1 hour ago, khunPer said:

"Whoever" is in this case the big boss — the director — of Surat Thani's tax-office on Koh Samui. I had a meeting with him to be sure of what is required. Big boss might be wrong — I cannot judge — but as I live in his district, I better follow his rules. The Samui-office actually also visit some of us expats to check, if we have paid taxes of our funds transferred to Thailand.

As has been noted in other threads, the tax policy appears to be different from province to province -- much like immigration policies.

Always best to do what's best for you.

On 6/24/2026 at 10:44 AM, motdaeng said:

if a swiss citizen is no longer a tax resident in switzerland, they do not have to pay any swiss tax on their retirement benefits or pensions from the swiss three-pillar system. therefore, i find it hard to imagine that the TRD would simply decide that these funds also do not have to be taxed in thailand when they are remitted to thailand

If the DTA says these Swiss retirement benefits are exclusively taxable by Switzerland -- that's exactly what it means. That Switzerland decides not to tax these benefits ... doesn't mean that Thailand gets to.

Now, the OECD is not happy that current DTAs, while allowing for 'no double taxation,' don't plug the 'no no taxation' loophole. But they're working on it.

3 hours ago, khunPer said:

Big boss might be wrong — I cannot judge — but as I live in his district, I better follow his rules.

Maybe sensical, to not ruffle the feathers of the big boss. However, with my LTR visa, that says that all remitted income is non assessable -- I think I'd punt, rather than file a tax return with all zeros.

This goes along with what Thai Tax Visa is advocating, namely, if you have an LTR visa, best file a null tax return, with all zeros, but with an explanatory note stating all your remitted income is non assessable per LTR visa rules. Just pay five figures for this opportunity to keep TRD at bay.

What BS! I'd take my chance that, if somehow I entered TRD's radar (I don't have a TIN, so why would I...), and they came knocking at my door -- then I'd flash my LTR visa plus all the recent literature concerning the non assessability of all remitted incomes.

Anyway, glad I don't live in Surat Thani, thus don't have the opportunity to test this.

10 hours ago, motdaeng said:

just out of curiosity, if you are a tax resident of thailand and your pension or retirement income is clearly covered by the DTA, meaning thailand is not allowed to tax this income. is that pension or retirement income taxed in any way in your home country, either in the year it is received or at any earlier stage?

It depends on the country and the specific double tax agreement (DTA). For the German-Thai DTA, there is no tax on the German state pension (ie non-civil service/non-ex-military) if one is not a German tax resident but one is a Thai tax resident. Only Thailand has exclusive taxation rights in that country case.

The Canadian-Thai DTA clearly states (for tax residents of Thailand in receipt of a Canadian sourced pension or similar remuneration) that only Canada and not Thailand can tax that pension (unless one is a Thai citizen then its different).

Further for Canadian Pension (ie state pension, not a civil service nor ex-military - often referred to as CPP) and Canadian Old Age Security (OAS), by default Canada applies a 25% withholding tax at source on those pensions.

Now one can apply to Service/Revenue Canada to have that 25% withholding tax not applied, BUT ( !!! ) then one has to file a tax return to Canada on those incomes. Filing a Canadian tax return, if one has a high global income, means one could end up paying more than 25% to Canada on CPP and OAS (assuming one has any OAS after a claw back - as OAS gets smaller and smaller the higher and higher one's global income is).

However if one does not disable the 25% withholding tax with Service/Revenue Canada, and hence one pays the 25% tax as a non-Canadian resident, then per the Revenue Canada tax guide (and per my experience in my tax year 2025 submission as assessed by Revenue Canada) Revenue Canada assesses that 25% withholding tax ALREADY meets one's tax obligation for the CPP and OAS and those incomes need not be included on one's Canadian T1 tax form as income for further taxation. So if as a Thai tax resident, with that 25% withholding tax taken by Canada on the CPP/OAS, if such is one's only global income, then one need not even file a Canadian tax return. One does though need to file a Canadian Old Age Security Recovery Income (OASRI) tax form so to prove one is still alive. Further, as already noted, Thailand per the Thai-Canada DTA can not tax that pension.

This also applies to the Canadian's in receipt of RRIF (registered retirement income funds) from Canada (similar to a USA-401(k) in concept)) where if 25% withholdig tax is applied, that meets one's Canadian tax obligation for that come and it need not be included on one's Canadian T1 tax return form. And per the Thai-Canada DTA, Thailand can not tax that.

One caveat, a Canadian and former Canadian resident, in receipt of Canadian OAS, still is required to tell Canada about ALL of one's global income in the OASRI to continue receiving the OAS income.

This tax stuff can get complex.

Edited June 26Jun 26 by oldcpu

On 6/24/2026 at 2:20 PM, khunPer said:

On the other hand, it is also said that you shall file a tax return for all foreign income transferred into Thailand.

That is nominally correct for all assessable income remitted to Thailand IF, and only If , one's total assessable income earned in Thailand plus any other assessable income remitted to Thailand exceeds a specific threshold.

As mentioned earlier, note, if one checks Thai tax law ... its clear this refers to assessable income.

Not all income is assessable income.

For example some remitted income covered by Royal Decree may not be assessable. Some moneys transferred to Thailand (pre-1-Jan-2024 income) covered by Ministerial directives may not be assessable.

Royal Decrees I am thinking of are:

• Royal Decree 18 - calls up Double Tax Agreements (DTAs) in general. One then needs to dive into specific DTA details.

• Royal Decree 743 - notes exemptions for some LTR visa holders

Ministerial Directives i am thinking of are Paw-161/162.

Another example, if one earns interest in a Thai bank, and if one allows the Thai bank to withhold (ie deduct) 15% withholding tax on that interest, then one's tax obligation for that Thai income has been met, and the remaining income (after tax) is no longer considered assessable income. This too, is in accordance with Thai tax law.

< sigh > This can all get a bit complicated.

Edited June 26Jun 26 by oldcpu

6 hours ago, oldcpu said:

Another example, if one earns interest in a Thai bank, and if one allows the Thai bank to withhold (ie deduct) 15% withholding tax on that interest, then one's tax obligation for that Thai income has been met, and the remaining income (after tax) is no longer considered assessable income. This too, is in accordance with Thai tax law.

It clearly says in the tax return that if you accept the 15% withheld interest tax, and the 10% withheld dividend tax, as final taxation, then you don't need to file for those amounts. However, these are not foreign income, which OP's question is about.

1 hour ago, khunPer said:

It clearly says in the tax return that if you accept the 15% withheld interest tax, and the 10% withheld dividend tax, as final taxation, then you don't need to file for those amounts. However, these are not foreign income, which OP's question is about.

True. Very true.

I was making a point , not to the OP ... re: some income not being assessable, which is important not only for foreign remitted income (to know if some is not assessable) but also to some local income (to know if some is not assessable). I suspect the big boss in Surat Thani's tax-office on Koh Samui failed to mention that important distinction (of assessable vs not assessable income), and perhaps the 'big boss' thinking that distinction was already understood when stating such about foreign income (ie 'big boss' had all assessable in mind).

It is an important distinction.

Edited June 26Jun 26 by oldcpu

11 hours ago, oldcpu said:

True. Very true.

I was making a point , not to the OP ... re: some income not being assessable, which is important not only for foreign remitted income (to know if some is not assessable) but also to some local income (to know if some is not assessable). I suspect the big boss in Surat Thani's tax-office on Koh Samui failed to mention that important distinction (of assessable vs not assessable income), and perhaps the 'big boss' thinking that distinction was already understood when stating such about foreign income (ie 'big boss' had all assessable in mind).

It is an important distinction.

Big Boss in revenue-office talked about foreign income; i.e. funds earned after January 1st 2024 and transferred into Thailand. This was my question, and this is the dilemma of "how to handle" for us tax resident expats. Withheld Thai tax we don't need to care at all about, if we are not going to claim it back...🙂

On 6/25/2026 at 8:56 AM, soisanuk said:

I also included the contact webpage for the firm the Tax Lawyer works for if they wanted more information - that firm does offer free consultations, but of course, would charge a fee if they need to perform any work on behalf of anyone.

I have been in touch with this law firm (American International Tax Advisers) and received excellent consultation regarding my tax status.

I learned that I am as free and clear of a tax burden as I originally thought.

One of the most compelling statements made by the attorney is that under current Thai tax law, "you don't file unless you owe."

Soisanuk, thank you again for posting that information.

17 minutes ago, Ricohoc said:

One of the most compelling statements made by the attorney is that under current Thai tax law, "you don't file unless you owe."

Certainly "you don't file unless you owe", but reality under current thai tax practice is , "you don't owe unless you file."

7 minutes ago, anrcaccount said:

Certainly "you don't file unless you owe", but reality under current thai tax practice is , "you don't owe unless you file."

or, you file, don't owe any tax, but receive money back instead ... 😁

15 hours ago, anrcaccount said:

Certainly "you don't file unless you owe", but reality under current thai tax practice is , "you don't owe unless you file."

Good sense tells me to trust a Thai Tax Attorney over an anonymous member of Asean Now.

Do what's best for you. I'll do the same.