50-100k EUR transfer

[lusty]

Dear All, I have a few old Thai bank accounts from the time I was working with a WP in Bangkok. I kept them alive with some small transactions over the years. My status at the moment is "long term tourist", after a few years of Retirement Visa. I stopped the retirement visa as nowadays I spend less than 6 months in a year in Thailand, with frequent trips abroad (not visa runs) for pleasure. I'm about to inherit 100.000 EUR or so from my father's death. If I transfer these funds to my Bangkok Bank account, will they attract the unwanted attention of Thai Revenue Dept? And/or will they be taxed? I don't plan to buy anything with this money, just to keep it in Thailand and use it (hopefully) slowly.

Thank you for your attention.

Cheers,

Rico       

[richard_smith237]

Do you need to transfer it across in one fell sweep ??  - you could drip feed it across from your overseas account.

 

The other option is to transfer it to your wife as a Tax free 'Gift' (if you have a wife).

 

 

Another option: is Crypto...   Place the Money on a Crypto exchange, either buy Crypto itself, or buy a Stable Coin.

When you want to transfer the money to Thailand, transfer across the Crypto Coin or Stable Coin to a Thai Exchange - and withdraw from the local Thai exchange into your Thai Bank account.

 

For an additional buffer and for security - keep the Keys on a Cold Wallet, until you need to make a transfer.

 

 

[liddelljohn]

Dont touch crypto its  a scam , and most crypto exchanges are  full of ripoffs, just transfer the money    by normal bank transfer to your Thai bank account  ,  

[topt]

14 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

The other option is to transfer it to your wife as a Tax free 'Gift' (if you have a wife).

He did say he does not stay 6 months so if true he wouldn't be a tax resident anyway and no need for "workarounds" in that case.

[topt]

59 minutes ago, lusty said:

If I transfer these funds to my Bangkok Bank account, will they attract the unwanted attention of Thai Revenue Dept? And/or will they be taxed?

As long as you do not spend more than 179 days in Thailand in the year you transfer the money there is no Thai tax liability. Also, from memory, inheritance is tax free anyhow 

[richard_smith237]

5 minutes ago, topt said:

22 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

The other option is to transfer it to your wife as a Tax free 'Gift' (if you have a wife).

He did say he does not stay 6 months so if true he wouldn't be a tax resident anyway and no need for "workarounds" in that case.

 

I missed that...      In which case, its a no brainer - just make a transfer.

 

There are different options: Wise is probably the best.

[richard_smith237]

12 minutes ago, liddelljohn said:

Dont touch crypto its  a scam , and most crypto exchanges are  full of ripoffs, just transfer the money    by normal bank transfer to your Thai bank account  ,  

 

Don't be silly....    

[Lorry]

2 hours ago, topt said:

As long as you do not spend more than 179 days in Thailand in the year you transfer the money there is no Thai tax liability. Also, from memory, inheritance is tax free anyhow 

Almost correct,  but it's 179 days in the year you made this money,  not the year you transfer it.  It won't hurt if you are here less than 180 days in the year you transfer the money,  but the important one is the year you got the money. 

 

Anyway,  inheritance is tax free (up to 100MB iirc, better check this amount).

[Liverpool Lou]

2 hours ago, topt said:

Also, from memory, inheritance is tax free anyhow 

Thai inheritance laws would not apply as he would be inheriting under the laws of his home country, he'd just be remitting his own funds from his home country to his Thai bank.

[Liverpool Lou]

17 minutes ago, Lorry said:

Anyway,  inheritance is tax free (up to 100MB iirc,

Isn't he inheriting in his home country, not Thailand, and then sending what will then just be his own funds here?. 

[ukrules]

4 hours ago, Lorry said:

Anyway,  inheritance is tax free (up to 100MB iirc, better check this amount).

 

Correct so it doesn't matter if he's tax resident or not. But if some auditor decides he owes tax on it then it's best to keep documents proving the source of funds - accountants get very excited over 'source of funds' these days.

 

It's almost like they get together and make up a load of rules for us to enrich the accountancy profession.

 

Source of funds does matter because if that 100k Euro came from selling some shares you bought 30 years ago in Apple then you're being taxed on it if resident in the year when they were sold. If it's an inheritance then there is no tax, plus it would already have been taxed in the source country.

Also small amount so irrelevant

[Yumthai]

9 hours ago, Lorry said:

Almost correct,  but it's 179 days in the year you made this money,  not the year you transfer it.  It won't hurt if you are here less than 180 days in the year you transfer the money,  but the important one is the year you got the money. 

Nope. Being non tax resident is all that matters and makes any foreign remittance tax free, regardless the individual tax residence situation when the money was earned.

[worrab]

13 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Thai inheritance laws would not apply as he would be inheriting under the laws of his home country, he'd just be remitting his own funds from his home country to his Thai bank.

Absolutely correct. I inherited an equivalent sum, roughly, which is tax free under Thai inheritance laws. 
I did get letters from the Solicitors handling probate which I gave to my local branch in Hua Hin and had them send a copy to Head Office in Bangkok showing the amount and the fact it was an inheritance.

[Unamerican]

14 hours ago, Lorry said:

Anyway,  inheritance is tax free (up to 100MB iirc, better check this amount).

But this may well not apply to an inheritance from abroad, rather than from a death in Thailand! 

[Unamerican]

19 minutes ago, worrab said:

did get letters from the Solicitors handling probate which I gave to my local branch in Hua Hin and had them send a copy to Head Office in Bangkok showing the amount and the fact it was an inheritance.

But what happened then?  Can one this year bring money inherited abroad into Thailand tax-free even when one is a tax-resident here? 

[Unamerican]

16 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

Wise is probably the best.

Why Wise? Do they handle such large transfers? And at good rates?

[hotandsticky]

5 minutes ago, Unamerican said:

Why Wise? Do they handle such large transfers? And at good rates?

 

 

Yes, up to 2m Baht; and yes.

[Yumthai]

54 minutes ago, worrab said:

I did get letters from the Solicitors handling probate which I gave to my local branch in Hua Hin and had them send a copy to Head Office in Bangkok showing the amount and the fact it was an inheritance.

So they accepted your well written pieces of paper showing big numbers in a foreign language they barely understand as an incontestable proof of inheritance (actually they have no other choice). I suspect a lot of Thai resident foreigners will inherit the same way substantial amounts in the years to come.

[BritManToo]

17 hours ago, topt said:

As long as you do not spend more than 179 days in Thailand in the year you transfer the money there is no Thai tax liability. Also, from memory, inheritance is tax free anyhow 

And don't forget gifts,

I have 5 kids around the world supporting me with gifts of money.

Just like all the 70+ year old Thai folk.

[worrab]

1 hour ago, Unamerican said:

But what happened then?  Can one this year bring money inherited abroad into Thailand tax-free even when one is a tax-resident here? 
 

Nothing . Simply because under Thai tax rules, inheritance from abroad is not subject to tax under 100 millionTHB. Tax has been paid bigtime in UK!

[worrab]

54 minutes ago, Yumthai said:

So they accepted your well written pieces of paper showing big numbers in a foreign language they barely understand as an incontestable proof of inheritance (actually they have no other choice). I suspect a lot of Thai resident foreigners will inherit the same way substantial amounts in the years to come.

No need to get funny about this. Both my branch and Head Office speak English. Also documents for tax purposes can be in Thai or English!

As these “pieces of paper” have come from a legal company, which can be checked up if need be, written very simply with details etc.,  then they are incontestable!

And I doubt very much other foreigners would attempt this if it was not the case, as the repercussions are fairly severe! 

[mudcat]

I have provided my executor this to put in the wire memo space:

 

Inheritance from his father, *** *** ***. Subject to but exempt from Thai 
Inheritance Tax Act and exempt under Thai Revenue Code Section 42.10.

 

I have also provided a copy of my will (and in my case, brokerage beneficiary designations).

[Lorry]

8 hours ago, Yumthai said:

Nope. Being non tax resident is all that matters and makes any foreign remittance tax free, regardless the individual tax residence situation when the money was earned.

This is wrong.

The guy  who explained it many times was @ukrules, I think.

Others explained it too, including the TRD (in their Q&A, and in talks with the Big4 reported here).

It really should be common knowledge by now

[Yumthai]

1 hour ago, Lorry said:

This is wrong.

The guy  who explained it many times was @ukrules, I think.

Others explained it too, including the TRD (in their Q&A, and in talks with the Big4 reported here).

It really should be common knowledge by now

 

You are free to believe any Thai law expert or smart-ass official interpretation you read here and there but there is only one thing that is right: the Thai law. And it says:

 

Taxpayers are classified into “resident” and “non-resident”. “Resident” means any person residing in Thailand for a period or periods aggregating more than 180 days in any tax (calendar) year. A resident of Thailand is liable to pay tax on income from sources in Thailand as well as on the portion of income from foreign sources that is brought into Thailand. A non-resident is, however, subject to tax only on income from sources in Thailand.

 

This remains valid until amended.

 

https://www.rd.go.th/english/6045.html

 

So unless you come back with a Thai court judgement or case law to back you up, any statement saying that "A non-resident could be, in certain case, subject to tax on income from foreign sources" is irrelevant.

 

[Lorry]

21 minutes ago, Yumthai said:

 

You are free to believe any Thai law expert or smart-ass official interpretation you read here and there but there is only one thing that is right: the Thai law. And it says:

 

Taxpayers are classified into “resident” and “non-resident”. “Resident” means any person residing in Thailand for a period or periods aggregating more than 180 days in any tax (calendar) year. A resident of Thailand is liable to pay tax on income from sources in Thailand as well as on the portion of income from foreign sources that is brought into Thailand. A non-resident is, however, subject to tax only on income from sources in Thailand.

 

This remains valid until amended.

 

https://www.rd.go.th/english/6045.html

 

So unless you come back with a Thai court judgement or case law to back you up, any statement saying that "A non-resident could be, in certain case, subject to tax on income from foreign sources" is irrelevant.

 

It's the TRD who says that.  Yes,  they are conttravening the law.

Good luck fighting the TRD.

 

Anybody who has followed the multiple tax threads knows your views and your style of discussion,  and I would not normally answer to your post. 

In this case, though, your viewpoint "I don't care what the TRD writes and says" is quite dangerous.

 

'nuff said

[Yumthai]

2 minutes ago, Lorry said:

In this case, though, your viewpoint "I don't care what the TRD writes and says" is quite dangerous.

TRD people randomly and unsurprisingly say one thing and the opposite, that is quite dangerous. The law remains unequivocal.