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

[tomazbodner]

2 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

It is uttetly  impractical to try to include all foreign credit card use in Thailand  and nobody does.  Further, you'd need to know how those charges were paid for, e.g. savings or income or what. Expenditure of savings is not assessable income. 

 

Don't over think this.

In full agreement. I was asking that for someone else.

[how241]

16 hours ago, sungod said:

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

You make a good point...

[Liverpool Lou]

17 hours ago, KhunHeineken said:

Queue all the "scaremonger" posts. 

Cue all the grammar posts!

[Liverpool Lou]

16 hours ago, tomgreen said:

the first was to inform the UK pension service that I was going to live premaritally in Thailand (frozen pension for 20 years )

Pension freezing has nothing to do with you premarital status.

[KhunHeineken]

17 hours ago, tomgreen said:

 

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

You've scared a lot of people with this thread, Tom. 

 

The sand is only so deep for the ostriches. 

[KhunHeineken]

9 hours ago, motdaeng said:

 

anyone who thinks they are not on the authorities' radar in some way other the other is mistaken.

some of us are in the system earlier than others, but for all foreigners living in thailand year-round,

there is no long-term escape ... only if you live here illegally and under a rock ... 

I agree. 

 

There is a reluctance by many to treat this tax policy with the same respect they treat the immigration laws. 

 

Funny thing is, breaching immigration laws is not a criminal offense.  You will be detained and deported. 

 

Not paying your taxes is a criminal offense.   You may be arrested, charged, fined and / or imprisoned.

 

Now, the chances of mass imprisonment of foreigners for not paying their taxes is slim, but one would leave themselves exposed to extortion by authorities here, and that's the whole purposes of filing, to cover your a** and not have any problems with corrupt officials.    

[KhunHeineken]

1 hour ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Cue all the grammar posts!

Spelling, or grammar? 

[Liverpool Lou]

1 minute ago, KhunHeineken said:

1 hour ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Cue all the grammar posts!

Spelling, or grammar? 

One is part of the other.

[Liverpool Lou]

1 hour ago, KhunHeineken said:

Funny thing is, breaching immigration laws is not a criminal offense.  You will be detained and deported. 

Funny thing is, overstaying is considered a crime in Thailand...

"many have ended up on a blacklist for overstaying their visas ... is still considered a crime in Thailand".

https://gam-legalalliance.com/blacklisted-in-thailand/

[KhunHeineken]

31 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Funny thing is, overstaying is considered a crime in Thailand...

"many have ended up on a blacklist for overstaying their visas ... is still considered a crime in Thailand".

https://gam-legalalliance.com/blacklisted-in-thailand/

Are you charged, brought before a Court, prosecuted, found guilty, and sentenced to prison time for overstay?  No. 

 

On the other hand, don't pay your taxes and.................................................

[KhunHeineken]

49 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

One is part of the other.

Or is the other part of the one? 

[Yumthai]

2 hours ago, KhunHeineken said:

Funny thing is, breaching immigration laws is not a criminal offense.  You will be detained and deported. 

Funny thing is fraud, such as illegally getting a stamp in your passport or illegally getting a tax paper from TRD, is a criminal offense.

[NoDisplayName]

5 hours ago, KhunHeineken said:

You've scared a lot of people with this thread, Tom. 

 

Nothing to be a'scairt of, Tom.

 

Some TRD offices send out tax forms as a courtesy service to prior-year filers.

 

If you need to file, you have a tax form.

If you don't need to file, you have an unneeded tax form.

[rough diamond]

5 hours ago, KhunHeineken said:

The sand is only so deep for the ostriches

Contrary to the popular myth, ostriches do not bury their head in the sand when scared or frightened. In fact, when an ostrich senses danger and cannot run away, it will flop to the ground and remain still, attempting to blend in with the terrain. However, from time to time you might find an ostrich looking as if it has its head in the sand, but not because it’s scared. Ostriches dig shallow holes in the sand to serve as nests for their eggs. The ostrich will use its beak several times a day to turn the eggs in the nest, creating the illusion of burying its head in the sand.

[KhunHeineken]

1 hour ago, rough diamond said:

Contrary to the popular myth, ostriches do not bury their head in the sand when scared or frightened.

They just post on AN that any message they don't want to hear is scaremongering. 

 

2 hours ago, rough diamond said:

when an ostrich senses danger and cannot run away, it will flop to the ground and remain still,

That usually happens after a link has been provided to prove an AN poster wrong.

 

2 hours ago, rough diamond said:

Ostriches dig shallow holes in the sand to serve as nests for their eggs.

Some members are struggling with the concept that this Thai tax policy is coming after their nest egg.

 

2 hours ago, rough diamond said:

The ostrich will use its beak several times a day to turn the eggs in the nest,

Some members use their keyboards several times a day to try to convince other ostriches that there are no predators coming for their nest egg.

 

It's all part of human nature, and funny to watch.   

 

[KhunHeineken]

2 hours ago, NoDisplayName said:

If you need to file, you have a tax form.

If you don't need to file, you have an unneeded tax form.

And if you need to file, but don't get sent a tax form, so go to a TRD Office to file, only to be told, "You no need file."

 

Interesting times ahead for those people. 

[KhunHeineken]

4 hours ago, Yumthai said:

Funny thing is fraud, such as illegally getting a stamp in your passport or illegally getting a tax paper from TRD, is a criminal offense.

I'm trembling in my boots.   

[newbee2022]

On 2/20/2025 at 4:15 PM, 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 

 

 

 

Do you need someone to do it for you? Do you need help?

I think it's not rocket science.

[henryford1958]

20 hours ago, hotandsticky said:

 

 

Be careful about differentiating between State Pension (which is included in the taxable income) and Government pension ie Civil Service which is excluded.

 

My understanding is that my UK Government pension is exempt and my frozen State pension is so small it is below the allowances. For the moment therefore i won't be submitting a return.

[mikebell]

21 hours ago, henryford1958 said:

 

So anyone with a UK Government pension is exempt from Thai tax and doesn't need to make a tax return. Like you i have a very small frozen state pension, well below the allowances.

I should make clear there is a difference between State Pension and Government Pension; the latter is not taxable thanks to an agreement between UK & T/land.

[anchadian]

35 minutes ago, henryford1958 said:

 

My understanding is that my UK Government pension is exempt and my frozen State pension is so small it is below the allowances. For the moment therefore i won't be submitting a return.

As I've stated in other threads, my state pension is also under the D/A, so there is no need to apply for a TIN and file a tax return although it's  Important to keep records from last year.

 

Don't listed to Heineken the continuous scaremonger.

[Yumthai]

9 hours ago, KhunHeineken said:

I'm trembling in my boots.   

If you really were not trembling you would not feel much concerned, as most of Thai residents foreigners and locals included, nor proactively and fraudulently act about these tax matters.

 

[mikebell]

On 2/21/2025 at 8:51 AM, tomgreen said:

One of the biggest mistakes I ever made was to inform the UK pension department that I was living in Thailand . I have even thought about moving to the Philippians or returning back to the Uk ( for 6 months ) but at my age ( 75 ) It may not be worth all the stress and trouble ☹️.

I, too, thought about the move to Philippines.  Like you, age was a deterrent.  I think there is room for an enterprising Philippino firm to set up a bogus address and communicate with their thousands of British retirees by email to convince DWP that you have moved.

[tomgreen]

19 hours ago, KhunHeineken said:

You've scared a lot of people with this thread, Tom. 

 

The sand is only so deep for the ostriches. 

 Hi, trust me to scare some people, hopefully some information posted will be in some way helpful. 

[jwest10]

On 2/20/2025 at 10:34 PM, tomgreen said:

 

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

Very interesting and  can not advise you on this and yes the lack of forms and all the personal allowances are not on them no new forms but have been advised several times by my local Revenue Office that my personal  allowances are higher  than my income and I do not need to fill in a tax form.
I get your concern and yes people been stating this and they  obviously  have you on their system and yes maybe ignore it and yes a Thai friend's wife friend works in the local Revenue and stated the same and  there is a wide differing opinions on this tax issue.

[tomgreen]

2 hours ago, newbee2022 said:

Do you need someone to do it for you? Do you need help?

I think it's not rocket science.

Hi and thanks, what I wanted to do was to make sure that I filled the forms out correctly as they are all worded in Thai , and my Thai wife did not understand many of the questions on the forms. So I decided to seek help and ask at my local tax office , who were very helpful . Ive attached the tax forms in question. 

[jwest10]

3 hours ago, newbee2022 said:

Do you need someone to do it for you? Do you need help?

I think it's not rocket science.

What an answer and he was just asking a question!!

[jwest10]

On 2/20/2025 at 10:24 PM, 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 . 

Some of the queries is it a Civil Service pension or a Frozen State Pension from the UK and apparently the former is exempt and my personal allowances are more than my income coming in and no do not have to file a form as per my local Revenue office and several times.

[tomgreen]

4 minutes ago, jwest10 said:

Very interesting and  can not advise you on this and yes the lack of forms and all the personal allowances are not on them no new forms but have been advised several times by my local Revenue Office that my personal  allowances are higher  than my income and I do not need to fill in a tax form.
I get your concern and yes people been stating this and they  obviously  have you on their system and yes maybe ignore it and yes a Thai friend's wife friend works in the local Revenue and stated the same and  there is a wide differing opinions on this tax issue.

Hi , after reading all of the comments and advice posted here to my original question , it seems that due to my small UK state pension ( which is my only income being transferred to my Bangkok Bank account from the UK  )  even if I do fill out the tax form I would not be taxed. So in my mind I'm thinking ....is it better to be safe than sorry. 

[jwest10]

On 2/20/2025 at 10:40 PM, NorthernRyland said:

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.

WOW!!! And I so not work or via the compuer and in January I renewed my permission to stay by means of retirement and no mention of a tax form.