Just received a Tax form in the post - what next ?

[tomgreen]

I live permanently in Thailand and Ive just received a first ever tax form in the post at my home. A few years ago I obtained a Thai Tax ID number and made a claim to get back the tax amount taken from my Thai bank savings account ( around 2,000.00 Baht ) . in the following years I never bothered to claim any tax being taken from my Thai bank savings account . The form looks like a real pain to fill out ( 8 sides ) and I'm not planning to claim any further tax again taken from my Thai bank savings account  ( not worth the hassle ) . Can I just ignore the form , or will I get in some sort of trouble if I don't fill the form in .

 

Thanks 

 

 

 

[motdaeng]

1 hour ago, tomgreen said:

I live permanently in Thailand and Ive just received a first ever tax form in the post at my home. A few years ago I obtained a Thai Tax ID number and made a claim to get back the tax amount taken from my Thai bank savings account ( around 2,000.00 Baht ) . in the following years I never bothered to claim any tax being taken from my Thai bank savings account . The form looks like a real pain to fill out ( 8 sides ) and I'm not planning to claim any further tax again taken from my Thai bank savings account  ( not worth the hassle ) . Can I just ignore the form , or will I get in some sort of trouble if I don't fill the form in .

 

Thanks 

where did the post come from?

is it possible some one does a prank with you?

[topt]

3 hours ago, tomgreen said:

Can I just ignore the form , or will I get in some sort of trouble if I don't fill the form in .

Depends if, based on your inward remittances,  you actually owe them any tax.....

 

Pre Covid  I had the same and the first time I received it I went to the local revenue office to check what I was supposed to do. At that time I was told it was fine to ignore but that was before the recent change in the regulations. 

[KhunHeineken]

Queue all the "scaremonger" posts. 

[tomgreen]

3 hours ago, motdaeng said:

where did the post come from?

is it possible some one does a prank with you?

 The envelope the form came in looks official . On the envelope it appears to say that the form should be completed between the 1st of February to the 31st of March. 

[tomgreen]

2 hours ago, topt said:

Depends if, based on your inward remittances,  you actually owe them any tax.....

 

Pre Covid  I had the same and the first time I received it I went to the local revenue office to check what I was supposed to do. At that time I was told it was fine to ignore but that was before the recent change in the regulations. 

 

Thanks, the only money I have coming into Thailand ( to my Bangkok bank account ) is a small monthly government retirement pension . I have a feeling that if I do go to the local Thai tax office and start asking questions , things could end up becoming more complicated. I was hoping that if I don't plan to make any more claims to receive back tax taken from my Thai savings account , I could just ignore the form . 

[tomgreen]

18 minutes ago, KhunHeineken said:

Queue all the "scaremonger" posts. 

 

Hopefully any reply's to my question will be helpful 🙏 .

[Moonlover]

12 minutes ago, tomgreen said:

 

Thanks, the only money I have coming into Thailand ( to my Bangkok bank account ) is a small monthly government retirement pension . I have a feeling that if I do go to the local Thai tax office and start asking questions , things could end up becoming more complicated. I was hoping that if I don't plan to make any more claims to receive back tax taken from my Thai savings account , I could just ignore the form . 

What is your home country and what do you mean by  'a small monthly government retirement pension?'

 

[topt]

9 minutes ago, tomgreen said:

 

Thanks, the only money I have coming into Thailand ( to my Bangkok bank account ) is a small monthly government retirement pension . I have a feeling that if I do go to the local Thai tax office and start asking questions , things could end up becoming more complicated. I was hoping that if I don't plan to make any more claims to receive back tax taken from my Thai savings account , I could just ignore the form . 

Depending on the amount and any DTA with the country you are from then you could well not owe any tax so there would really be no issue in ignoring the form.

Many countries DTAs with Thailand give sole taxation rights on "Govt" pensions to the home country - UK and US being 2. However for the UK this does not mean the state pension.

Have you looked at this - 

Depending on your age the allowances shown may mean you owe nothing even if your not covered under the DTA.

[proton]

Bin it I always do, no comeback so far

[tomgreen]

9 minutes ago, Moonlover said:

What is your home country and what do you mean by  'a small monthly government retirement pension?'

 

Hi and thanks, I have my UK government retirement pension deposited in my Bangkok bank , depending on the currency exchange rate , it works out to around 29, 000.00 Baht a month. 

[sungod]

Bet you are chuffed you got your 2 grand back a few years back and put yourself on the radar.

[tomgreen]

11 minutes ago, topt said:

Depending on the amount and any DTA with the country you are from then you could well not owe any tax so there would really be no issue in ignoring the form.

Many countries DTAs with Thailand give sole taxation rights on "Govt" pensions to the home country - UK and US being 2. However for the UK this does not mean the state pension.

Have you looked at this - 

Depending on your age the allowances shown may mean you owe nothing even if your not covered under the DTA.

 

Many thanks, I'm 75 years old and I have my UK government retirement pension deposited in my Bangkok bank , depending on the currency exchange rate , it works out to around 29, 000.00 Baht a month. So hopefully I may be able to just ignore the tax form and see if any thing happens. The form arrived at my house by the Thai post , and the letter was not recorded . 

[topt]

Just now, tomgreen said:

 

Many thanks, I'm 75 years old and I have my UK government retirement pension deposited in my Bangkok bank , depending on the currency exchange rate , it works out to around 29, 000.00 Baht a month. So hopefully I may be able to just ignore the tax form and see if any thing happens. The form arrived at my house by the Thai post , and the letter was not recorded . 

Only taxable in the UK so just ignore 

[tomgreen]

6 minutes ago, sungod said:

Bet you are chuffed you got your 2 grand back a few years back and put yourself on the radar.

 

Ive made many past mistakes since I decided to live in Thailand , the first was to inform the UK pension service that I was going to live premaritally in Thailand (frozen pension for 20 years ) and the other mistake was to get involved with the Thai tax system. If I could only turn the clock back .

[NorthernRyland]

Ouch. Well, you requested a TIN and got yourself into their system. Other people who have done the same may be getting similar letters. Best thing for now is to continue doing nothing and hang tight.

[tomgreen]

3 minutes ago, topt said:

Only taxable in the UK so just ignore 

 

Thanks for your comment , If I could buy you a ^{🍺  I would .}

[tomgreen]

4 minutes ago, NorthernRyland said:

Ouch. Well, you requested a TIN and got yourself into their system. Other people who have done the same may be getting similar letters. Best thing for now is to continue doing nothing and hang tight.

 

How does the saying go ... you live and learn . 😀 , I will just wait and see if any thing happens . 

[NorthernRyland]

4 minutes ago, tomgreen said:

Ive made many past mistakes since I decided to live in Thailand , the first was to inform the UK pension service that I was going to live premaritally in Thailand (frozen pension for 20 years ) and the other mistake was to get involved with the Thai tax system. If I could only turn the clock back .

If it makes you feel any better when I got my marriage extension a couple years so I told where my money comes (because they asked) and I said I earned money online. There was a tense moment when the IO told me it was illegal to work in Thailand and I thought I was screwed. Maybe he was just trying to intimidate me but he finally said just don't work in outside your house (which I don't do anyways) and granted the extension.

[NorthernRyland]

2 minutes ago, tomgreen said:

How does the saying go ... you live and learn . 😀 , I will just wait and see if any thing happens . 

I would ignore it. After all Thailand has not able to properly process traffic tickets. They simply have no infrastructure and the authorities don't care enough. Everyone knows this and nothing is ever done. Unless immigration gets involved personally it's a non-issue. If it becomes an issue you'll know about it by no uncertain means.

[AlexRich]

I think a lot depends on how important living in Thailand is to you? If it’s not that important you could ignore it and in the worst case scenario move somewhere else. If it’s very important then get professional advice and complete it correctly. 
 

I’ve read numerous posts and videos about this subject, and have concluded that no one anywhere, including the tax people, have a clue about how to deal with foreigners under the new rules. That’s why I will nerve settle in Thailand. I suspect there will be people getting surprise tax demands and spending years trying to sort them out. Not what you want if you are retired. 
 

It's becoming increasingly difficult to avoid tax because of the collaboration and information sharing between countries. Best pick a tax regime you understand and stick with it. 

[Etaoin Shrdlu]

I think the RD sends out a form to every taxpayer that filed in the prior year, or perhaps in any of the prior several years.

 

Whether you need to file will depend upon your particular circumstances, not just because the RD sent you a form.

[NoDisplayName]

39 minutes ago, tomgreen said:

Many thanks, I'm 75 years old and I have my UK government retirement pension deposited in my Bangkok bank , depending on the currency exchange rate , it works out to around 29, 000.00 Baht a month.

 

Approx. 350K remitted.  All non-assessable by DTA.  No need to file.

 

But let's assume you have a weird pension that IS taxable.  You would be over the 60K (unmarried) income threshold and would technically be required to file a return.  You get 60K personal allowance, 190K old fogies allowance (*), and 100K pension deduction.  That coincidentally brings your taxable income to exactly zero.  No tax.

 

Had your income been higher, your first 150K above 350K would be taxed at 0%.  The next 150K above that would be taxed at 5%.

 

You can still file and get your interest withholding tax refunded.

 

(*)  Anyone know if the 190K old-age allowance is added to the 60K personal allowance, giving you 250K, or does the old-age allowance replace the personal allowance?  Do you get both, or only one?

 

 

***OPINION ONLY.  NOT ADVICE.  DO NOT TAKE INTERNALLY.***

[Lorry]

43 minutes ago, NoDisplayName said:

Anyone know if the 190K old-age allowance is added to the 60K personal allowance, giving you 250K

Yes, it's added

 

43 minutes ago, NoDisplayName said:

or does the old-age allowance replace the personal allowance?

No, it doesn't replace it

 

You get both. 

[treetops]

3 hours ago, tomgreen said:

Ive made many past mistakes since I decided to live in Thailand , the first was to inform the UK pension service that I was going to live premaritally in Thailand (frozen pension for 20 years ) . . . . .

 

That makes me think your monthly 29,000 ish baht is the state pension and not a government service pension.  You called it earlier a "monthly government retirement pension" which is a bit unclear and has made some posters think of it as eg a civil service pension which would not be taxable due to the DTA.

 

UK State pension is assessable for tax by the Thai RD, however if that is all you remit it's well below the threshold at which you would owe any tax.

[Jingthing]

If your remitted pension is not tax accessable in Thailand and that's your only income other than bank interest, then yes, you can bin the form. But do keep records about your pension and remittances in case of a future audit. 

[Confuscious]

My advice would be to get professional help from an accountant and fill in the form.
Not doing so might bring you into a difficult situation, and if you want to keep living in Thailand, you better avoid that.
With your income and possible DTA you have nothing to fear.

[Jingthing]

2 minutes ago, Confuscious said:

My advice would be to get professional help from an accountant and fill in the form.
Not doing so might bring you into a difficult situation, and if you want to keep living in Thailand, you better avoid that.
With your income and possible DTA you have nothing to fear.

There is no place on the form for non-accessable income so he wouldn't even be stating his pension. 

[Confuscious]

1 hour ago, Jingthing said:

There is no place on the form for non-accessable income so he wouldn't even be stating his pension. 

https://www.rd.go.th/english/23517.html

4. Application for exemption or reduction of fine and surcharge

A taxpayer has the duty to file his tax return and pay proper taxes on time. Should he fail to do so, he will be subject to fine and surcharge on top of the tax due.

 

[motdaeng]

8 hours ago, tomgreen said:

 The envelope the form came in looks official . On the envelope it appears to say that the form should be completed between the 1st of February to the 31st of March. 

 

thanks for your reply. sorry, my post was not meant to be disrespectful.

we have been filing tax returns for over 10 years and have never received the tax forms by mail ...

 

personally, for my peace of mind and because i prefer to follow the rules, i would do the following:

go to the bank to get the receipt for the withheld tax, have a thai person help fill out the tax return,

and enter the remitted money (around 380k) as income / pension, even though it's covered by the DTA!

just ignore and don’t mention the DTA to the tax office ...

 

since you're over 65, your total tax-free allowance is around 500k. no need to worry, you won’t have to pay anything,

and you even will get some pocket money back from your withheld bank tax ...

 

that’s what i would do in your place, but of course, it’s up to you.

good luck, though i don’t think you’ll need it ...