Taxation of worldwide income for Thailand Tax Residents?

[Presnock]

An interesting and as usual very complicated wording throughout the interview about the Revenue Department interview of the Director General Panuwat Luengwilai that the dept is drafting a Royal Decree to amend current criteria in line with the policy of Finance Minister Pichai Chanharvajira.  Some interesting wording that expats as Thai tax residents are supposedly treated the same as Thai citizens in relative to taxes on ALL income worldwide.   Anyway the link is below and you can read and I am sure that there will be lots of comments:

 

 

https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/general/3028760/department-to-amend-tax-on-foreign-income-remittance#

 

Mod edit- I have corrected the link, so it now works.

[Gaccha]

This is much clearer than yesterday's summaries that led to confusion on another thread.

 

This is clearly good news for expats with earnings abroad who have been avoiding repatriating the funds to Thailand. A good public policy decision to encourage earnings dispersal within Thailand.

[anrcaccount]

3 hours ago, Presnock said:

An interesting and as usual very complicated wording throughout the interview about the Revenue Department interview of the Director General Panuwat Luengwilai that the dept is drafting a Royal Decree to amend current criteria in line with the policy of Finance Minister Pichai Chanharvajira.  Some interesting wording that expats as Thai tax residents are supposedly treated the same as Thai citizens in relative to taxes on ALL income worldwide.   Anyway the link is below and you can read and I am sure that there will be lots of comments:

htpps://www.bangkokpost.com/business/general/3028760/thailand-to-amend-tax-on-foreign-income-remittance

 

Thanks for posting but the article only refers to remitted income.

 

Not ALL income worldwide. 

 

It's just a slightly clearer version of the one posted yesterday. 

 

Suggest you change the title of the topic as it doesn't reflect the content of the article. 

[JohnnyBD]

The Thai Examiner has a much better detailed article that mentions expats as well as Thai citizens, and the article is about the new proposed tax-free remitted foreign funds. Nothing about tax on worldwide income. It was on another thread.

 

Thai Revenue planning new decree making remitted foreign funds within one year tax-free for residents - Thai Examiner

[Magictoad]

The Link won't load on my Browser DDG

which usually indicates the presence of malware.

[Magictoad]

3 hours ago, Presnock said:

An interesting and as usual very complicated wording throughout the interview about the Revenue Department interview of the Director General Panuwat Luengwilai that the dept is drafting a Royal Decree to amend current criteria in line with the policy of Finance Minister Pichai Chanharvajira.  Some interesting wording that expats as Thai tax residents are supposedly treated the same as Thai citizens in relative to taxes on ALL income worldwide.   Anyway the link is below and you can read and I am sure that there will be lots of comments:

htpps://www.bangkokpost.com/business/general/3028760/thailand-to-amend-tax-on-foreign-income-remittance

Link does not work on DDG OR Chrome

Any advice anybody? htpps? One t and two 'p's

[NoDisplayName]

14 minutes ago, Magictoad said:

The Link won't load on my Browser DDG

which usually indicates the presence of malware.

 

https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/general/3028760/thailand-to-amend-tax-on-foreign-income-remittance

[ukrules]

1 hour ago, NoDisplayName said:

 

https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/general/3028760/thailand-to-amend-tax-on-foreign-income-remittance

 

That's better - the original link was broken - and still is - maybe someone can fix it.

[Magictoad]

2 hours ago, NoDisplayName said:

 

https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/general/3028760/thailand-to-amend-tax-on-foreign-income-remittance

Thank you that worked

[Presnock]

17 hours ago, Presnock said:

An interesting and as usual very complicated wording throughout the interview about the Revenue Department interview of the Director General Panuwat Luengwilai that the dept is drafting a Royal Decree to amend current criteria in line with the policy of Finance Minister Pichai Chanharvajira.  Some interesting wording that expats as Thai tax residents are supposedly treated the same as Thai citizens in relative to taxes on ALL income worldwide.   Anyway the link is below and you can read and I am sure that there will be lots of comments:

htpps://www.bangkokpost.com/business/general/3028760/thailand-to-amend-tax-on-foreign-income-remittance

In error I mixed another witht the beginning the same and in fact, it mentions that worldwide income is taxable to Thai residents (including expats) but they are relaxing the rules in this new decree in attempts to get Thai tax residents to remitt more funds..see

htpps://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2025/05/19/thai-revenue-planning-new-decree-making-remitted-foreign-funds-within-one-year-tax-free-for-residents

[JohnnyBD]

I haven't seen any recent articles or announcements from the Thai gov't about taxing worldwide income of tax residents. Maybe the ww taxation idea was put on the back burner in favor of the new proposal to not tax remitted income.

[Presnock]

2 hours ago, JohnnyBD said:

I haven't seen any recent articles or announcements from the Thai gov't about taxing worldwide income of tax residents. Maybe the ww taxation idea was put on the back burner in favor of the new proposal to not tax remitted income.

Read the 2nd article I linked - further in the article, the para begins with "A finance ministry source speaking anonymously said that Thailand operates a residence-based tax system.  Anyone living in Thailand for at least half a year is subject to tax on global income. That rule has not changed.  Now of course we must wait for the royal decree to hopefully be able to understand but yeah, it looks like last year and this year, remittances will not be taxed.  So if an expat did the tax forms and paid a tax on foreign income remitted, according to the article, one can ask for a refund for 2024 tax paid on that foreign income.    

  Read the whole article.  it also mentions that expats who become tax residents will be treated exactly as are Thai natives earning foreign income and those Thai tax earners of foreign income will be granted free remittance too according to the article but after 2026 who knows what that decree being written will say.  Their goal is to try and capture as much funds as possible due to shortages in their current methods of tax collection.  Expats are easy targets but some will leave and some will ignore while some will do whatever is necessary IMHO

[mfd101]

These announcements never mention DTAs, I notice. 

 

Presumably because the planning relates mostly to Thai nationals earning income from outside Thailand. But the effect is to alarm unnecessarily MOST non-Thais living in Thailand.

 

 

[madone]

21 hours ago, Magictoad said:

The Link won't load on my Browser DDG

which usually indicates the presence of malware.

in this case it is a result of a typo htpps rather than https

[topt]

2 hours ago, Presnock said:

Read the 2nd article I linked - further in the article, the para begins with "A finance ministry source speaking anonymously said that Thailand operates a residence-based tax system.  Anyone living in Thailand for at least half a year is subject to tax on global income. That rule has not changed.

Why do you continue to post inaccurate stuff about global tax?

The statement made by an "anonymous source" is currently incorrect as almost anybody who has followed the tax discussions should know.

Even later in the article it states -

Quote

Officials say the change will not affect those who stay fewer than 180 days a year. Nor will it apply to income earned and taxed entirely abroad that is never remitted. Indeed, this money may be taxable under the new law. Previously, it was intimated that such funds be subject to tax but this also depended on a new as yet unseen law.

So the article contradicts itself.,

 

Both articles were discussed in several of the other threads before you decided to muddy the waters with your completely baseless headline.

[Presnock]

15 minutes ago, mfd101 said:

These announcements never mention DTAs, I notice. 

 

Presumably because the planning relates mostly to Thai nationals earning income from outside Thailand. But the effect is to alarm unnecessarily MOST non-Thais living in Thailand.

 

 

One of the articles mentioned that the Govt would adhere to the 60 DTA as signed with no change

[Presnock]

4 hours ago, JohnnyBD said:

I haven't seen any recent articles or announcements from the Thai gov't about taxing worldwide income of tax residents. Maybe the ww taxation idea was put on the back burner in favor of the new proposal to not tax remitted income.

I blv that was the intent, to let folks know that while this has been their goal, they desperately need monies to be remitted into Thailand from just about any source.

[Moonlover]

47 minutes ago, mfd101 said:

These announcements never mention DTAs, I notice. 

 

Presumably because the planning relates mostly to Thai nationals earning income from outside Thailand. But the effect is to alarm unnecessarily MOST non-Thais living in Thailand.

 

 

Read the article in the Thai Examiner. 

 

'Crucially, it would still honour Thailand’s tax treaties with more than 60 countries. In short, some income streams would be exempt depending on the country of origin of the taxpayer'.

 

Thai Revenue planning new decree making remitted foreign funds within one year tax-free for residents - Thai Examiner

[Presnock]

1 hour ago, topt said:

Why do you continue to post inaccurate stuff about global tax?

The statement made by an "anonymous source" is currently incorrect as almost anybody who has followed the tax discussions should know.

Even later in the article it states -

So the article contradicts itself.,

 

Both articles were discussed in several of the other threads before you decided to muddy the waters with your completely baseless headline.

Actually, since you do not know the Thai rules on taxation of foreign income, you should learn before you slam anyone else.  I have read for several years now. The Thais claim that expats that stay in Thailand more than half a year will be treated exactly like Thai citizens that earn foreign income - there have been several references to that very fact about the OECD taxation of global income.  I am not going to link for you but you can google several subjects on this very subject.  The final goal to date has always been to have expats that become tax residents to pay on the worldwide income tax just as Thai citizens are.  However, due to shortfalls in revenues, especially last year when they began the taxation of remittances there was a noticeable drop in the revenues collected, now in one of these articles it mentions a 25 billion shortfall is expected by Sept of this year so they need to soften the tax issue as they are aware of both expat and Thais not remitting as much as before.

In just about every article on drafts of new tax bills they mention the OECD and worldwide income taxation on tax residents.  And as I mentioned, the wording was strange at times as the writer of the article mixed different stories about the taxes here when the main issue wass the new draft decree but even then the TRD people were not sure what will be in that bill until they see the final one too.

[JohnnyBD]

As far as i know, foreigners are not required to report and pay taxes on worldwide income, only on assessable income remitted to Thailand, if it exceeds deductions, allowances and 0% tax threshold. 

[anrcaccount]

4 minutes ago, JohnnyBD said:

As far as i know, foreigners are not required to report and pay taxes on worldwide income, only on assessable income remitted to Thailand, if it exceeds deductions, allowances and 0% tax threshold. 

 

Correct.

 

This thread should be taken down as it adds nothing to the discussion and just creates more confusion.

 

 

[JohnnyBD]

2 minutes ago, anrcaccount said:

This thread should be taken down as it adds nothing to the discussion and just creates more confusion.

 

I agree.

[topt]

10 minutes ago, anrcaccount said:

 

Correct.

 

This thread should be taken down as it adds nothing to the discussion and just creates more confusion.

 

 

 

5 minutes ago, JohnnyBD said:

I agree.

Was really my point. Thread heading, even with the question mark, is totally confusing. Not the first time unfortunately with this poster.

[JohnnyBD]

1 hour ago, Presnock said:

The final goal to date has always been to have expats that become tax residents to pay on the worldwide income tax just as Thai citizens are.

I respectfully disagree that it has always been the goal to have expats pay income taxes on their worldwide income. All the past and present rules only applys to remitted foreign income, and not one's total income earned in one's home country, or outside of Thailand. Maybe it was their goal to have Thai citizens pay taxes on income earned outside Thailand.

[NanLaew]

21 hours ago, Magictoad said:

Thank you that worked

 

So it wasn't malware after all.

[topt]

1 hour ago, Presnock said:

Actually, since you do not know the Thai rules on taxation of foreign income, you should learn before you slam anyone else. 

Seems like I know them a little better than you........

1 hour ago, Presnock said:

In just about every article on drafts of new tax bills they mention the OECD and worldwide income taxation on tax residents. 

Your original link and the article your thread is based on does not mention global or world wide taxation. It mentions "residence based"......but does not really define what income. Sounds like a soundbite specific for OECD pandering to me.

I think I have already proved the incorrect inconsistency in the Examiner article so please don't try quoting that again.

 

It may well be that Thailand moves to a global based system but that has not happened yet and is not specifically referred to by the government spokesperson for the potential new legislation being talked about.

[tlcwaterfall]

1 hour ago, Presnock said:

Actually, since you do not know the Thai rules on taxation of foreign income, you should learn before you slam anyone else.  I have read for several years now. The Thais claim that expats that stay in Thailand more than half a year will be treated exactly like Thai citizens that earn foreign income - there have been several references to that very fact about the OECD taxation of global income.  I am not going to link for you but you can google several subjects on this very subject.  The final goal to date has always been to have expats that become tax residents to pay on the worldwide income tax just as Thai citizens are.  However, due to shortfalls in revenues, especially last year when they began the taxation of remittances there was a noticeable drop in the revenues collected, now in one of these articles it mentions a 25 billion shortfall is expected by Sept of this year so they need to soften the tax issue as they are aware of both expat and Thais not remitting as much as before.

In just about every article on drafts of new tax bills they mention the OECD and worldwide income taxation on tax residents.  And as I mentioned, the wording was strange at times as the writer of the article mixed different stories about the taxes here when the main issue wass the new draft decree but even then the TRD people were not sure what will be in that bill until they see the final one too.

With respect to you it would be easier to read if you used paragraphs.

[NoDisplayName]

6 hours ago, Presnock said:

So if an expat did the tax forms and paid a tax on foreign income remitted, according to the article, one can ask for a refund for 2024 tax paid on that foreign income.    

 

Are you sure about that?

 

The examiner article you linked says:

 

However, two major questions remain. First, will this change apply retroactively to income from 2024? If it does, foreign residents who paid income tax this year may be eligible for refunds. If it does not, the tax already paid on 2024 remittances will stand.

[NoDisplayName]

11 hours ago, Presnock said:

Read the 2nd article I linked - further in the article, the para begins with "A finance ministry source speaking anonymously said that Thailand operates a residence-based tax system.  Anyone living in Thailand for at least half a year is subject to tax on global income. That rule has not changed.

 

 

That anonymous source is not correct.

 

The US has a global tax system where all worldwide income must be reported.

 

Thailand has a residence-based system.  Tax residents pay tax on local income and remitted foreign income if not exempt by DTA or royal decree.  No tax on foreign source income if not remitted.

[buddy2010]

2 hours ago, NoDisplayName said:

 

Sind Sie da sicher?

 

In dem von Ihnen verlinkten Examiner-Artikel heißt es:

 

Zwei wichtige Fragen bleiben jedoch offen. Erstens: Gilt diese Änderung rückwirkend für Einkommen ab 2024? Falls ja, haben Ausländer, die in diesem Jahr Einkommensteuer gezahlt haben, möglicherweise Anspruch auf eine Rückerstattung. Andernfalls bleibt die bereits auf Überweisungen aus dem Jahr 2024 gezahlte Steuer bestehen.

Certainly not that!

 

Because the tax was levied according to the law of 2024, i.e. legally