K bank E-mail with Tax Forms attached ?

[MangoKorat]

2 minutes ago, Gobbler said:

What is DWP?

 

Department of Work and Pensions - UK

[MangoKorat]

7 minutes ago, hotandsticky said:

 

 

Unconnected.

 

This has nothing to do with false/non declarations to the DWP.

On the contrary.  This is all about information sharing between countries who have agreements aimed at identifying tax evasion/money laundering.  Many UK citizens live in Thailand without actually notifying any UK authorities that they now reside outside the UK.

 

If you think that the UK tax authorities and the DWP are not connected and that they do not share information, you are sadly misinformed.

 

'DWP and HMRC work very closely together, and share information often.'

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-work-pensions/about/personal-information-charter

[MangoKorat]

Would I be correct in stating that as a UK citizen, I only have to complete the FACTA/CRS forms?

 

The other documents seem to relate to US citizens.

[trevoromgh]

10 minutes ago, MangoKorat said:

Would I be correct in stating that as a UK citizen, I only have to complete the FACTA/CRS forms?

 

The other documents seem to relate to US citizens.

Well on the covering note to the email it says "(if applicable)" so as you are NOT a US Citizen then you don't have to submit those is how I read it.

[Etaoin Shrdlu]

7 hours ago, Jingthing said:

What are the consequences if you never fill the forms and they never ask? 

 

I think the US recognizes that not all banks are in the position to defy local privacy laws, so banks were given leeway to segregate their accountholders into those who complied and those who are recalcitrant. I think the balances and transactions of recalcitrant accountholders was to be pooled and reported in the aggregate without identifying individual account holders. This gave the banks a means of complying with FATCA without breaking local privacy laws. 

 

Because of this, I doubt that most banks would take the nuclear option of closing an average expat's account, but it's anyone's guess what a Thai bank may do. I also don't know about CRS or have any insight into Thai laws in this area, which I understand were amended in order to facilitate CRS and FATCA compliance by the banks.

[Gobbler]

19 minutes ago, trevoromgh said:

Well on the covering note to the email it says "(if applicable)" so as you are NOT a US Citizen then you don't have to submit those is how I read it.

 

 

I'll write it again: I was born in the United States of America but I am not a US person. 

[anrcaccount]

2 hours ago, TonyFoster said:

First post on the forum from me. 

 

I too received this email. 

 

I think we should be well beyond entertaining the notion that it is a scam. It clearly is not. 

 

I opened my K bank account in 2012 and everything has been smooth since then - except for the transition to KBIZ which was not exactly seamless for me. 

 

I reside outside of Thailand and always have. I have spent 5 months at a time there several times, but never reached the threshold for tax residency.  Currently, I am not in Thailand. However, i am cognizant of the fact that these days one of the key criteria for having bank account in Thailand appears to be residency as demonstrated by the possession of certain visa types.  I lack and in fact have never had these visas. 

 

I am concerned that if I complete the form truthfully and list an overseas tax residence, the account will be closed. I do not have a Thai TIN and I did actually attempt to obtain one about 5 years ago without success. I have condos in Thailand but the income from them after paying CAM fees and agent commissions falls below the income tax exemption threshold. This is why the tax office denied me a TIN.

 

I need the account to pay stuff like the CAM fees and also electricity / water as some tenants do not have a Thai bank account and can't manage it themselves. Losing account access would be a real bummer. 

 

So, guys what do you think I should do?  Declare a foreign tax residence (I live in a non-CRS country anyway) and risk account closure, or just go with Thai tax residence - no tax due anyway?

 

IMO just fill out the form and add your overseas tax residency and Foreign Tax ID.

 

Absolutely nothing else will happen after that. They will definitely not close your account due to you being a foreign tax resident.

 

That's not an issue at all for KBank.

 

 

 

 

[MangoKorat]

I'll complete the documents that I need to and send them a copy of my passport but they can stuff the certification bit.  They checked my passport last time I was in my branch in August.  A lawyer in the UK will probably want at least 3000 baht for that service.

[ukrules]

2 hours ago, TonyFoster said:

I am concerned that if I complete the form truthfully and list an overseas tax residence, the account will be closed.

 

It won't - you are not required to be a tax resident to hold a Thai bank account.

That kind of thing is an issue in the UK because I believe the retail branch level banks aren't allowed to act as offshore accounts for previous residents.

[garygooner]

8 hours ago, kingstonkid said:

Just been at  kbank for help with FACTA paperwork it was too easy.All they wanted was my name nationality passport number place of birth.They only want a Thai TIN number if you work in Thailand.Said tick no for all the US questions and ignore the tax resident in another country bit.Sign and date and the jobs a good 'un.Took 2 minutes.

That's great. Where was this?  

[Bazle]

40 minutes ago, MangoKorat said:

I'll complete the documents that I need to and send them a copy of my passport but they can stuff the certification bit.  They checked my passport last time I was in my branch in August.  A lawyer in the UK will probably want at least 3000 baht for that service.

Re certification, I just wrote on the passport photocopy: "I certify that this is a true copy of my passport", and then signed it.

[hotandsticky]

1 hour ago, MangoKorat said:

On the contrary.  This is all about information sharing between countries who have agreements aimed at identifying tax evasion/money laundering.  Many UK citizens live in Thailand without actually notifying any UK authorities that they now reside outside the UK.

 

If you think that the UK tax authorities and the DWP are not connected and that they do not share information, you are sadly misinformed.

 

'DWP and HMRC work very closely together, and share information often.'

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-work-pensions/about/personal-information-charter

 

You have made separate statements - neither of which provide any evidence that what is happening in the UK is connected to K Bank's current request.

 

All departments have the ability to interchange information; it just that they only/usually reserve it for high value situations.  

 

A friend recently returned from the UK. The length of his stay was uncertain (family terminal illness) so he advised DWP of his arrival. He was told to advise them when he returned to Thailand. He didn't advise DWP on his return ( he was going to take advantage of one more higher payment) but a few days later his payment came through at the previously frozen amount.

 

DWP could only have received that information from Immigration. 

[hotandsticky]

2 hours ago, Gobbler said:

What is DWP?

 

 

Googling would have offered you "Department for Work and Pensions"

[Upnotover]

12 minutes ago, Bazle said:

Re certification, I just wrote on the passport photocopy: "I certify that this is a true copy of my passport", and then signed it.

I suspect you did far more than is actually needed.

[topt]

23 minutes ago, ukrules said:

That kind of thing is an issue in the UK because I believe the retail branch level banks aren't allowed to act as offshore accounts for previous residents.

Not sure what you mean here.

Most, if not all banks, in the UK say you have to be a UK resident to open a new account. There have been quite a few threads on this.

 

In those threads there have been many reports of posters who have accounts and the banks know they live abroad and it has not been an issue.

 

Separately certain banks, Barclays springs to mind, have made it clear that they want to close accounts held by non resident account holders.