English Retiree Wants TIN

[SamSaraburi]

I’ve got an English friend who has been here a couple of years and not paid tax(in any country) on his foreign income, just £12,000. He is retired and on a marriage visa. UK state pension.

He is worried and said he’s going to go to the tax office in Bkk, get a TIN and start paying tax. I think his remote company are asking for tax compliance.

I think he’ll have to own up and they’ll find out about the past two years, as they’ll need some kinda contract from his work, so he’ll be fined for not paying.

He thinks he can just go to get a TIN and file next year for his earnings this year, and it is just up to him to say a figure and they won’t ask for bank details.

Does anyone know what happens when you go and get a TIN for the first time?

 

 

 

[topt]

Somewhat confusing -

30 minutes ago, SamSaraburi said:

on his foreign income, just £12,000. He is retired and on a marriage visa. UK state pension.

Then what does this mean - 

31 minutes ago, SamSaraburi said:

I think his remote company are asking for tax compliance.

 

31 minutes ago, SamSaraburi said:

as they’ll need some kinda contract from his work,

So is he working here? 

[SamSaraburi]

4 minutes ago, topt said:

Somewhat confusing -

Then what does this mean - 

 

So is he working here? 

He is doing like an online thing  to top up his low pension.So yes he’s working online here.

[msbkk]

He can get a TIN just by showing his long term visa, withholding tax receipt of bank interest payment and evidence of address in Thailand. At least this has worked for me, not questions asked.

[topt]

2 hours ago, SamSaraburi said:

He is doing like an online thing  to top up his low pension.So yes he’s working online here.

If non-resident for tax in UK and paid somewhere other than UK/Thailand just give the company his UK TIN - NI number or UTR - no issue........re TIN no. for the company anyhow.......

[mfd101]

Here in Surin I got a TIN some 12 or 18 months ago because my Oz bank (NAB) forced me to by freezing my accounts until I supplied them with the TIN number.

 

Haven't heard anything from either end since. Everything is covered by the DTA anyway, but may (yawn) consider calling on the friendly Prasat office next Feb or Mar. Just to keep things clean & tidy. 

[OJAS]

On 7/5/2025 at 8:31 PM, SamSaraburi said:

He is doing like an online thing  to top up his low pension.So yes he’s working online here.

 

Sounds to me like he now needs to turn his mind to considering his potential tax liability in Thailand ASAP. The following link should provide him with a useful starting point in that regard:

 

https://aseannow.com/topic/1324294-introduction-to-personal-income-tax-in-thailand/

 

As regards obtaining a TIN, it is IMHO essential that a native Thai speaker accompanies him on any trip to his local tax office since the grasp of English among the staff working there will probably be rudimentary at best. When I sought a TIN at my local office last year, my passport plus form LP10.1* completed by my Thai wife on my behalf did the trick.

 

* https://www.rd.go.th/fileadmin/tax_pdf/request/lp10.1_110355.pdf

 

[khunPer]

On 7/5/2025 at 2:53 PM, SamSaraburi said:

I’ve got an English friend who has been here a couple of years and not paid tax(in any country) on his foreign income, just £12,000. He is retired and on a marriage visa. UK state pension.

He is worried and said he’s going to go to the tax office in Bkk, get a TIN and start paying tax. I think his remote company are asking for tax compliance.

I think he’ll have to own up and they’ll find out about the past two years, as they’ll need some kinda contract from his work, so he’ll be fined for not paying.

He thinks he can just go to get a TIN and file next year for his earnings this year, and it is just up to him to say a figure and they won’t ask for bank details.

Does anyone know what happens when you go and get a TIN for the first time?

Today it's easy to get a TIN, as foreigners since 1st January 2024 are income taxable in Thailand, if the stay in the country for 180 days or more combined during a calendar year.

 

A British government pension might already be income taxed in Britain.

 

£12,000 a year is around 500,000 baht in 2024-currency exchance rate. If that is the amount transferred into Thailand and your English friend is retiree age – 60 years or older – he will on his Thai-income have a personal deduction of 60,000 baht; a retiree deduction of 190,000 baht; 50% income deduction up to 100,000 baht; and being tax exempt for the first 150,000 baht. This totals 500,000 baht, so there is likely no tax due from £12,000 previously transferred annually into Thailand.

 

The previous years the common practise was that if you had no tax to pay you didn't need to fill a tax return form. From income year 2024 many, if not most, tax offices wish all tax resident foreigners to fill in a tax return form, even they do not need to any income tax.

[Letseng]

On 7/5/2025 at 9:53 PM, msbkk said:

He can get a TIN just by showing his long term visa, withholding tax receipt of bank interest payment and evidence of address in Thailand. At least this has worked for me, not questions asked.

Worked for me too. But this was 8 years ago. All depends on the person you deal with.

[Yumthai]

1 hour ago, khunPer said:

many, if not most, tax offices wish all tax resident foreigners to fill in a tax return form

Many, if not all, real-life reports contradict your bold statement.

[OJAS]

20 hours ago, khunPer said:

A British government pension might already be income taxed in Britain.

 

If it's an occupational government pension (Civil Service, military, police, NHS, etc), it will be covered by the UK/Thailand DTA and, hence, not assessable for taxation purposes in LOS. However, I think it more likely, from the what the OP has said, to be the UK State Pension which is not explicitly referred to in the DTA and so, erring on the side of caution, should arguably be treated as assessable income. And then there is the issue of the income he is apparently earning from online work locally, which might, in itself, justify the need for a TIN in his case in any event.

 

[OJAS]

20 hours ago, khunPer said:

From income year 2024 many, if not most, tax offices wish all tax resident foreigners to fill in a tax return form, even they do not need to any income tax.

 

A sweeping statement not borne, thus far, out of facts, I think.

 

[oldcpu]

For the OP, when he (your friend) applies for the Thai TIN, he may also wish to mention to the Thai RD that he needs it to satisfy his foreign bank (or  foreign trading, or foreign income source) account Financial Company requirements. 

 

I was denied a Thai TIN when I applied (as I was bringing no money into Thailand - I brought a LOT in years prior when not a tax resident and I am living off of that). 

 

But if I had pushed 'back a bit more' against the Thai RD rejection of giving me a Thai TIN, I think i may have been able to get a Thai TIN. Like the OP I needed the Thai TIN to satisfy a couple of financial institutions outside of Thailand.

 

In the end I provided the foreign financial institutions my Thai Pink-ID number together with a written signed caveat that this could be my Thai TIN once activated, but with a written caveat that it was not yet activated.  That actually worked.

[Yumthai]

4 hours ago, oldcpu said:

In the end I provided the foreign financial institutions my Thai Pink-ID number together with a written signed caveat that this could be my Thai TIN once activated, but with a written caveat that it was not yet activated.  That actually worked.

Any random number would have worked as well. 

Authorities willing to implement rules that they cannot realistically enforce do not deserve strict compliance.

[oldcpu]

20 hours ago, Yumthai said:

Any random number would have worked as well. 

Authorities willing to implement rules that they cannot realistically enforce do not deserve strict compliance.

 

I was thinking the same - but I have more 'confidence' (?) , and I  'feel I am more legally compliant' by the approach I adopted.  I clearly stated on the foreign bank paperwork that the tax # I provided (for Thailand) was not yet activated.

 

I also had a Thai RD official advise my wife that my pink-ID number could be my tax ID if he were to activate it (but he chose not to activate it since I was not remitting money to Thailand).

.

[OJAS]

On 7/12/2025 at 8:34 PM, Yumthai said:

Authorities willing to implement rules that they cannot realistically enforce do not deserve strict compliance.

 

Trouble, though, is that the foreign financial insitutions referred to by @oldcpu might include a bank back in your home country with whom you still hold an account. It is possible (if not likely?) that failure to comply would result in them closing this account, with all the problems which that might then cause you. 

[Yumthai]

Just now, OJAS said:

Trouble, though, is that the foreign financial insitutions referred to by @oldcpu might include a bank back in your home country with whom you still hold an account. It is possible (if not likely?) that failure to comply would result in them closing this account, with all the problems which that might then cause you. 

You don't fail to comply, you provide a random TIN. There is no way financial institutions can check the validity of a foreign TIN.

[motdaeng]

2 hours ago, Yumthai said:

You don't fail to comply, you provide a random TIN. There is no way financial institutions can check the validity of a foreign TIN.

 

good to know they will never find out you tricked them ... thanks for your farsighted and reliable advice ... 

[Yumthai]

57 minutes ago, motdaeng said:

good to know they will never find out you tricked them ... thanks for your farsighted and reliable advice ...

You're not tricking them if they're tricking you at first.

 

Under OECD CRS reporting rules made for financial institutions, providing a TIN is NOT a mandatory requirement. The individual just needs to give an explanation why he is not able to obtain a TIN from his country of tax residence.

 

Banks/brokers that require such TIN are applying an over-zealous internal policy, interpreting and not strictly respecting CRS regulation.

[oldcpu]

20 minutes ago, Yumthai said:

You're not tricking them if they're tricking you at first.

 

Under OECD CRS reporting rules made for financial institutions, providing a TIN is NOT a mandatory requirement. The individual just needs to give an explanation why he is not able to obtain a TIN from his country of tax residence.

 

Banks/brokers that require such TIN are applying an over-zealous internal policy, interpreting and not strictly respecting CRS regulation.

 

Indeed.

 

Unfortunately, banks are entitled to implement their own policy in this regard. If it costs them customers, its due to their choice. But as customers (and in particular as expatriates) we bear the brunt of their approach in this regards.