Thailand Yet to Finalise Policy on Taxing Expats’ Overseas Income

[jwest10]

15 minutes ago, Ben Zioner said:

Never heard of the United Nations?

 

https://www.unjspf.org/

 

Of course but have a nice day./ Was going to block you but for some reason can not but buy ok and enjoy the beer

[Ben Zioner]

19 minutes ago, jwest10 said:

for some reason can not

Says it all.

 

Y r u ankry at mee?

[redwood1]

I am very disappointed in this thread.....Only 7 pages long.......

 

In the old days like 9 months ago we could rack up 30 pages in short order....

 

Must be a lot of cynical ,curmudgeon people out there who thrown in the towel and who have filed this subject in the bin.....

[puck2]

On 3/17/2025 at 4:09 PM, Pekaer said:

Are you really still paying tax in your previous living country? TBO, i also checked out from paying tax from where I receive my pension. Therefore the DTA might not be valid for me. Maybe I am naive, but I believe a. pensioners in Thailand are tax accountable, but b. the tax amount for pensioners in Thailand remains 0%. Until there are any further valid information from the Thai Tax Dept I will not do anything. Don’t trust all the surrounding information that come from third hand!

 

Maybe you missed it: I talked about DTA between Thailand and Germany !

[puck2]

I guess the Thai officers will be very happy about the German-Thai DTA.

 

In Germany many people need a tax accountant to do the very complicated job with a lot of specifique jurustic terms, the normal people cannot understand.

 

Both tax laws, Thai and German,  have special terms and exemptions. How to compare and work with them?

 

Only 1 example of many:

the personal exemptions are never the same. In Germany more than 11.000 Euros (in THB more than 396.000 THB) are an elemmentary exemption, and if you are married the double amount!. In Thailand much lower. How to compare and work with them?  The list goes on and on!

 

The Thai ofiice would only tax the money you transfer to Thailand to make it not so difficult -  if no DTA. 

[jojothai]

18 hours ago, jwest10 said:

You are probably right but in any case my personal allowances are higher than my income and been told by my local Revenue Office that I simply do not file.

There is no probably.

I quote fact.

 

If your transfers are below the alliowances then there should be no need to file a tax return.

[jojothai]

18 hours ago, jwest10 said:

Many do not live in Hua Hin and totally different in other Provinces!!!

Read the post fully. Its not just about hua hin.

[NanLaew]

On 3/17/2025 at 3:13 AM, 4MyEgo said:

I have come to the conclusion after reading many posts on this topic that I shall gift a million baht to my wife annually.

 

Once I gift her the money, I shall state, as she will, that I do not eat from the same plate, and if they want to suggest otherwise, then I will tell them to prove it, as the onus will be on them.

 

I do not own a home, I do not own a car, we have separated as husband and wife and I live in the back of the house and remain for the kids, I eat Kellogg's all bran for breakfast, have a tuna sandwich for lunch, and a bowl of spag for dinner and support myself, in other words, Garn Get Fruit Loops.

 

Livin' th' dream, eh?

[SingAPorn]

I am not going to give a penny to the local xenophobic greed who never cease to hassle foreigners here in Thailand.

 

Those who can, stay for 179 days only. Move over to other sunny and low cost nations like Portugal or Malta, or elsewhere in Asia.

 

2 of my neighbours in Hua Hin have already packed since last year and now only stay in Thailand for 4 months. The other lucky countries get their money for the remaining time on the calender year.

[Gknrd]

Don't worry Taksin will straighten things out. You will be taxed properly very shortly.

[redwood1]

4 hours ago, Gknrd said:

Don't worry Taksin will straighten things out. You will be taxed properly very shortly.

 

What?..........Tony is just about the biggest tax ignorer Thailand has ever had....Some Retired expats are driving themselves crazy over a possible few thousand baht in taxes...

 

Where as Tony is cool as a cucumber over the billions if not 10s of billions of baht in taxes he refused to pay ......He was quite happy to tell Thailand TRD  to F-off...... 

[JimHuaHin]

Maybe some senior people in the Thai Revenue Department have realised the complexity involved in interpreting and enforcing the 60-odd DTAs that Thailand has signed, as well as the ones that are currently under negotiation or re-negotiation.

 

Many of these DTAs are many decades old and do not reflect current financial instruments and pension/superannuation situations in many countries.  For example, in some countries state service sector pensions (for those formerly employed in the military, police, etc. and well as those formerly employed in government/state hospitals, medical institutions, schools, universities, etc.) no longer exist and have been replaced by superannuation programmes, under which governments have made contributions.

[Expat68]

Just came back from my local Revenue Office. Took with me everything which I needed. The lady looked at everything but obviously was not 100% certain on the matter. She went to get her superior. Superior asked me several questions.

Which country do you get your income paid? Do you work in Thailand? Do you pay tax on your income in the UK? Do you have evidence that you pay tax in the UK? After answering the questions and providing evidence, the lady informed me that there is no need to fill a tax form in Thailand. If I decided to change and pay tax on my UK income in Thailand then I would need to fill in a form. So for me until there is a clear instruction I will just carry on as normal 

[JimGant]

On 3/17/2025 at 7:33 AM, webfact said:

Feedback from various provinces highlights inconsistency in TRD office approaches, with assessments differing vastly and discretion seemingly prevailing over standardised rules.

No, the reason for the disparities among provincial TRD offices -- is because there is no STANDARDIZATION.

[Lopburikid]

On 3/18/2025 at 9:06 AM, StayinThailand2much said:

 

Fair enough. But did they also tell you how the bank will distinguish between 'retirement pensions' and other transfers, before withholding tax?

To be truthful, they didn't seem to know a lot about anything. 

[Lopburikid]

On 3/18/2025 at 9:06 AM, StayinThailand2much said:

 

Fair enough. But did they also tell you how the bank will distinguish between 'retirement pensions' and other transfers, before withholding tax?

This I have just found on a translantion about pensions with a double tax treaty.                   

1. It’s a pension you earned before 2024. Keep your pension record well just in case the Revenue Department ask for it.
2. There’s a double taxation agreement between Thailand and your country stating that the pension, mainly from the government, is subject to tax exclusion.
3. It’s a pension that falls under non-accessible income, such as payments from the US Social Security.

On the other hand, if it’s a pension from a private company, such as through an investment, it’s likely that you need to pay tax on that.

[redwood1]

1 hour ago, Lopburikid said:

This I have just found on a translantion about pensions with a double tax treaty.                   

1. It’s a pension you earned before 2024. Keep your pension record well just in case the Revenue Department ask for it.
2. There’s a double taxation agreement between Thailand and your country stating that the pension, mainly from the government, is subject to tax exclusion.
3. It’s a pension that falls under non-accessible income, such as payments from the US Social Security.

On the other hand, if it’s a pension from a private company, such as through an investment, it’s likely that you need to pay tax on that.

 

 

Errr.......This was cutting edge info about 20 tax threads ago.....

[jwest10]

15 hours ago, SingAPorn said:

I am not going to give a penny to the local xenophobic greed who never cease to hassle foreigners here in Thailand.

 

Those who can, stay for 179 days only. Move over to other sunny and low cost nations like Portugal or Malta, or elsewhere in Asia.

 

2 of my neighbours in Hua Hin have already packed since last year and now only stay in Thailand for 4 months. The other lucky countries get their money for the remaining time on the calender year.

Most have Thai families and impossible but no tax as stated for me  by the Revenue office

[jwest10]

5 hours ago, Expat68 said:

Just came back from my local Revenue Office. Took with me everything which I needed. The lady looked at everything but obviously was not 100% certain on the matter. She went to get her superior. Superior asked me several questions.

Which country do you get your income paid? Do you work in Thailand? Do you pay tax on your income in the UK? Do you have evidence that you pay tax in the UK? After answering the questions and providing evidence, the lady informed me that there is no need to fill a tax form in Thailand. If I decided to change and pay tax on my UK income in Thailand then I would need to fill in a form. So for me until there is a clear instruction I will just carry on as normal 

Precisely and my local Revenue Office stated the same and had my written figures  with me and did not want to see them and yes my total personal allowances of 500K exceeds my income and also know a Thai friend who has his own business and has a friend in the  Revenue office and also confirmed this.
So many viewpoints and frankly a not very thought out  process  at all!!!