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

[henryford1958]

1 hour ago, The Cyclist said:

 

There is no Reference to DTA's on the RD website, because the RD website covers Thai Domestic Tax Policy.

 

Foreigners who are Thai Tax Residents fall under Thai Domestic Tax Policy.

 

DTA's are Bilateral International Agreements, that are outwith Thai Domestic Tax Policy.

 

It is really quite simple. As a Thai Tax Resident ( Over 180 days a year ) you comply with Thai Domestic Tax Policy.

 

By dint of a totally separate Bilateral International Agreement ( DTA ) you may, under Thai Domestic Tax Policy,

 

* Be exempt from paying Tax in Thailand.

 

* Tax Credits may mean you have little or no tax to pay.

 

* Some forms of income will still be subject to taxation in Thailand.

 

A DTA, does not stop a foreigner, who is a Thai Tax Resident, complying with Thai Domestic Tax Policy / Law.

 

 

From recollection, income prior to 31 /12/2023 is exempt taxation ( as long as you have paperwork to prove it ).

 

 

Enforcement

 

So how does one get these exemptions or tax credits. Do you have to file a tax return and pay maybe a large amount of thai tax and then argue with the TRD for a refund ?

[The Cyclist]

16 minutes ago, henryford1958 said:

 

So how does one get these exemptions or tax credits. Do you have to file a tax return and pay maybe a large amount of thai tax and then argue with the TRD for a refund ?

 

Best to do nothing Henry,  and ignore it all. 

 

Head in the sand Policy, is always the best Policy.

[Yumthai]

31 minutes ago, The Cyclist said:

Head in the sand Policy, is always the best Policy.

It definitely is in Thailand.

[motdaeng]

1 hour ago, Yumthai said:

1 hour ago, The Cyclist said:

Head in the sand Policy, is always the best Policy.

It definitely is in Thailand.

 

till it isn't ... 

[JackGats]

On 4/9/2025 at 12:52 PM, Dogmatix said:

 

It would be interesting to see reports of people who have filed PND90s for foreign income remitted to Thailand last year.  It seems the only way to do this and claim DTA benefits if by filing in person at an RD office, assuming they know how to do, which seems doubtful in most locations.

I filed PND 91 for dividends. When I visited TRD in order to get the excess dividend tax refunded, I was asked about my remittances. I hadn't mentioned my remittances in my filing as I had assumed they were tax-exempt as per LTR visa. TRD ignored LTR and went on to tax my remittance. I paid nothing as the tax on my remittance and the refund I was entitled to canceled out. I didn't claim any DTA benefits (I wouldn't even know which DTA, if any, applies in my case).

 

By the way, does somebody know whether you can claim a refund of overpaid dividends if you are not a tax resident of Thailand, ie if you staid less than 180 days?

[oldcpu]

2 hours ago, JackGats said:

I filed PND 91 for dividends. When I visited TRD in order to get the excess dividend tax refunded, I was asked about my remittances. I hadn't mentioned my remittances in my filing as I had assumed they were tax-exempt as per LTR visa. TRD ignored LTR and went on to tax my remittance. I paid nothing as the tax on my remittance and the refund I was entitled to canceled out. I didn't claim any DTA benefits (I wouldn't even know which DTA, if any, applies in my case).

 

Reads to me that TRD may have made a mistake, depending on which LTR you have.

 

2 hours ago, JackGats said:

 

By the way, does somebody know whether you can claim a refund of overpaid dividends if you are not a tax resident of Thailand, ie if you staid less than 180 days?

 

I suspect you can if you can prove over paid. But I don't know for certain. 

[JackGats]

5 hours ago, oldcpu said:

 

Reads to me that TRD may have made a mistake, depending on which LTR you have.

 

 

 

Wealthy Pensioner's. TRD showed no willingness to consider the LTR exemption (Royal Decree). In my eFiling I had uploaded the Royal Decree in Thai, the TRD-instruction in Thai regarding said Royal Decree, and a screenshot of "no tax on foreign assets" from the LTR website. TRD staff printed out these 3 uploaded documents because I saw the print-outs with my own eyes in the paper file when I visited the TRD office.

[Yumthai]

22 minutes ago, JackGats said:

Wealthy Pensioner's. TRD showed no willingness to consider the LTR exemption (Royal Decree). In my eFiling I had uploaded the Royal Decree in Thai, the TRD-instruction in Thai regarding said Royal Decree, and a screenshot of "no tax on foreign assets" from the LTR website. TRD staff printed out these 3 uploaded documents because I saw the print-outs with my own eyes in the paper file when I visited the TRD office.

Your case is unfortunate but not surprising. You asked TRD for a tax refund. They are not happy. They make you pay regardless of the rules/law. They know you are not going to challenge their decision before the Court. And even if you do and fairly win at your own costs, these people have literally nothing to lose.

 

Moral of the story: Better stay away from TRD unless you are individually summoned to.

[oldcpu]

2 hours ago, JackGats said:

Wealthy Pensioner's. TRD showed no willingness to consider the LTR exemption (Royal Decree). In my eFiling I had uploaded the Royal Decree in Thai, the TRD-instruction in Thai regarding said Royal Decree, and a screenshot of "no tax on foreign assets" from the LTR website. TRD staff printed out these 3 uploaded documents because I saw the print-outs with my own eyes in the paper file when I visited the TRD office.

 

Interesting.  I wonder what BoI would think about that?  

 

Still, as pointed out, its likely not worth the effort to chase down this further.  Even though its been around new for a few years, not all Thai government organisations know how the LTR visa should be handled. 

 

While not taxation related, when I first went to apply at the local transportation department within the past year (for the province where I live in Thailand), for an International driver's license,  I was initially refused.  My Thai wife and I chatted with the head of this government branch office and they noted if I was on a Type-O/OA visa they would allow me to get such, but not on an LTR visa.  Why?  Because the current procedures did not list the  LTR visa for such.  After a very polite chat I noted I would chat with BoI to see if they could better promulgate their policy with regard to the lTR visa and International Driver's licenses.   The head of the local Transportation office noted on their "end" they would check up their (transportation department) chain.  A few hours later when back at home, my wife received a phone call from the Transport Office saying, come in to the office and they would allow me to obtain the International Driver's licence.  The branch head checked, found LTR Visas could get such a license, but the procedures had not yet been updated across Thailand.

 

While this (taxation) is very different, I wonder if there is something similar taking place, where procedures relation to taxation of LTR visas has not yet been updated to all provincial tax offices.

 

[JackGats]

32 minutes ago, oldcpu said:

 

Interesting.  I wonder what BoI would think about that?  

 

...

 

I sent the LTR team an e-mail. I got no reply, which I took as a kind of reply, or at least a bad omen regarding the LTR tax-exemption. As a contrast, during the visa application procedure, the LTR team had always been very quick to answer any query.

[JohnnyBD]

48 minutes ago, JackGats said:

I sent the LTR team an e-mail. I got no reply, which I took as a kind of reply, or at least a bad omen regarding the LTR tax-exemption. As a contrast, during the visa application procedure, the LTR team had always been very quick to answer any query.

Your situation is unfortunate, but I do not feel it's a bad omen for the rest of us. You're the only LTR-WP visa holder that I know of that had a problem. I did receive an email from BOI stating all my remitted income will be exempt, so I feel comfortable not filing a tax return. I hope you have better luck next year.

[PHJones]

May 19, 2025

This is nice ...

 

"Under the new guidelines, Thais with foreign income will not be taxed if they remit that income in the year it was earned or the following year. For example, if income is earned in 2025 and brought into Thailand in 2025 or 2026, it is not subject to tax."

[DezLez]

31 minutes ago, PHJones said:

May 19, 2025

This is nice ...

 

"Under the new guidelines, Thais with foreign income will not be taxed if they remit that income in the year it was earned or the following year. For example, if income is earned in 2025 and brought into Thailand in 2025 or 2026, it is not subject to tax."

Where is the link to that statement.

[PHJones]

"A source from the Finance Ministry who requested anonymity said the taxation of foreign income follows the residency-based principle, whereby Thailand taxes the income of individuals who reside in the country.

This rule applies to persons who stay in Thailand for 180 days or more and have foreign income."

[Sophon]

33 minutes ago, DezLez said:

Where is the link to that statement.

 

https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/general/3028760/department-to-amend-tax-on-foreign-income-remittance

[K2938]

1 hour ago, PHJones said:

May 19, 2025

This is nice ...

 

"Under the new guidelines, Thais with foreign income will not be taxed if they remit that income in the year it was earned or the following year. For example, if income is earned in 2025 and brought into Thailand in 2025 or 2026, it is not subject to tax."

Also saw the article, but what does it mean?  Back to the old rules where foreign income is NOT AT ALL taxed if you do this?
 

[ukrules]

26 minutes ago, Sophon said:

 

https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/general/3028760/department-to-amend-tax-on-foreign-income-remittance

 

The first signs of a roll-back, it's beginning to hit them where it hurts - in the remittances.

[freedomnow]

Told you they'd roll remitance tax back...🙃

 

FLIP

flop

 

Thailand

 

 

[Sophon]

49 minutes ago, ukrules said:

 

The first signs of a roll-back, it's beginning to hit them where it hurts - in the remittances.

 

Perhaps.

 

However, they want to tax foreign income, but they also don't want to limit capital inflows to Thailand. The logical solution is to no longer link taxation to transfers and just tax worldwide income for all tax residents, irrespective of whether the income is transferred to Thailand or not. That's what most countries in the world do.

[Yumthai]

1 hour ago, Sophon said:

https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/general/3028760/department-to-amend-tax-on-foreign-income-remittance

 

Under the new guidelines, Thais with foreign income will not be taxed if they remit that income in the year it was earned or the following year. For example, if income is earned in 2025 and brought into Thailand in 2025 or 2026, it is not subject to tax.

 

However, if the income is remitted after that period, normal tax obligations apply.

 

Great but it is only mentioned Thai people, what about foreigner residents?

[Equatorial]

26 minutes ago, Sophon said:

The logical solution is to no longer link taxation to transfers and just tax worldwide income for all tax residents, irrespective of whether the income is transferred to Thailand or not.

 

That would make Thailand extremely unattractive to high income earner expats.

 

Let's assume a person who has an income of USD $100,000. Pretty standard income in the US these days. Spends >180 days in Thailand. Easily spends THB 100,000 or more per month while in Thailand. Definitely contributes to the Thai economy. 

 

Now the taxman will tell him, thanks for spending a million Baht a year in our country - and we are now also going to tax you on your income of 3 million Thai Baht that you earned in the US. 

 

That would definitely cause a "giant sucking sound," to use the famous words of Ross Perot! 

[K2938]

12 minutes ago, Yumthai said:

 

Under the new guidelines, Thais with foreign income will not be taxed if they remit that income in the year it was earned or the following year. For example, if income is earned in 2025 and brought into Thailand in 2025 or 2026, it is not subject to tax.

 

However, if the income is remitted after that period, normal tax obligations apply.

 

Great but it is only mentioned Thai people, what about foreigner residents?

I do not think they intended to differentiate, but just used these words for simplicity

[K2938]

10 minutes ago, Equatorial said:

Let's assume a person who has an income of USD $100,000. Pretty standard income in the US these days. Spends >180 days in Thailand. Easily spends THB 100,000 or more per month while in Thailand. Definitely contributes to the Thai economy. 

 

Now the taxman will tell him, thanks for spending a million Baht a year in our country - and we are now also going to tax you on your income of 3 million Thai Baht that you earned in the US. 

 

That would definitely cause a "giant sucking sound," to use the famous words of Ross Perot! 

Well, but they are not talking about taxing global income right now.  That was an idea raised last year or the year before and apparently did not go anywhere...

And do not try to predict any legislative measures on the basis of logic🤣

 

[StayinThailand2much]

On 1/15/2025 at 6:22 PM, sungod said:

A lively debate where everyone left more confused than when they arrived no doubt.

 

Yeah, however, reading between the lines, it seems to be all about transferring funds to Thailand (as opposed to pensions), and credit card use.

 

So, no transfers from my overseas private account to Thailand, and no foreign credit card use here, means I'm scot-free?

[Sophon]

11 minutes ago, Equatorial said:

 

That would make Thailand extremely unattractive to high income earner expats.

 

Let's assume a person who has an income of USD $100,000. Pretty standard income in the US these days. Spends >180 days in Thailand. Easily spends THB 100,000 or more per month while in Thailand. Definitely contributes to the Thai economy. 

 

Now the taxman will tell him, thanks for spending a million Baht a year in our country - and we are now also going to tax you on your income of 3 million Thai Baht that you earned in the US. 

 

That would definitely cause a "giant sucking sound," to use the famous words of Ross Perot! 

 

Not really. In most countries the income will already have been taxed at higher rates than used here in Thailand, so with the credit you get for the tax already paid no tax will be due in Thailand.

 

Sure, there will be some expats for which this will result in extra tax, especially if they have income that is not taxed in their home country, but which is taxable in Thailand. But for the majority it will just cause extra paperwork. Most serious high earners are not living in Thailand anyway.

 

Despite what some people here think, this move to tax foreign earned income is aimed at Thai people, not expats. We are just caught in the cross-fire.

[K2938]

3 minutes ago, StayinThailand2much said:

 

Yeah, however, reading between the lines, it seems to be all about transferring funds to Thailand (as opposed to pensions), and credit card use.

 

So, no transfers from my overseas private account to Thailand, and no foreign credit card use here, means I'm scot-free?

Nobody knows what the precise rules will be, but your interpretation that pensions are no transfer of funds is hardly correct.  They might however in any event be covered by a double taxation agreement depending on your home country and the entity from which you receive the pension.

 

[tomkenet]

2 hours ago, Sophon said:

 

Perhaps.

 

However, they want to tax foreign income, but they also don't want to limit capital inflows to Thailand. The logical solution is to no longer link taxation to transfers and just tax worldwide income for all tax residents, irrespective of whether the income is transferred to Thailand or not. That's what most countries in the world do.

Nothing in this article that points in that direction, rather the opposite, so I wonder where you got this idea from.

[K2938]

3 hours ago, Yumthai said:

https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/general/3028760/department-to-amend-tax-on-foreign-income-remittance

Pretty much same thing in Thai:

https://www.thairath.co.th/money/economics/thai_economics/2859066

 

But they probably just translated the above article

 

 

[beammeup]

Weird article, at first it seems that they want to increase taxes, then further on it seems they want to roll back the Taxes on foreign remittences, Another one of those situations I think where we will need further enlightenment.

[tomkenet]

1 hour ago, beammeup said:

Weird article, at first it seems that they want to increase taxes, then further on it seems they want to roll back the Taxes on foreign remittences, Another one of those situations I think where we will need further enlightenment.

I don't see Bangkok post says they want to increase taxes, and my wife says the heading in Thai rat doesn't nessesarily mean that in Thai.