I am retired and have a small pension sent directly to my Thai Bank and I understand about taxes on that (sort of). If I top up my income from my savings account in the west am I liable for tax on the top up amount? Not a huge amount, 30-40,000 THB per year. I have read that long term savings are exempt, is this true? How to prove that they are 'old' savings.

Thanks for any comments🙏

1 hour ago, notrub said:

I am retired and have a small pension sent directly to my Thai Bank and I understand about taxes on that (sort of). If I top up my income from my savings account in the west am I liable for tax on the top up amount? Not a huge amount, 30-40,000 THB per year. I have read that long term savings are exempt, is this true? How to prove that they are 'old' savings.

Thanks for any comments🙏

There are two Thai Ministerial directives, POR.161 and POR.162, which together note that any foreign income from before 1-Jan-2024 is considered savings, and hence is not taxable if brought into Thailand.

I am not aware of any official guidance as to how to 'prove' this.

The approach that I believe worth while to adopt, is to have a record of all savings as of close of business on the last day of 2023 (I think that was Friday 29-Dec-2023, but i may have my day of week wrong). Have a print out recorded of one's foreign cash position in banks, outside of Thailand on that date. Then have a spreadsheet from that data onward, recording all transactions of money brought into Thailand, such that it can be credibly proven that all money brought into Thailand was from cash on 29-Dec-2023. [Possibly Sunday 31-Dec-2023 is a better end-date].

Where it comes 'tricky' is how non-cash 'savings' are assessed re:POR.161/162. i don't know the official position there of the Thai government. For example equities purchased in year 2022, but sold in year 2025, ... are those considered savings? I supposed on could note the market value of those equities at close of business on Friday 29-Dec-2023 (or perhaps Sunday 31-Dec-2023, IF there is weekend trading?? ) ... and hence the value of those equities on 31-Dec might (and I emphasize might) be considered savings. But I do not know the official answer - my guess is they are NOT considered savings. However perhaps the year-2022 cash value used to purchase those equities might be considered savings? But again - I don't know. Clearly the cash was changed to equities, and equities are not nominally (IMHO) considered savings? or are are equities considered savings?

I believe there has been debate on this, with different opinions held. ... But any cash position on 31-Dec-2023, is IMHO clearly savings, and as long as one has a spreadsheet and financial documents to show the money remitted to Thailand came from that cash, then I suspect one is on solid ground if audited.

.

Do I understand that savings, to be exempt, would have to have been brought to Thailand at some time in the past, before the end of 2022 or 2023(?). I have a long term savings account in my bank in the west. I could show that it has existed for over 10 years, for example. Could money brought into Thailand from this account today be seen as tax free from a savings account?

The sums of money are tens of thousands (THB) not millions. Does that matter?

Thanks again

all savings made before 01.01.2024 can be transferred to thailand tax-free.

this saving transfers do not need to be declared in the tax return.
proof (receipts or bank statements) are only required if the tax office explicitly requests it.

4 hours ago, notrub said:

The sums of money are tens of thousands (THB) not millions. Does that matter?

tens of thousands of THB may not matter if less than the Thai tax return filing threshold (ie less than 60,000 THB if you are single).

I suspect it depends on a number of factors, such as the Double Tax Agreement (DTA) between Thailand and the country from where your foreign remitted income is sourced. Its possible such a Thai - Foreign country DTA could make your income not assessable by Thailand. And its also possible the DTA may not help at all.

I believe if you are a tax resident of Thailand, if you have assessable income that exceeds 60,000 THB (if single, or exceeds 120,000 THB if married), you nominally are supposed to file a tax return. Note the word assessable. This is key as its possible your foreign remitted income may (or may not) be assessable income for tax return filing purposes.

Also, given various deductions, i read one generally may not actually pay tax until one's net taxable income (after deductions and allowances) exceeds 150,000 THB.

However I am NO expert on this. Others who know more can post on this.

But again- note POR.161/162 which defines savings from before 1-Jan-2024, being remitted to Thailand, is not considered assessable income.

We have so many threads on this topic ... but i concede diving into them can be tiring.

25 minutes ago, oldcpu said:

tens of thousands of THB may not matter if less than the Thai tax return filing threshold (ie less than 60,000 THB if you are single).

if i am not completely mistaken, the OP is specifically asking about savings earned before 01.01.2024 being transferred into thailand, which are tax free ... the sum of this savings doesn't matter!

Excuse me for being slow on this, it is new to me... If I have long term savings in a western European bank, not huge but enough to help for when I get really old. I also have a Euro account in a Thai bank dating pre 2024 that is there only for my annual visa renewal, normally untouched.

Do you think that I can transfer funds from my Thai Euro bank account into my Thai baht general use account and top up the Euro account from from savings abroad and be exempt from tax on the use of that money?

Also, my bank account in Europe has existed for about 30 years. In it are savings and term deposit savings accounts. Term deposit money has been there for many years and I suppose I could find records to prove it. Can I bring this money to Thailand tax free?

(I am married to a Thai national, btw and we live in rural Isaan in our own home with no debt.)

Thanks for any comments🙏

1 hour ago, notrub said:

Do you think that I can transfer funds from my Thai Euro bank account into my Thai baht general use account

My opinion is this is not taxable as the money is already in Thailand - irrespective of it being in a foreign currency account.

This was argued about in the original tax threads I cannot see how there would be any issue with the RD.

1 hour ago, notrub said:

top up the Euro account from from savings abroad

If cash savings from prior to 1/01/24 then in theory no tax is payable. It also may fall below taxable limits anyhow.

1 hour ago, notrub said:

Also, my bank account in Europe has existed for about 30 years. In it are savings and term deposit savings accounts. Term deposit money has been there for many years and I suppose I could find records to prove it. Can I bring this money to Thailand tax free?

If it is actually in cash and you have paperwork that proves it then in theory yes. The only question mark over 'savings pre 2024' is what can be defined as savings. Expat tax have a view if you want to look at their web site but it is/or appears to be still a somewhat grey area. If those cash savings also have interest earned since 31/12/23 then that part is theoretically taxable depending on limits, DTAs etc etc

It all seems to have gone very quiet on this issue. Even the staff at my local tax office have asked me why I bother to go in to declare anything.

We hear all this and that about taxable income and charts, but across the country and in different tax districts, people don't seem to know what they are talking about.

I wonder how many members are actually adhering to this and declaring foreign incoming transactions for tax purposes, or just ignoring the matter, as I know of many that are doing the latter.

I did report and declare last year, but it does seem I am in the minority.

On 1/6/2026 at 3:02 AM, notrub said:

I am retired and have a small pension sent directly to my Thai Bank and I understand about taxes on that (sort of). If I top up my income from my savings account in the west am I liable for tax on the top up amount? Not a huge amount, 30-40,000 THB per year. I have read that long term savings are exempt, is this true? How to prove that they are 'old' savings.

Thanks for any comments🙏

Savins from before 1st January are tax free when transferred into Thailand. In my case I have a statement of all my savings per 31st December 2023, and when I use any of the funds in Thailand, I simply state which of the savins that are utransferred. It can for example be from a deposit with bonds, where some are sold or withdrawn, and the value from 31st December 2023 transferred into Thailand. As proof: Just keep a print (PDF in my case) of the withdrawal or sales note together with a bank staement that shows the flow of funds. My local tax office in Thailand has accepted this way of doing it.

To make it easy for the revenue officer, I attach a print of a small spread sheet, where I state the year's money transfers for each month, divided into already taxed retirement pension, already taxed dividens, non-taxed income and old savings. With that, it's easy for the officer to check the actual transfers. If you don't attach a Thai bank account statement, the revenue office may ask for a print, which the did for my 2024-income tax return; everything was luckily in perfect order...

23 hours ago, notrub said:

Also, my bank account in Europe has existed for about 30 years. In it are savings and term deposit savings accounts. Term deposit money has been there for many years and I suppose I could find records to prove it. Can I bring this money to Thailand tax free?

Yes -- up to the value of that account on Dec 31 2023.

This is by using First In, First Out (FIFO) accounting. This was highlighted in a Bangkok Post article in 2012, where FIFO would be allowed for a fungible account of assets (i.e., no specific identifiable assets, with buy and sell dates and values -- which would be the situation for cash or equivalent).

"Where securities are certified and the serial numbers of the shares are identified, the specific cost of the share has to be used. The taxpayer is not allowed to use any other accounting method such as first-in first-out (FIFO), last-in first-out (LIFO) or weighted average method as the specific securities can be identified.

- For scripless securities, [i.e. fungible cash] the taxpayer is allowed to use any acceptable accounting method such as FIFO, LIFO or weighted average method in calculating cost of securities."

https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/general/299691/when-the-revenue-department-changes-its-mind-the-taxpayer-gets-the-headache

So, using this guidance, your self-assessment for Thai tax purposes would exclude such remitted savings. And, assuming the pension you have direct deposited to Thailand is exempt from Thai taxation, per DTA, e.g., it's a govt pension -- then no need to file a Thai tax return, no need for a TIN, and thus you're invisible to the Thai RD.

And this invisibility could be crucial -- as you really don't want to be invited to the RD for a discussion that would involve your reliance on a 2012 Bangkok Post article (which, at the clerk level, would probably confuse their feeble minds). But once you file a tax return, you're on their radar and thus susceptible for a chat. And supposedly you're supposed to file with assessable income of 60k single, 120k married. But this is not tax evasion, so is not a crime. And in all these tax threads, no one has heard of anyone being challenged for not filing having met these parameters -- with max penalty of 2000 baht. Bottom line: If your self assessment says you owe no taxes, don't file a Thai tax return. Result: Thai RD has no interest, nor knowledge, of you.

54 minutes ago, JimGant said:

And in all these tax threads, no one has heard of anyone being challenged for not filing having met these parameters -- with max penalty of 2000 baht.

My understanding is that if you invested your savings into stocks and bonds for example and you remit part of it into Thailand, then you would only be taxed on the after-2024 income (dividends+interests-taxes) part of that remitted part. Also, if you have a saving with 1000, you add 1000 that you take from your stocks and you remit 1000 then you can argue that these 1000 are the savings and thus are not taxable. Basically the assumption is that all money can be traced and it is your job to prove to tax authorities where it comes from. They are not going to do that job for you. You have to make it clear for them.

I paid my fair share this year, interest / Taxes @ BBL ...

฿138.67 - interest earned

฿20.80 - taxes paid

VAT wise, probably only spent ฿425k, so if 7 % collected on all, highly unlikely = ฿29,750

1 hour ago, KhunLA said:

I paid my fair share this year, interest / Taxes @ BBL ...

฿138.67 - interest earned

฿20.80 - taxes paid

I assume you are referring to withholding tax by BBL on the interest?

3 minutes ago, oldcpu said:

I assume you are referring to withholding tax by BBL on the interest?

Yes, but also total taxes paid in income & incoming funds. Incoming funds, which aren't taxable, along with, they haven't enforced the tax code on foreign incoming funds anyway. So not sure what tax would be on any additional funds, outside of my 'non taxable income'. OK, I do know, but until they actually enforce it, it's question mark.

Need to read your country's DTA with TH, in case they ever do enforce the tax code. Hard for anyone to answer as every country's DTA is different.

21 hours ago, Scouse123 said:

It all seems to have gone very quiet on this issue. Even the staff at my local tax office have asked me why I bother to go in to declare anything.

We hear all this and that about taxable income and charts, but across the country and in different tax districts, people don't seem to know what they are talking about.

I wonder how many members are actually adhering to this and declaring foreign incoming transactions for tax purposes, or just ignoring the matter, as I know of many that are doing the latter.

I did report and declare last year, but it does seem I am in the minority.

Well there were a number of reports of guys more or less being kicked out of tax offices and told not to come back, who tried to file...

Some guys were so desprate to pay they kept going to new offices after a number of blatant rejections. They just could not take NO for a answer.

40 minutes ago, redwood1 said:

Well there were a number of reports of guys more or less being kicked out of tax offices and told not to come back, who tried to file...

Some guys were so desprate to pay they kept going to new offices after a number of blatant rejections. They just could not take NO for a answer.

It’s absolutely bonkers. And there are still foreigners that think that in five years the immigration is going to deny them an extension for not fist fighting the revenue department to allow them to file a tax return despite owing nothing.

11 minutes ago, Everyman said:

It’s absolutely bonkers. And there are still foreigners that think that in five years the immigration is going to deny them an extension for not fist fighting the revenue department to allow them to file a tax return despite owing nothing.

Lack of critical thinking is seemingly contagious.

3 minutes ago, Everyman said:

It’s absolutely bonkers. And there are still foreigners that think that in five years the immigration is going to deny them an extension for not fist fighting the revenue department to allow them to file a tax return despite owing nothing.

at the moment, it does not look like the tax law is being actively enforced. however, completely ruling out that this could change in the future is a very "bonker" statement. the future will show whether following thai tax law is actually not such a bad idea after all ...

as a foreigner and a guest in another country, some of us believe that the right thing to do is to follow the written laws. unfortunately in thailand, it feels like foreigner following the law are in the minority ... TIT

42 minutes ago, motdaeng said:

at the moment, it does not look like the tax law is being actively enforced. however, completely ruling out that this could change in the future is a very "bonker" statement. the future will show whether following thai tax law is actually not such a bad idea after all ...

as a foreigner and a guest in another country, some of us believe that the right thing to do is to follow the written laws. unfortunately in thailand, it feels like foreigner following the law are in the minority ... TIT

Thai people do not follow the written laws of Thailand. You don’t either, because there are so many silly and unenforced laws that nobody cares about that you break them without realizing it. Thai proper aren’t going to give a gold medal or think you are a “good guest” because you become a legal scholar and tip-toe around trying to follow every weird rule. They’ll just think you are foolish and maladapted to the culture you are in.

Alot of lawyers are wanting your money to give you advice on this subject.

22 hours ago, thaigrouphike said:

My understanding is that if you invested your savings into stocks and bonds for example and you remit part of it into Thailand, then you would only be taxed on the after-2024 income (dividends+interests-taxes) part of that remitted part. Also, if you have a saving with 1000, you add 1000 that you take from your stocks and you remit 1000 then you can argue that these 1000 are the savings and thus are not taxable. Basically the assumption is that all money can be traced and it is your job to prove to tax authorities where it comes from. They are not going to do that job for you. You have to make it clear for them.

My understanding is that only cash held before 1/1/2024 counts as savings, for Stocks & Bonds the potential tax on any of it remitted to Thailand will be the Capital Gain (Pro Rata) from the original purchase + any Dividends/Interest earned since 1/1/2024 .

Also the FIFO approach used by Thailand means that you cannot just point to the amount of money you had in your account as at 31/12/2023 but will need to show the transactions in & out since then. E.g. If you had £20,000 in your savings account in 2023 and spent £10,000 in 2024, replenished it from other income & then did the same in 2025 you would have £20,000 in your account but none of it would (Technically) be pre 2024 savings,

Is the rule that income brought into the country in the year after it was earned , is not taxable , still to be relied upon ?

4 hours ago, SamSpade said:

Also the FIFO approach used by Thailand means that you cannot just point to the amount of money you had in your account as at 31/12/2023 but will need to show the transactions in & out since then

Wrong. If you had $100,000 in your savings account on Dec 31 2023, that's what FIFO would allow you to remit to Thailand. Once you exceed remitting $100,000 to Thailand, then, yes, you're now tapping any post 2023 monies in your savings account -- and are no longer exempt per the decree on pre 2024 monies.

Yes, swapping out pre 2024 monies in a savings account with post 2023 monies might be a point of discussion with RD -- but I'd maintain that the fungibility of savings account money means it's the value of the account on Dec 31 2023 -- not the date on specific dollars added or subtracted from the account. In any event, this would be my position on self assessment for Thai tax purposes -- and would mean no tax filing required, and then probably no chance of having to have a chat with RD, as they then would never of ever heard of me.

4 minutes ago, JimGant said:

Wrong. If you had $100,000 in your savings account on Dec 31 2023, that's what FIFO would allow you to remit to Thailand. Once you exceed remitting $100,000 to Thailand, then, yes, you're now tapping any post 2023 monies in your savings account -- and are no longer exempt per the decree on pre 2024 monies.

Sorry but you’re wrong, if you spend any of the $100K before remitting it to Thailand then it’s spent, you can’t top it back up with Income earned after 31/12/2023…

That’s what First in First Out means, what you describe is First In Last Out.

3 hours ago, persimmon said:

Is the rule that income brought into the country in the year after it was earned , is not taxable , still to be relied upon ?

No. That is only applicable to relevant LTR visa holders.

1 hour ago, SamSpade said:

Sorry but you’re wrong, if you spend any of the $100K before remitting it to Thailand then it’s spent, you can’t top it back up with Income earned after 31/12/2023…

How does TRD know for sure the money that has been withdrawn from the offshore account was spent?

How can TRD prove the money that has been topped back up later on is not the money that has been withdrawn previously?

Has TRD access to your offshore bank accounts full transactions? No.

59 minutes ago, Yumthai said:

How does TRD know for sure the money that has been withdrawn from the offshore account was spent?

How can TRD prove the money that has been topped back up later on is not the money that has been withdrawn previously?

Has TRD access to your offshore bank accounts full transactions? No.

How TRD would know is very easy... They ask you for your Bank statements (kid you not, I filed my 1st tax return in 2022 & they asked me for every bank statement since the account was opened... even though I wasn't a tax resident until 2020 & the account was opened in 1984 so technically they were asking for 38 years of Bank statements, I never did get my withheld tax back)!

Look at your Bank Statements from 1/1/24, each time it goes down that's the new balance that FIFO rules says you have left to send from 31/12/2023, it never goes back up from that but each withdrawal after that takes the balance down even further.

Look, I'm not suggesting TRD will do this or anything else I'm just sharing how FIFO works (technically).

Edits...

1) Taking the money out and putting it back in again means you've withdrawn the money & it will be "Last In" if you put it back.

2) Technically, CRS means TRD can see all of your transactions...

12 hours ago, Everyman said:

It’s absolutely bonkers. And there are still foreigners that think that in five years the immigration is going to deny them an extension for not fist fighting the revenue department to allow them to file a tax return despite owing nothing.

There remains a risk that Thai Immigration will require a Thai tax ID to obtain/renew a Non-O visa. Maybe or maybe not. Not happened. Yet... Never say never. Hopefully not.