Avoid to pay tax

[mfd101]

3 minutes ago, NoDisplayName said:

 

(4) File a Thai tax return listing only Thai sourced income and ASSESSABLE foreign remittances, and use your interest withholding tax refund to buy a pizza and a beer.

 

If it's not assessable, currently up to you to determine, then you don't include it on the tax forms.

 

You only need to bring up DTA's in the unlikely event you're called in for questioning about your return, and the officer on deck does not accept "prior savings from before 2024" or "government pension" if your remittances are questioned.

OK, that makes sense. Certainly better than my (2) above. Will follow up.

 

Thanks for that.

[Ben Zioner]

7 hours ago, Presnock said:

If one wants to avoid ever paying taxes anywhere, that is a personal problem maybe.

You sound like someone who is happy to pay taxes.

[NoDisplayName]

11 minutes ago, mfd101 said:

OK, that makes sense. Certainly better than my (2) above. Will follow up.

 

Thanks for that.

 

Unless things have changed in the past week, Thai tax is still an honor system.

 

It's up to the victim to self-determine assessability of income sources.

 

In the most basic case, you have a personal exemption of 60K and then the 150K 0% tax band.  Never exceed 210K in remittance and you'll never cross the threshold to file a return.

 

There are additional exemptions: 60K for spouse, 190K for 65+ or handicapped, etc.

 

That's 60K of assessable income, which is earned after Jan 01, 2024.  You can remit any amount of pre-2024 income, classify it as non-assessable, and exclude it from your tax calculations.

 

You also may have additional non-assessable income (pensions, etc) depending on your country's DTA with Thailand.

 

If you do owe tax, the rate for 150-300K is only 5%.

[chiang mai]

22 minutes ago, NoDisplayName said:

 

Unless things have changed in the past week, Thai tax is still an honor system.

 

It's up to the victim to self-determine assessability of income sources.

 

In the most basic case, you have a personal exemption of 60K and then the 150K 0% tax band.  Never exceed 210K in remittance and you'll never cross the threshold to file a return.

 

There are additional exemptions: 60K for spouse, 190K for 65+ or handicapped, etc.

 

That's 60K of assessable income, which is earned after Jan 01, 2024.  You can remit any amount of pre-2024 income, classify it as non-assessable, and exclude it from your tax calculations.

 

You also may have additional non-assessable income (pensions, etc) depending on your country's DTA with Thailand.

 

If you do owe tax, the rate for 150-300K is only 5%.

"Never exceed 210K in remittance and you'll never cross the threshold to file a return".

 

Don't shoot the messenger but the rules say the threshold is 60k of assessable income.

[anrcaccount]

A simple answer: 

 

Don't file a tax return.

 

 

 

 

[NoDisplayName]

54 minutes ago, chiang mai said:

"Never exceed 210K in remittance and you'll never cross the threshold to file a return".

 

Don't shoot the messenger but the rules say the threshold is 60k of assessable income.

 

Yes, you are correct!  I should have said

 

"Never exceed 210K in remittance and you'll never cross the threshold to owe tax".

 

i won't take sides in the argument over the requirement to file a return if over the threshold but not owing tax.  I file with zero assessable remittance anyway for refund of pizza money.

 

 

[sandyf]

1 hour ago, NoDisplayName said:

Still tourists, and would technically be subject to taxation, but unlikely to ever pay or be caught up.

Generally.

I know quite a few genuine tourists that have bank accounts and they pay withholding tax, but time has made that more difficult so becoming less common.

[KhunHeineken]

1 hour ago, anrcaccount said:

A simple answer: 

 

Don't file a tax return.

 

 

 

 

And the Thai government's possible, and easy solution to that is to make every foreigner produce a tax clearance certificate at extension time.

 

Obvious, isn't it? 

[Jack1988]

I've one more question and maybe it could be a bit silly haha. Let's say I come back to Thailand on 2025 and I stay less than 180 days and I will come back again on 2026 always for less than 180 days! Will I have to pay tax or not in this case? I hope you got my (silly) question 

[The Cyclist]

56 minutes ago, KhunHeineken said:

And the Thai government's possible, and easy solution to that is to make every foreigner produce a tax clearance certificate at extension time.

 

Obvious, isn't it? 

 

That is not really going to work.

 

There are many that do not need to file a tax return due to DTA's.

 

The whole reason I joined this forum last year was to try and establish if I needed to file a tax return on income that was only taxable in UK due to DTA.

 

 

[Presnock]

11 hours ago, Ben Zioner said:

You sound like someone who is happy to pay taxes.

over 200 years ago, Benjamin Franklin a co-signer of the US Declaration of Independence, was qoted as saying the only thingsconstant in life are death and taxes (or words to that effect)  Governments' budgets need an income source - TAXES unless they have an abundance of oil or precious minierals.  So while I do not like taxes, I realize their necessity - my dislike stems from how the rich could afford to pay more at least in the US.  They make record profits but as one can see, their workers making money for them don't always get to share those profits thus strikes affecting even other folks.  

[Presnock]

8 hours ago, The Cyclist said:

 

That is not really going to work.

 

There are many that do not need to file a tax return due to DTA's.

 

The whole reason I joined this forum last year was to try and establish if I needed to file a tax return on income that was only taxable in UK due to DTA.

 

 

not only the DTA exemptions but LTR or low paying pensions that are not assessable

[chiang mai]

8 hours ago, Jack1988 said:

I've one more question and maybe it could be a bit silly haha. Let's say I come back to Thailand on 2025 and I stay less than 180 days and I will come back again on 2026 always for less than 180 days! Will I have to pay tax or not in this case? I hope you got my (silly) question 

If you stay in Thailand for less than 179 days in any calendar year, you are not considered Thai tax resident, unless you are Thai.

[chiang mai]

10 hours ago, anrcaccount said:

A simple answer: 

 

Don't file a tax return.

 

 

 

 

Even if required to do so because you owe tax? Are you advocating that members break the law?

[Presnock]

23 hours ago, Jack1988 said:

Thanks for the answers. So I am not taxable if for example I put not more than 150000 THB in my Thai bank account? And I don't have to get a tax identification number? TIN

sounds right...but I am no tax expert and I know Iwon't have to pay anything in thailand but what I do realize, is that even if we don't have to pay any taxes, the odds are that we all will have more trees to be killed due to the paperwork that will be necessary for us to fill out probably every year!

[Jack1988]

24 minutes ago, chiang mai said:

If you stay in Thailand for less than 179 days in any calendar year, you are not considered Thai tax resident, unless you are Thai.

That's great 😃 

[Jack1988]

Will I be taxable if I come back to Thailand with a multi entry tourist visa? Because METV is 6 months

[chiang mai]

11 minutes ago, Jack1988 said:

Will I be taxable if I come back to Thailand with a multi entry tourist visa? Because METV is 6 months

If you stay in Thailand for less than 179 days in any calendar year, you are not considered Thai tax resident, unless you are Thai. Tax residency has nothing to do with visa type.

[UKresonant]

23 hours ago, chiang mai said:

There are several parts to this.

 

The first is that the amount of money you remit is only one factor, the other is the asessability to tax of that money. Technically, anything more than 60k baht of assessable funds, requires you to obtain a TIN and file a tax return. That is not to say you will pay tax on those funds, you wont, but those are the rules. The perceived common practise however is slightly different in that many people tend not to file a tax return, until they actually owe tax, which means remitting assessable income that is greater than the value of the deductions and allowances etc.

 

 

 

 

It is possible, that the TEDA amounts do not exist,  unless they are recorded and signed via a tax filing, for each respective year....?

[Jack1988]

13 minutes ago, chiang mai said:

If you stay in Thailand for less than 179 days in any calendar year, you are not considered Thai tax resident, unless you are Thai. Tax residency has nothing to do with visa type.

Yes but METvisa is 180 days so you will have to pay tax isn't it?

[UKresonant]

2 minutes ago, Jack1988 said:

Yes but METvisa is 180 days so you will have to pay tax isn't it?

If you are physically present (for.any second of the day), for no more , cumulatively, than 179 days ( you have also no Thai income),  should be fine.

 

The visa duration does not matter, it is physical presence, that matters.

 

[chiang mai]

40 minutes ago, Jack1988 said:

Yes but METvisa is 180 days so you will have to pay tax isn't it?

If you stay in Thailand for less than 179 days in any calendar year, you are not considered Thai tax resident, unless you are Thai. Tax residency has nothing to do with visa type.

[Jack1988]

6 minutes ago, chiang mai said:

If you stay in Thailand for less than 179 days in any calendar year, you are not considered Thai tax resident, unless you are Thai. Tax residency has nothing to do with visa type.

I understood that but if I have a METvisa for example and I will exit Thailand after 60 days to do a border run and I will come back again in a few days will I be exempt from tax? This always in a calendar year 

[chiang mai]

14 minutes ago, Jack1988 said:

I understood that but if I have a METvisa for example and I will exit Thailand after 60 days to do a border run and I will come back again in a few days will I be exempt from tax? This always in a calendar year 

I cannot say it more clearly, it depends on the total number of days that you spend physically in Thailand, according to the stamps in your passport. The visa that you hold is not relevant to tax.

[TheAppletons]

17 minutes ago, Jack1988 said:

I understood that but if I have a METvisa for example and I will exit Thailand after 60 days to do a border run and I will come back again in a few days will I be exempt from tax? This always in a calendar year 

 

  I don't think you do understand.

 

  Again, if you stay in Thailand for 180 days or more in any calendar year, you'll become a tax resident.  It doesn't have to be 180 consecutive days - it's cumulative throughout the year.  

 

  Whether you do a border run or not, it's 180 days or more per calendar year.  Whether you have a visa that potentially allows you to stay for 180 days doesn't matter - as long as you don't stay 180 days or more.  

[Yumthai]

29 minutes ago, chiang mai said:

If you stay in Thailand for less than 179 days in any calendar year, you are not considered Thai tax resident, unless you are Thai.

Thai tax residence rule apply the same for everyone, foreigners and citizens.

[chiang mai]

1 minute ago, Yumthai said:

Thai tax residence rule apply the same for everyone, foreigners and citizens.

Yes, I was wrong on that.....I'm sure I had something in mind when I wrote that but what it was exactly will remain one of life's great mysteries. 🙂

[Jack1988]

Got it thanks. And what about retired and married foreigners? Do they have to pay tax? 

[TheAppletons]

12 minutes ago, Jack1988 said:

Got it thanks. And what about retired and married foreigners? Do they have to pay tax? 

 

  No because all of them leave after 179 days and go somewhere else for the rest of the year.  

[chiang mai]

10 minutes ago, Jack1988 said:

Got it thanks. And what about retired and married foreigners? Do they have to pay tax? 

Dude, are you taking the pith?