can work out, but i am offered a new job back home and i plan on sending money to my bank account here. i will only be visiting my better half 1-2 months a year... dont think they can tax me sending myself money here if i dont live here...

 

don't bother sending yourself money. take the few dollars hit at the ATM. if its only 2 months you wont need to visit the ATM more than a couple times. so 50 bucks to get them off your back sounds reasonable. 

[Enzian]

What's the lawmaking process for such proposed legislation to (ever) become final, and what are some possible timelines?

[proton]

What were the allowances for tax free income brought in again? So it's not what you bring in now, but what you have at home even if it's already taxed. Can't see this being a winner, another nail in the coffin.

[Danderman123]

All of my worldwide income is taxed in the USA, so no tax is due Thailand.

[ukrules]

The Thai tax system isn't evolved enough for this kind of global taxation.

Take investments for example, there isn't a proper capital gains tax in place, it's just personal income tax for everything you make unless of course it's made on the glorious SET (which I don't trust one bit) where somehow there are zero taxes on the gains as it's exempt.

If they activate a global taxation with the current structure then anyone who makes even just a few hundred thousand dollars a year will end up out of pocket a lot due to their punitive personal income tax structure.
 

It won't affect 'the poor' which seems to be most of the people on this forum.

[NoDisplayName]

42 minutes ago, Danderman123 said:

All of my worldwide income is taxed in the USA, so no tax is due Thailand.

 

I don't think it works that way.  Your income may already be taxed, but Thailand will tax at a higher rate.  It's then up to you to (try to) claim Thai tax credit on your US returns.  I believe that's how the DTA works outside of income the US has sole right to tax.

 

All those deductions and exemptions you have under the IRS code?  Not recognized by Thailand.  Thailand will be taxing a much more bigly number.

 

You don't get the $14,600 standard deduction or the $47,150 0% LTCG tax rate (2024).  You do get the 60K baht Thai standard deduction, but your capital gains are taxed as ordinary income, possibly at up to 35%.  That's ALL your capital gains.  You don't get to offset with capital losses.

 

 

[ukrules]

2 minutes ago, NoDisplayName said:

You do get the 60K baht Thai standard deduction

 

Yeah, that will keep most of going until some time in January each year.

Such a tiny tax free allowance, the whole system is a joke.

 

 

[NoDisplayName]

2 minutes ago, ukrules said:

 

Yeah, that will keep most of going until some time in January each year.

Such a tiny tax free allowance, the whole system is a joke.

 

 

 

As bad as the US tax code is, at least we can still earn $60K tax free, which would result in a $10,000 tax bill with no tax credit available.

 

Is it worth paying $10K+ per year to remain in Thailand, where I still have to post a $25K bond and report to my probation officer every 90 days?

 

I might consider getting me one of them 10-year China visas.  Unlimited entries for the bargain price of $140.  China also has a global tax system, but only takes affect for expats after 5 continuous years of tax residency, and the clock resets anytime you leave the country for more than 30 days.

[Thailand J]

31 minutes ago, NoDisplayName said:

You don't get the $14,600 standard deduction or the $47,150 0% LTCG tax rate (2024).  You do get the 60K baht Thai standard deduction, but your capital gains are taxed as ordinary income, possibly at up to 35%.  That's ALL your capital gains.  You don't get to offset with capital losses.

I don't mind paying some tax but applying current Thai tax code on US capital gains is ridiculous. I will end up paying up to 6 times more tax here.

Thailand can kiss my $ good bye.

 

[tomacht8]

Thailand will lose fat there. Well-off pensioners and foreigners with wealth will pay attention to how long they stay in Thailand in the future. Under 180 days and they will have no longer any problems. There are also other beautiful, sunny countries where they can spend there money. It is incomprehensible, since Thailand in particular wants to be attractive for this well off groups. Probably no one in the RD has calculated how high the consumption tax and capital import loss will be. A week ago, Thailand announced that it wanted to become the new financial hub in SEA in the future. LOL. Greedy amateurs.

[Presnock]

5 hours ago, Pouatchee said:

i dunno if this can work out, but i am offered a new job back home and i plan on sending money to my bank account here. i will only be visiting my better half 1-2 months a year... dont think they can tax me sending myself money here if i dont live here...

If you are not in Thailand 180 or more per calendar year you are a tax resident so you wouldn't be taxed on that money.

[david555]

So max, 6 month's lease contracts shall become a standard need requirements for condo rent for a big group of expats instead of the 1 year contracts .......

 

"Real estate's " / landlords , adapt to that or loose

[tomacht8]

In 2023, the inflow of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Thailand was around 4.6 billion US dollars. The outflow in the same year was around 10.4 billion US dollars.

Thailand reported the lowest real economic growth in all of Southeast Asia in the first quarter of 2024 at 1.5 percent compared to the same period last year. But the weak economic performance is no surprise. Thailand has been at the bottom of the region in terms of GDP growth for several years.

 

And now the RD wants to drive away the well-off long-term visitors, and who will now transfer money to Thailand to buy a condo or Thai stocks. That's just blind.

[save the frogs]

5 hours ago, Pouatchee said:

i will only be visiting my better half 1-2 months a year...

so that means she will have 6 other boyfriends.

that's not a relationship

[Mike Teavee]

7 hours ago, Pouatchee said:

so now they will have access to our home records... big brother... reallyyyy. 

CRS (Common Reporting Standard) means they already have that information. 

 

 

[itsari]

2 hours ago, david555 said:

So max, 6 month's lease contracts shall become a standard need requirements for condo rent for a big group of expats instead of the 1 year contracts .......

 

"Real estate's " / landlords , adapt to that or loose

The live in maids will have to adapt as well.

Splitting there time between two country hoppers will be difficult to work.

[david555]

13 minutes ago, itsari said:

The live in maids will have to adapt as well.

Splitting there time between two country hoppers will be difficult to work.

Nothing new for them , they did that before  already , so it is just a return to a former flexible life

[Gknrd]

Wow, I thought you guys said it was not going to happen?  Hard to get my head around taxation with out any benefits what so ever.  I need to visit the Philippines before all you guys invade... haha. That will be the Philippine woman's wet dream... Ha..

[mokwit]

8 hours ago, CharlieH said:

even if that income is not brought into Thailand.

So what do we get in return for this greedy grab?  I see in uptick in airport departure tax collections.