Nightmare at the Prachuap tax office

[SupermaNZ]

Sorry to hear that you had a frustrating experience.  In fairness to the staff at the Mueang Prachuap Khiri Khan Office - I filed my tax return there yesterday.  As this is the first year that I have been required to file - I was interested to see how the experience went.  The officer dealing with me was extremely helpful, and assisted me with setting up my e-filing account so that I can file future returns online instead of needing to visit an RD Thailand office.  They entered all of my data for me, linked my Thai wife's Thai ID to my account (for verification of the taxation allowance granted with respect to her) - and completed the tax return there and then on the spot.  They then printed a copy of everything that they had done for my records, free of charge.  I couldn't have been happier with their service.

 

I'm sure that it is as difficult for some Thai people dealing with foreigners as it is for us dealing with them, given the complexity of the Thai language, and the low level of English language skills sometimes encountered.

 

While not advice of any kind - perhaps one approach that you could take is to adhere to the large warning signs posted throughout RD Thailand offices - reminding customers that RD Thailand staff are there solely to administratively assist, and that it is the (sole) responsibility of the individual filing their tax return to ensure the completeness/accuracy of their own tax return.  If you are confident that a particular income stream is not assessable, then treat it as such but (as others have mentioned) - keep full records for future reference should there be any future audit.

 

The RD Thailand e-filing site is available here:

https://efiling.rd.go.th/rd-efiling-web/tax/dashboard. Tip: Use Google Chrome browser (or any other that offers automatic translation from Thai -> English/ whichever language you require).

 

Further Tip: for those having difficulty with viewing their completed/filed tax return on the RD Thailand e-filing site, as we do not hold a Thai ID Number - simply enter '0' in the field where a Thai citizen would usually enter their Thai ID Number - and your completed documentation will be successfully retrieved and displayed.  I hope this is of some help .....

[SupermaNZ]

On 2/13/2025 at 1:08 PM, zyphodb said:

 

Excuse me Sheryl, have you a link to the online filing site?

https://efiling.rd.go.th/rd-efiling-web/tax/dashboard. Use Google Chrome browser (or any other that offers automatic translation from Thai -> English/ whichever language you require).

[ukrules]

38 minutes ago, GroveHillWanderer said:

Does this really mean that if my wife gifts me an amount of money that doesn't exceed 20 million Baht, it's exempt from tax, as far as my tax return is concerned?

 

That seems like an incredibly generous exemption, considering the other amounts involved, such as anything over 120,000 being assessable.

 

Your wife would have already paid tax on this money so it's not really being generous is it?

[NoDisplayName]

52 minutes ago, GroveHillWanderer said:

Does this really mean that if my wife gifts me an amount of money that doesn't exceed 20 million Baht, it's exempt from tax, as far as my tax return is concerned?

 

Generous?  The rule wasn't made for you.  The law was written by those who often bring in 20 million baht income from offshore investments, and need a method to avoid paying tax.

[oldcpu]

5 hours ago, Sheryl said:

The Thai tax code states pensions are assessable income. Some types of pensions from some countries are, however, non-assessable in Thailand under the terms of some DTAs.  The UK OAP is not one of them, but UK government pensions (for retired military, civil servants etc) are.

 

Indeed. The Thai-Canada DTA is such a DTA where Thailand is not to tax the pension, making it exempt (for tax calculation) per Royal Decree-18, and thus non-assessable in Thailand.  In that DTA it states (where I added the word 'Canada' and 'Thailand'):

 

Quote

1.  Pensions and other similar remuneration, whether they consist of periodic or non-periodic payments, for past employment, arising in a Contracting State (Canada) and paid to a resident of the other Contracting State (Thailand) shall be taxable only in the first-mentioned State (Canada).

 

In the case of Canada, it makes it pretty clear ONLY Canada can tax Canadian sourced pensions or similar remunerations, and hence NOT Thailand. 

 

And from experience I can confirm Canada does tax Canadian sourced 'pensions and similar remunerations' where the Canadian tax rate is not small.  Likely it would be better for the person with the Canadian pension if it was  only Thailand (and not Canada) taxing such pensions.

[Hermes Live]

Well, well, well, it is very evident that expats and others do not have  any clue about the Thai tax system as it applies to foreign income (some do most don't) but that is because the Thai tax office does not have one policy that gives the exact information and that information applies throughout Thailand, not province by province and is not subject to interpretation by the various Tax Offices. Really, is it that difficult.

[OneManShow]

On 2/11/2025 at 12:46 PM, thesetat said:

America does not issue proof for this as far as I know.

But there is "Benefit Verification Letter" that you can print it from your SS account, the website + your SSI 1099 that is available to beneficiaries.   

[OneManShow]

17 minutes ago, Hermes Live said:

is it that difficult.

Keep it confusing and fish.🤔

[GroveHillWanderer]

20 hours ago, NoDisplayName said:

Generous?  The rule wasn't made for you.  The law was written by those who often bring in 20 million baht income from offshore investments, and need a method to avoid paying tax.

 

21 hours ago, ukrules said:

Your wife would have already paid tax on this money so it's not really being generous is it?

 

Not sure either of you are quite taking on board what is meant by 'generous' in this context.

 

As used here, it carries the secondary meaning of the word, indicated in the dictionary entry below, of: 

 

Quote

larger than usual or expected

 

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/generous

[thesetat]

3 hours ago, OneManShow said:

But there is "Benefit Verification Letter" that you can print it from your SS account, the website + your SSI 1099 that is available to beneficiaries.   

I had that with me... haha... They were clueless and thought it was a normal income letter. 

[KhunHeineken]

On 2/11/2025 at 5:46 AM, thesetat said:

So here I am. Telling you the tax office here in Mueang Prachuap Khiri Khan. Has no clue about how to manage my taxes and are determined to make me pay thousands on my SSI.

That's "The Somchai Shuffle." 

 

Some Somchai say you have to pay when you do not have to pay, and some Somchai say you don't have to pay when you know you do have to pay.