Thai tax tangle: Expats warned of new rules on overseas income

[jwest10]

As a matter of interest has anyone booked a so-called free consultancy with the expats site and have cancelled  a meeting further on in March but several times my local Revenue office state I simply do not need to file and yes my personal allowances exceed my assessable income so not tax to pay.

I know about this 220K but if you had a neeting was it useful coz we are being swamped with so many differing view points.
Thank and not filing

[Badrabbit]

2 minutes ago, jwest10 said:

As a matter of interest has anyone booked a so-called free consultancy with the expats site and have cancelled  a meeting further on in March but several times my local Revenue office state I simply do not need to file and yes my personal allowances exceed my assessable income so not tax to pay.

I know about this 220K but if you had a neeting was it useful coz we are being swamped with so many differing view points.
Thank and not filing

Pay them loads of money to find out.

[jwest10]

As I have been  told several times  by my local Revenue  Office I do not need to file a tax return and yes my personal allwances and exemptions are higher than my assessable income.
And not going to and aware of this 220k but that is for employment income.

As a matter of interest  has anyone had a 15 so-called free consultation with Carl Turners ex pat firm as they seem as many other complicate matters with so many differing opinions. 
Thanks all

[anchadian]

47 minutes ago, jwest10 said:

As I have been  told several times  by my local Revenue  Office I do not need to file a tax return and yes my personal allwances and exemptions are higher than my assessable income.
And not going to and aware of this 220k but that is for employment income.

As a matter of interest  has anyone had a 15 so-called free consultation with Carl Turners ex pat firm as they seem as many other complicate matters with so many differing opinions. 
Thanks all

In how many posts have you stated this as stated in your first para?

I'd need a calculator to add them all up.

Yawn.

 

[topt]

8 minutes ago, anchadian said:

In how many posts have you stated this as stated in your first para?

I'd need a calculator to add them all up.

Yawn.

 

Thanks - I have been wanting to say this for months...........

[cliveshep]

Can someone please help me out here? So many posts but cannot recall seeing anything definitive about actual allowances.

 

I'm a retired Brit on a state pension, not large and much of it goes to support my wife's two spinster sisters. Given we are all struggling on one meagre UK basic pension and given the way the exchange rate has hit us badly I really want to know what allowances would be mine, and what the sisters. Thinking to transfer the pension in 3 sums, one to me, one to my wife (who is the one who spends it anyway as she is in charge of bills) and one to my sil. Thinking is if it is transferred from the UK to 3 people instead of just me the fees might cost a little more with WISE but all 3  would have allowances to set against the money. We just cannot afford to lose any more to uncontrolled bills. Trump has screwed the exchange rate it seems.

 

So - what at age 79 would be the total amount I could transfer to my account before incurring a tax liability?

Ditto my wife and ditto her sister. Some good and sound correct advice would enable me to split the pension sensibly whereas if I transferred it all to me as I have been doing and then disbursed it I could be into a world of grief perhaps? 

[anchadian]

9 minutes ago, cliveshep said:

Can someone please help me out here? So many posts but cannot recall seeing anything definitive about actual allowances.

 

I'm a retired Brit on a state pension, not large and much of it goes to support my wife's two spinster sisters. Given we are all struggling on one meagre UK basic pension and given the way the exchange rate has hit us badly I really want to know what allowances would be mine, and what the sisters. Thinking to transfer the pension in 3 sums, one to me, one to my wife (who is the one who spends it anyway as she is in charge of bills) and one to my sil. Thinking is if it is transferred from the UK to 3 people instead of just me the fees might cost a little more with WISE but all 3  would have allowances to set against the money. We just cannot afford to lose any more to uncontrolled bills. Trump has screwed the exchange rate it seems.

 

So - what at age 79 would be the total amount I could transfer to my account before incurring a tax liability?

Ditto my wife and ditto her sister. Some good and sound correct advice would enable me to split the pension sensibly whereas if I transferred it all to me as I have been doing and then disbursed it I could be into a world of grief perhaps? 

Your state pension is assessable income.  Any of that income remitted over 150K would be taxable subject to any deductions and allowances.


 

[topt]

1 hour ago, cliveshep said:

So many posts but cannot recall seeing anything definitive about actual allowances.

I replied to you yesterday with the answer @anchadian provided above.

Did you actually look at it - genuinely curious?

[Mutt Daeng]

1 hour ago, anchadian said:

In how many posts have you stated this as stated in your first para?

I'd need a calculator to add them all up.

Yawn.

 

 

1 hour ago, topt said:

Thanks - I have been wanting to say this for months...........

Spot on

[Ricardo]

2 hours ago, cliveshep said:

I'm a retired Brit on a state pension, not large and much of it goes to support my wife's two spinster sisters. Given we are all struggling on one meagre UK basic pension and given the way the exchange rate has hit us badly I really want to know what allowances would be mine, and what the sisters. Thinking to transfer the pension in 3 sums, one to me, one to my wife (who is the one who spends it anyway as she is in charge of bills) and one to my sil. Thinking is if it is transferred from the UK to 3 people instead of just me the fees might cost a little more with WISE but all 3  would have allowances to set against the money. We just cannot afford to lose any more to uncontrolled bills. Trump has screwed the exchange rate it seems.

 

So - what at age 79 would be the total amount I could transfer to my account before incurring a tax liability?

Ditto my wife and ditto her sister. Some good and sound correct advice would enable me to split the pension sensibly whereas if I transferred it all to me as I have been doing and then disbursed it I could be into a world of grief perhaps? 

 

 

If you made a transfer to your wife or sisters, describe it as a "Gift", there's supposed to be a B10-million allowance for that.

 

So use your own full-allowance, see Anchadian's post above, then make a suitable 'Gift' to one of the sisters ?

[cliveshep]

1 hour ago, topt said:

I replied to you yesterday with the answer @anchadian provided above.

Did you actually look at it - genuinely curious?

Sorry, old age plus a lot going on right now. Guess I missed it. No offence intended.

[cliveshep]

3 hours ago, anchadian said:

Your state pension is assessable income.  Any of that income remitted over 150K would be taxable subject to any deductions and allowances.


 

Wow, does that mean I got 560,000 I can bring in tax free? Given my small pension if so that would cover it completely. 

[casula]

please forgive my ignorance. I am a resident. If my mother sends me money, does anyone have to pay taxes?

[motdaeng]

8 hours ago, casula said:

please forgive my ignorance. I am a resident. If my mother sends me money, does anyone have to pay taxes?

 

it doesn’t matter whether the money comes from your pension, business income, or transfers from friends and family ... you, as the recipient and tax resident, are responsible for paying taxes on any taxable money brought into thailand. the tax office does not differentiate who sent you the money.

 

people over 65 who receive a pension have a tax-free allowance of at least 500k. additionally, depending on the country, the DTA may provide further tax-exempts. savings from before 01.01.2024 can be transferred to thailand tax-free. insurance contributions and other expenses may also be partially deductible ..

 

 

 

[scorecard]

On 1/15/2025 at 10:27 PM, MikeandDow said:

 Yes, you can use a credit or debit card to pay in US$ in Thailand, but you should be aware of fees and exchange rates.

Possibly true for some vendors / banks but it's not a rule/regulation that banks / vendors have to accept payment in another currency.

[Etaoin Shrdlu]

9 hours ago, casula said:

please forgive my ignorance. I am a resident. If my mother sends me money, does anyone have to pay taxes?

 

It depends.

 

If your mother is not a tax resident in Thailand and she sends you money from abroad, then she is not subject to Thai income tax. If the money is hers and a legitimate gift to you, then you are not liable for income taxes. You would also not be liable for gift taxes unless the amount exceeds the threshold for gifts from parents of 20 million baht per year.

 

If you transferred money to your mother that would be assessable income under Thai tax regulations and she then transmitted it to you in an effort to avoid Thai taxation my making it appear as a gift, then it may not stand up under scrutiny if it came to the attention of the RD. I'm not sure whether this would also technically be considered money laundering under Thai law. In the past there had to be an underlying specific illegal activity (drug and human trafficking, for example) for it to be money laundering and I don't think tax evasion was one of them. I'm not sure whether this has changed in recent years.

 

[anrcaccount]

14 hours ago, cliveshep said:

Can someone please help me out here? So many posts but cannot recall seeing anything definitive about actual allowances.

 

I'm a retired Brit on a state pension, not large and much of it goes to support my wife's two spinster sisters. Given we are all struggling on one meagre UK basic pension and given the way the exchange rate has hit us badly I really want to know what allowances would be mine, and what the sisters. Thinking to transfer the pension in 3 sums, one to me, one to my wife (who is the one who spends it anyway as she is in charge of bills) and one to my sil. Thinking is if it is transferred from the UK to 3 people instead of just me the fees might cost a little more with WISE but all 3  would have allowances to set against the money. We just cannot afford to lose any more to uncontrolled bills. Trump has screwed the exchange rate it seems.

 

So - what at age 79 would be the total amount I could transfer to my account before incurring a tax liability?

Ditto my wife and ditto her sister. Some good and sound correct advice would enable me to split the pension sensibly whereas if I transferred it all to me as I have been doing and then disbursed it I could be into a world of grief perhaps? 

 

You're getting a a lot of well intentioned but uninformed advice here.

 

Your transfers of your pension, from your UK account to:

 

Your wife's account 

Your sister in laws account 

 

Can definitely be considered gifts -provided you comply with the principles.

 

You would have no Thai tax liability for these 2 transfers,  and neither would your wife or sister in law as the recipients. 

 

The remaining remittance to yourself maybe assessable income BUT will likely fall under thresholds as described by others to you, meaning no need for you to file a Thai tax return at all.

 

 

 

[cliveshep]

19 minutes ago, anrcaccount said:

 

You're getting a a lot of well intentioned but uninformed advice here.

 

Your transfers of your pension, from your UK account to:

 

Your wife's account 

Your sister in laws account 

 

Can definitely be considered gifts -provided you comply with the principles.

 

You would have no Thai tax liability for these 2 transfers,  and neither would your wife or sister in law as the recipients. 

 

The remaining remittance to yourself maybe assessable income BUT will likely fall under thresholds as described by others to you, meaning no need for you to file a Thai tax return at all.

 

 

 

Thank you so much. Right now I'm about thb14,000 over the threshold so the gift thing will pull the numbers down. You have no idea what a relief your answers are and I'm so thankful to you. Defo won't be filing any Thai tax return, one less chore.

[motdaeng]

18 minutes ago, anrcaccount said:

 

You're getting a a lot of well intentioned but uninformed advice here.

 

Your transfers of your pension, from your UK account to:

 

Your wife's account 

Your sister in laws account 

 

Can definitely be considered gifts -provided you comply with the principles.

 

You would have no Thai tax liability for these 2 transfers,  and neither would your wife or sister in law as the recipients. 

 

The remaining remittance to yourself maybe assessable income BUT will likely fall under thresholds as described by others to you, meaning no need for you to file a Thai tax return at all.

 

 

 

 

since you seem well-informed, please enlighten us all on the requirements for the thai revenue department to recognize something as a tax-free gift rather than a way to evade taxes. thanks for sharing your first-hand knowledge ... 

[anchadian]

1 hour ago, motdaeng said:

 

since you seem well-informed, please enlighten us all on the requirements for the thai revenue department to recognize something as a tax-free gift rather than a way to evade taxes. thanks for sharing your first-hand knowledge ... 

And more so especially if these other two remittances were sent on say a regular monthly basis. 

I don't think the RD would class them as tax free gifts.

[Yumthai]

3 hours ago, anchadian said:

And more so especially if these other two remittances were sent on say a regular monthly basis. 

I don't think the RD would class them as tax free gifts.

As the Thai tax resident giftee, receiving money tax-free (under certain threshold) from relatives is 100% compliant with the Thai gift tax law.

 

There is no evidence/report of Thai residents being penalized for not declaring (and not paying tax on) regular inward transfers from relatives.

[Yumthai]

4 hours ago, motdaeng said:

since you seem well-informed, please enlighten us all on the requirements for the thai revenue department to recognize something as a tax-free gift rather than a way to evade taxes. thanks for sharing your first-hand knowledge ... 

You definitely need to learn the difference between (legal) tax avoidance and (illegal) tax evasion.

[motdaeng]

49 minutes ago, Yumthai said:

You definitely need to learn the difference between (legal) tax avoidance and (illegal) tax evasion.

 

no need to teach me ... i wish everyone who tries the gift- route and wearing rosa sunglasses good luck ... teaching the TRD what is tax avoidance and what is tax evasions, that will be fun to watch ... 

[jwest10]

17 hours ago, cliveshep said:

Wow, does that mean I got 560,000 I can bring in tax free? Given my small pension if so that would cover it completely. 

Well mine is 500K as can not allow for my wife as she is not over 65  and yes everyone mentioning this 220K but that is if one has employment in Thailand.
Confirmed by my local Revenue Office and a Thai friend who has a Thai friend in there and do not fret you simply do not need one 

[jwest10]

17 hours ago, cliveshep said:

Wow, does that mean I got 560,000 I can bring in tax free? Given my small pension if so that would cover it completely. 

Precisely and see my latest post today and yes before and yes have dealt with this a lot but just conveying consistently what the local Revenue have stated.

[Yumthai]

4 minutes ago, motdaeng said:

no need to teach me ... i wish everyone who tries the gift- route and wearing rosa sunglasses good luck ... teaching the TRD what is tax avoidance and what is tax evasions, that will be fun to watch ... 

Your opinion is groundless. Thai residents gift each others with no tax consequences when in compliance with the gift rules.

[jwest10]

22 hours ago, Badrabbit said:

Pay them loads of money to find out.

Hidden costs for sure!!

[cliveshep]

1 hour ago, jwest10 said:

Well mine is 500K as can not allow for my wife as she is not over 65  and yes everyone mentioning this 220K but that is if one has employment in Thailand.
Confirmed by my local Revenue Office and a Thai friend who has a Thai friend in there and do not fret you simply do not need one 

My wife is only 41 so does that mean I cannot use her 60k? Well, I guess I can transfer 60k to her directly from the UK. As for gift rules, surely a monthly payment via WISE to a SIL is a gift, it is hardly payment for work, i.e. from a job so as said SIL is not married to me and not my responsibility then any money sent to her has to be a gift doesn't it?

[KhunHeineken]

On 3/5/2025 at 3:45 AM, cliveshep said:

There vis no way at my age I'm getting a migraine reading all 77 pages of this stuff.

So, do nothing and roll the dice. 

 

I wonder what the Thai's have planned for the farang that don't pay. 

[KhunHeineken]

7 hours ago, motdaeng said:

 

since you seem well-informed, please enlighten us all on the requirements for the thai revenue department to recognize something as a tax-free gift rather than a way to evade taxes. thanks for sharing your first-hand knowledge ... 

I agree. 

 

Just typing "Gift" as the reference in the bank transfer isn't going to cut it.