K bank E-mail with Tax Forms attached ?

[offset]

As anybody had an E-mail from Kbank asking to fill out 3 forms and return to them

 

Or is this a scam

[KhunBENQ]

Got it 20:04 (8:04 PM).

And it's obviously not a scam.

Tax topics come close.

What a time to send such email.

They want to spoil my weekend.

 

[KhunBENQ]

Quote

       We, KASIKORNBANK PUBLIC COMPANY LIMITED, would like to express our sincere gratitude for entrusting us in providing you our products and/or services. As part of Thailand’s participation in the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement on the Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information (MCAA CRS), financial institutions are obligated to submit certain information to the Revenue Department, Ministry of Finance, in accordance with the Emergency Decree on Exchange of Information for Compliance with International Agreements on Taxation, B.E. 2566 (2023) and related regulations (hereinafter collectively referred to as the “CRS”).
       The CRS aims to combat tax evasion by individuals residing outside Thailand and to ensure compliance with international taxation standards. In light of these requirements, we kindly request your cooperation in completing the following steps:
       1. complete and sign the attached forms, which include:
           1.1 FATCA/CRS Individual Self-Certification,
           1.2 IRS Form W-9 (if applicable), and
           1.3 IRS Form W-8BEN (if applicable);
       2. provide a certified true copy of your passport; and
       3. return the completed forms and document(s) abovementioned to us by email at [email protected] no later than December 20, 2024.

[G_Money]

13 minutes ago, offset said:

As anybody had an E-mail from Kbank asking to fill out 3 forms and return to them

 

Or is this a scam

I have been with them for years.  Never experienced what you have.

 

Personally I would think more scam than not.

 

Do nothing online and go to your branch soon and ask them.

[KhunBENQ]

10 minutes ago, G_Money said:

Personally I would think more scam than not.

Not the slightest indication of a scam.

And the attached forms are no joke believe me!

 

Title of the forms:

1.1 FATCA-CRS FORM_INDIVIDUAL.pdf
1.2 Form W-9.pdf
1.3 Form W-8BEN.pdf

 

It will be interesting to learn whether all Kbank customer get this or only "very old" customers. Account opened in 2009. Can't remember whether I had to sign the usual "non US" confirmation" which was part of account opening at Bangkok Bank and SCB.

Edited 3 hours ago by KhunBENQ
whether I had to sign

[KhunBENQ]

Does this look a scam? First few lines of the FACTA stuff.

 

[CharlieH]

From Kasikorn Bank, assume other banks will follow suit.

 

.

Dear Valued Customer,

       We, KASIKORNBANK PUBLIC COMPANY LIMITED, would like to express our sincere gratitude for entrusting us in providing you our products and/or services. As part of Thailand’s participation in the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement on the Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information (MCAA CRS), financial institutions are obligated to submit certain information to the Revenue Department, Ministry of Finance, in accordance with the Emergency Decree on Exchange of Information for Compliance with International Agreements on Taxation, B.E. 2566 (2023) and related regulations (hereinafter collectively referred to as the “CRS”).
       The CRS aims to combat tax evasion by individuals residing outside Thailand and to ensure compliance with international taxation standards. In light of these requirements, we kindly request your cooperation in completing the following steps:
       1. complete and sign the attached forms, which include:
           1.1 FATCA/CRS Individual Self-Certification,
           1.2 IRS Form W-9 (if applicable), and
           1.3 IRS Form W-8BEN (if applicable);
       2. provide a certified true copy of your passport; and
       3. return the completed forms and document(s) abovementioned to us by email at K-CustomerFATCACRSUpdate@kasikornbank.com no later than December 20, 2024.
       We sincerely appreciate your prompt attention to this matter and apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. If you have already completed these actions or your information has already been up-to-date, please kindly disregard this request.
       Should you have any questions or require clarification regarding the CRS or how it applies to your specific situation, please consult with your legal or tax advisor. You may also refer to the Revenue Department, Ministry of Finance, for further guidance. Please note that KASIKORNBANK PUBLIC COMPANY LIMITED does not provide you any tax or legal advice, and we shall not be held liable for any damages, whether direct or indirect, arising from your use of or reliance on any information provided by us related to CRS or taxation.
       If you have any questions or require any assistance, please do not hesitate to contact K-Contact Center at Tel: 02-888-8888, ext. 876.
       Please be informed that, in accordance with our policy, none of your personal information shall be requested via telephone or SMS.


Best regards,
KASIKORNBANK PUBLIC COMPANY LIMITED

[G_Money]

5 minutes ago, KhunBENQ said:

Does this look a scam? First few lines of the FACTA stuff.

 

The OP never mentioned these forms,  Only emails.

 

Regardless I would still go to the bank with the forms already filled out.

 

You are free to do it your way 

[KhunBENQ]

7 minutes ago, G_Money said:

Regardless I would still go to the bank with the forms already filled out.

That's a plausible advice.

Also what is a "true certified copy of passport" via email?

But I will try what others did: getting a TIN at the revenue department.

I already had an interest tax refund in 2013 but not sure whether I have a valid TIN.

Edited 3 hours ago by KhunBENQ

[Dmaxdan]

All I can see is an email address and nothing else.

[Upnotover]

27 minutes ago, KhunBENQ said:

The CRS aims to combat tax evasion by individuals residing outside Thailand

Outside?  So where do you live?  I know where this email is going if i get it.

[hotandsticky]

Dear Valued Customer,

 

       We, KASIKORNBANK PUBLIC COMPANY LIMITED, would like to express our sincere gratitude for entrusting us in providing you our products and/or services. As part of Thailand’s participation in the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement on the Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information (MCAA CRS), financial institutions are obligated to submit certain information to the Revenue Department, Ministry of Finance, in accordance with the Emergency Decree on Exchange of Information for Compliance with International Agreements on Taxation, B.E. 2566 (2023) and related regulations (hereinafter collectively referred to as the “CRS”).

       The CRS aims to combat tax evasion by individuals residing outside Thailand and to ensure compliance with international taxation standards. In light of these requirements, we kindly request your cooperation in completing the following steps:

       1. complete and sign the attached forms, which include:

           1.1 FATCA/CRS Individual Self-Certification,

           1.2 IRS Form W-9 (if applicable), and

           1.3 IRS Form W-8BEN (if applicable);

       2. provide a certified true copy of your passport; and

       3. return the completed forms and document(s) abovementioned to us by email at [email protected] no later than December 20, 2024.

       We sincerely appreciate your prompt attention to this matter and apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. If you have already completed these actions or your information has already been up-to-date, please kindly disregard this request.

       Should you have any questions or require clarification regarding the CRS or how it applies to your specific situation, please consult with your legal or tax advisor. You may also refer to the Revenue Department, Ministry of Finance, for further guidance. Please note that KASIKORNBANK PUBLIC COMPANY LIMITED does not provide you any tax or legal advice, and we shall not be held liable for any damages, whether direct or indirect, arising from your use of or reliance on any information provided by us related to CRS or taxation.

       If you have any questions or require any assistance, please do not hesitate to contact K-Contact Center at Tel: 02-888-8888, ext. 876.

       Please be informed that, in accordance with our policy, none of your personal information shall be requested via telephone or SMS.

 

 

Best regards,

KASIKORNBANK PUBLI

C COMPANY LIMITED

[G_Money]

3 minutes ago, KhunBENQ said:

That's a plausible advice.

Also what is a "true certified copy of passport" via email?

But I will try what others did: getting a TIN at the revenue department.

I already had a tax return in 2013 but not sure whether I have a valid TIN.

If these are US forms the TIN is a U.S. issued number, not completely necessary as your SSN is sufficient but some people don’t want to use their SSN

 

The TIN from the Thai revenue office is for Thai tax identification.

 

Not used on the US form.

 

That is how I understand it.  

 

 

[KhunBENQ]

1 minute ago, Upnotover said:

So where do you live?

In Thailand

[G_Money]

2 minutes ago, KhunBENQ said:

In Thailand

Do file every year provided you have the required income?

US taxes 

 

Edited 3 hours ago by G_Money

[Chomper Higgot]

Yes, just received the email from K-Bank.

 

[ukrules]

Has anyone who's not from the US received this email...so far?

I see they mention CRS as well which is a non US thing.

[Bazle]

10 minutes ago, ukrules said:

Has anyone who's not from the US received this email...so far?

I see they mention CRS as well which is a non US thing.

Yes. I'm in the UK.

The forms seem quite US tax orientated. The W-9 and W-8BEN are IRS forms, which are not applicable to me, but the FATCA form I will need to complete. Most of the questions there are US-related, but not all. In particular, it asks for my Thai Tax Identification Number (TIN), a  mandatory question if I have taxable income in Thailand. I do have, as I have bank interest. But there is a section in which I have to explain why I don't have a TIN.

 

If I am not a resident of Thailand or the US, it also asks for my non-Thai address and my overseas TIN.

[JohnnyBD]

I haven't received anything from Kasikorn yet. I already filled out the forms listed in the above notice when I opened my account in 2018. I also report my accounts to the US gov't every year using FBAR reporting.

Edited 2 hours ago by JohnnyBD

[CharlieH]

From what I can make of the forms it's all about US citizens  etc

[Bingo66]

I got this email and I wouldn't open PDFs incase their malware, I can see they're about IRS ... IRS is for Americans, i'm not an American citizen there is no way I would open this stuff, IRS is not even a recongised term in Thailand why would the bank be sending me forms about the IRS?

 

You should be very careful theres not malware attached to these PDFs and someone sold our data or has been breached.

Edited 2 hours ago by Bingo66

[KhunBENQ]

If that was not clear:

I am in no way related to the US.

 

I live in Thailand since 2011.

Have no address / residence in Switzerland (citizen) nor Germany where my pensions come from.

Have a German bank account and the bank treats me as a non tax resident.

 

[KhunBENQ]

22 minutes ago, CharlieH said:

From what I can make of the forms it's all about US citizens  etc

Yes and not a surprise to me as I had to sign forms confirming that I am not a US citizen, no US phone number/adress etc.pp. when opening bank account at Bangkok Bank.

Enough for today...

[JohnnyBD]

9 minutes ago, KhunBENQ said:

If that was not clear:

I am in no way related to the US.

 

I live in Thailand since 2011.

Have no address / residence in Switzerland (citizen) nor Germany where my pensions come from.

Have a German bank account and the bank treats me as a non tax resident.

 

That's strange they would send a non-US citizen the IRS reporting forms. It will be interesting to see if they send it to all of their customers. I haven't received anything from Kasikorn yet. I filled out the forms when I opened my Kasikorn account in 2018.

Edited 2 hours ago by JohnnyBD

[Lorry]

This email and the forms are the normal self-certification for FATCA/CRS.

Necessary for the bank to participate. 

Every bank should have sent this to all old customers in the beginning of the year. Some are slow. (Actually, all are slow.)

New customers should have given all this information to the bank when opening the account. Some old customers may have provided this information, but cannot remember it.

 

They are very US-centric because the land of the free is the most intrusive one the US asks a lot more than the EU (CRS is basically the EU version of FATCA - I know this is a simplification)

[SABloke]

Kasikorn has gone from being very foreign user friendly to being a pain in the ass. Surprisingly KTB (government) allowed me to update information and do some other services without my bank books out of province (just a few verification phone calls to account branch - as they do with Thai citizens), whereas Kbank cited "government regulations" not letting me do the same. 

 

Relating to these docs: what happens if we don't reply by 20 December?

[SABloke]

2 hours ago, KhunBENQ said:

That's a plausible advice.

Also what is a "true certified copy of passport" via email?

But I will try what others did: getting a TIN at the revenue department.

I already had an interest tax refund in 2013 but not sure whether I have a valid TIN.

 

From my experience "certified" in Thai banking means signed by the account holder.

[Everyman]

Have any U.S. citizens received this email who opened their accounts (somewhat) recently and already filled out the usual FACTA forms? 

 

The US is not a signatory to CRS, but they do have their own crap so hopefully for US citizens this is limited to older accounts that don’t have FACTA on file.