I want to send some money as a gift to my Thai GF’s bank account from the U.K. via Wise. Trying to avoid any potential tax liability if I just do a transfer here in Thailand.

According to the Internet, it is possible.

I did search through wise help, but couldn’t find any info.

Has anyone else sent money through Wise to another’s account? Any problems?

I've sent money to a couple of my GFs accounts & sending the money is just the same as when you 1st sent it to yourself, you just need their banking details.

The Gift/Tax part is trickier, even more so as your're not married as technically the Gift needs to be for a specific occassion, I've sent money over to the GF for Birthdays & Xmas BUT I'm not 100% sure I wouldn't get hit for tax on this if I was audited - I did see something about "Having a moral obligation to Support" my GF which if you have children could be used but as we don't I've stuck to the "Occassion" gifts.

Recommended method is she has an account overseas, you formally document the gift there and she sends it to her Thai bank account, but this is impossible for most people, it's hard enough for me to set a Bank account up in the UK never mind set one up for my GF.

Why don't you just send to your thai bank account then transfer to thai gf, simpler

instead of transferring to your self, transfer to her bank, as long as its one of the wise 'allowed' banks

5 hours ago, steve187 said:

instead of transferring to your self, transfer to her bank, as long as its one of the wise 'allowed' banks

The problem with doing it this way round, though, is that, assuming that her account name is expressed in Thai script as is likely the case, transfers will almost certainly fail because of Wise's requirement for recipient account names to be only stated in anglicised script.

I can vouch for this on the basis of personal experience with an unsuccessful test transfer I attempted with Wise to my wife's Thai account some time ago on the basis of the anglicised version of her name (since the Wise form I had to complete when initiating the transfer specifically rejected Thai characters).

Doing it as suggested by @scubascuba3 will avoid this issue arising since the OP's Thai bank account name is almost certainly recorded in anglicised script (as my Thai bank account names are).

My wife opened her own Wise account using our address in Thailand. I can send money to her from my Wise account, or from my UK credit union account (in GBP). She can choose to keep GBP in her Wise account or convert it to THB and send it to her Thai bank (or pay direct for school fees, and other bills). The amount she receives will keep her below the tax threshold.

Unfortunately, our Wise accounts are based on our Thai address, so the upcoming changes in May could scupper our arrangement.

6 hours ago, SamSpade said:

I've sent money to a couple of my GFs accounts & sending the money is just the same as when you 1st sent it to yourself, you just need their banking details.

The Gift/Tax part is trickier, even more so as your're not married as technically the Gift needs to be for a specific occassion, I've sent money over to the GF for Birthdays & Xmas BUT I'm not 100% sure I wouldn't get hit for tax on this if I was audited - I did see something about "Having a moral obligation to Support" my GF which if you have children could be used but as we don't I've stuck to the "Occassion" gifts.

Recommended method is she has an account overseas, you formally document the gift there and she sends it to her Thai bank account, but this is impossible for most people, it's hard enough for me to set a Bank account up in the UK never mind set one up for my GF.

Thanks. Sounds easy enough. As I understand it (I think), it is the opposite of for a purpose. As it’s a gift, it’s up to her what she does with it. There can’t be conditions tied to it, otherwise it’s not a gift.

Of course, if there is a big bill of hers that you normally pay, but now stop paying, it is up to her if she pays it with said gift. But at least you won’t be taxed on the money as you didn’t personally transfer it in to yourself.

6 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

Why don't you just send to your thai bank account then transfer to thai gf, simpler

It’s all to do with reducing any potential future tax bills. The less I bring in, the less tax liability.

Because if I bring it in myself, it will be classed as income and I will be taxed on it. As it covers quite a lot of bills that I can’t claim for, such as her daughter’s school fees etc, I will gift it to her to do with as she wishes, but I will no longer be bringing funds in for such bills.

According to Thai law, any gifts to wives, girlfriends etc has to come from a foreign back.

Limits: Up to THB 20 million for spouse. THB 10M for others.

Try using Western Union!

8 hours ago, phetphet said:

It’s all to do with reducing any potential future tax bills. The less I bring in, the less tax liability.

Because if I bring it in myself, it will be classed as income and I will be taxed on it. As it covers quite a lot of bills that I can’t claim for, such as her daughter’s school fees etc, I will gift it to her to do with as she wishes, but I will no longer be bringing funds in for such bills.

According to Thai law, any gifts to wives, girlfriends etc has to come from a foreign back.

Limits: Up to THB 20 million for spouse. THB 10M for others.

Ah ok tax avoidance, you didn't mention that

19 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

Ah ok tax avoidance, you didn't mention that

Yes. Legal tax avoidance.

10 hours ago, OJAS said:

The problem with doing it this way round, though, is that, assuming that her account name is expressed in Thai script as is likely the case, transfers will almost certainly fail because of Wise's requirement for recipient account names to be only stated in anglicised script.

Not an issue, just make sure the anglicised spelling of the person's name is the same as their ID card; Thai ID cards show the name in both Thai and Latin script.

10 hours ago, phetphet said:

It’s all to do with reducing any potential future tax bills. The less I bring in, the less tax liability.

So I take it that the source of the money which you intend to gift to your GF is not a UK public sector occupational pension which is exempted from taxation in Thailand by the UK/Thailand DTA?

1 hour ago, Stocky said:

Not an issue, just make sure the anglicised spelling of the person's name is the same as their ID card; Thai ID cards show the name in both Thai and Latin script.

I did check that before initiating the transfer which proved unsuccessful.

1 hour ago, OJAS said:

So I take it that the source of the money which you intend to gift to your GF is not a UK public sector occupational pension which is exempted from taxation in Thailand by the UK/Thailand DTA?

Firstly, thanks for the heads up regarding name in English for wise.

The amount I bring in each year is way above any pensions I receive. Thailand isn’t cheap any more.

Foreigners can claim tax reductions for their child’s school fees, education etc.

I cannot, so I believe I have found a legal way around it, by gifting money to my GF to do with as she wishes.

22 hours ago, OJAS said:

I did check that before initiating the transfer which proved unsuccessful.

Thankfully not a problem I've encountered, suspect your issue wasn't simply the account holders name.

Why is it necessary to use Wise?

Do a Bank to Bank transfer..

Regardless of who you send the money to from your U.K. bank, you are the remitter and it is your remittance and your income tax liability. The gift method of tax avoidance only applies to your girlfriend ie your remittance is income to her and she maybe able to avoid tax by claiming it as a Gift.

My wife transfers money from her Aussie bank account to mine. I use wise to transfer the money to her Thai bank. No issues so far.