Hi everyone,

I’m sharing a recent situation with HMRC regarding my UK pension and hoping to get some insight from others who might have faced something similar here in Thailand.

I recently submitted a Form DT-Individual to HMRC to claim relief under the UK–Thailand Double Taxation Agreement so I could secure an NT (Non-Tax) tax code. However, I just received a letter from HMRC stating that "No Double Taxation relief due" because “pension income is not covered under the terms of the Double Taxation Agreement between the UK and Thailand.”

As a Thai tax resident, I am now facing the stressful prospect of potentially being taxed twice on this income—both in the UK and in Thailand.

• Has anyone else experienced HMRC rejecting a DT-Individual claim for a private/occupational UK pension based on the Thailand treaty?

• Since HMRC states the treaty doesn’t cover pensions, does anyone know if an NT code is completely out of reach, or is there another avenue or interpretation to prevent this double taxation?

I would appreciate any advice, recommendations, or shared experiences on how best to handle this with HMRC or through professional tax advisors.

Thanks in advance for any help! See attached...

From Gemini, worth a read

Yes, double tax relief exists, but how it works between the UK and Thailand depends heavily on the specific nature of your UK pension, because the 1981 UK–Thailand Double Taxation Agreement (DTA) handles pensions uniquely compared to many other treaties.

1. How the UK–Thailand DTA Handles Pensions

Unlike treaties with many European or Western nations, the UK–Thailand DTA does not contain a dedicated standalone Pensions article. This means taxing rights are shared between the two countries rather than given exclusively to your country of residence.

A. Non-Government Pensions (SIPPs, Personal, Occupations/DB) & State Pension

UK Tax Right: Because pension payments originate in the UK, HMRC treats them as UK-sourced income. UK pension providers generally withhold UK Income Tax at source via PAYE unless you fall within the £12,570 UK Personal Allowance.

Thai Tax Right: Under Thai tax laws (following rules effective from January 1, 2024), any foreign-sourced income—including pensions—remitted into Thailand by a Thai tax resident (spending 180+ days per calendar year in Thailand) is subject to Thai Personal Income Tax in the year it is brought in.

How Relief Works (Foreign Tax Credit): You cannot simply present an NT (No Tax) code to HMRC to stop UK tax on private pensions purely based on living in Thailand. Instead, double taxation relief is claimed in Thailand via Foreign Tax Credits under Article 22 of the DTA.

If you pay UK tax on your pension drawdown and subsequently remit those funds to Thailand, you declare the remitted gross income on your annual Thai tax return (P.N.D. 90/91).

You offset the UK tax already paid against your calculated Thai tax liability.

If the Thai tax rate on that income is lower than or equal to the UK tax paid, you owe ฿0 additional tax in Thailand. If the Thai progressive rate is higher, you only pay the difference to the Thai Revenue Department.

B. Government/Civil Service Pensions

Defined government service pensions (e.g., UK Civil Service, Armed Forces, NHS, Police/Fire service pensions) are strictly taxed only in the UK under Article 19 (Government Functions) of the DTA. They are exempt from Thai tax even when remitted.

7 hours ago, Nabbiex said:

Hi everyone,

I’m sharing a recent situation with HMRC regarding my UK pension and hoping to get some insight from others who might have faced something similar here in Thailand.

I recently submitted a Form DT-Individual to HMRC to claim relief under the UK–Thailand Double Taxation Agreement so I could secure an NT (Non-Tax) tax code. However, I just received a letter from HMRC stating that "No Double Taxation relief due" because “pension income is not covered under the terms of the Double Taxation Agreement between the UK and Thailand.”

As a Thai tax resident, I am now facing the stressful prospect of potentially being taxed twice on this income—both in the UK and in Thailand.

• Has anyone else experienced HMRC rejecting a DT-Individual claim for a private/occupational UK pension based on the Thailand treaty?

• Since HMRC states the treaty doesn’t cover pensions, does anyone know if an NT code is completely out of reach, or is there another avenue or interpretation to prevent this double taxation?

I would appreciate any advice, recommendations, or shared experiences on how best to handle this with HMRC or through professional tax advisors.

Thanks in advance for any help! See attached...

My pension started in Feb so I asked my UK accountant if could I get an "NT" code & their response was "Yes you can but it will take some time".

Haven't heard anything from them since (How long did it take you to get a response?) but doing my own research it looks like I will need to get a Tax Certificate from Thailand Revenue Department showing I've paid tax & I can't do this as I manage my remittances to ensure I don't owe any Tax, in fact they owed me Tax on Withheld interest.

I don't know this for sure, but suspect they will expect the TC to show I've remitted the pension to Thailand & paid Thai Tax on it which I don't want to do.

Though you will be Taxed twice you can claim a credit for the Tax you've paid in the UK against your Thai Tax return. The different Tax Years make this much harder (You have to have filed your Thai Tax Return by end of March which is a week before the end of the UK Tax Year) so might be worth engaging a Tax advisor to help you through the process.

2 hours ago, SamSpade said:

My pension started in Feb so I asked my UK accountant if could I get an "NT" code & their response was "Yes you can but it will take some time".

Haven't heard anything from them since (How long did it take you to get a response?) but doing my own research it looks like I will need to get a Tax Certificate from Thailand Revenue Department showing I've paid tax & I can't do this as I manage my remittances to ensure I don't owe any Tax, in fact they owed me Tax on Withheld interest.

I don't know this for sure, but suspect they will expect the TC to show I've remitted the pension to Thailand & paid Thai Tax on it which I don't want to do.

Though you will be Taxed twice you can claim a credit for the Tax you've paid in the UK against your Thai Tax return. The different Tax Years make this much harder (You have to have filed your Thai Tax Return by end of March which is a week before the end of the UK Tax Year) so might be worth engaging a Tax advisor to help you through the process.

Thanks so much for sharing your experience.

My accountant said that too. After I sent the DT individual application in late May, I received an HMRC letter dated 23 June just this week. Regarding the Thai Tax Certificate, I did obtain the RO 01 certificate (Tax Certificate) from the provincial Tax Revenue and the RO 22 certificate (Tax Certificate) from the regional Tax Revenue (please note that both the RO 01 and RO 22 must have a red official stamp).

In order to prevent paying tax to both HMRC and Thailand, I realized I must be a Thai tax resident by applying for a TIN number and proceeding with the DT Individual application.

Yes, that sounds like a possible constructive solution, thanks. It will certainly be interesting to see when I finally get a response from my accountant. Again, I really appreciate you sharing your insights!

I lodged a formal complaint to HMRC a couple of years ago about the lack of any coverage of the State Pension and company occupational pensions in the UK/Thailand Double Taxation Agreement. Below is the relevant extract of the reply they sent me, which makes interesting (if not altogether accurate, I strongly suspect) reading, to put it mildly!

Following my review I agree that there isn't, in the UK/Thailand Double Taxation Agreement (DTA) anything that doesn't include specific Articles covering the State Pension and company occupational pensions.

Meaning that it is not within the agreement and therefore cannot be taxed by the Thailand authorities and are in breach of the agreement doing so and will need to take this up with the Thailand authorities.

@Nabbiex - I wonder whether it might be worth your while following up the reply you got from HMRC with an enquiry as to whether they have yet taken this matter up with their TRD pals, as stated in the second sentence of their reply to my complaint (even though I'm pretty sure what the answer will be). I'll send you a PM with the full text of HMRC's reply, which you are free to refer to should you consider it worthwhile pursuing this matter.

12 hours ago, OJAS said:

Meaning that it is not within the agreement and therefore cannot be taxed by the Thailand authorities

Personally I think this is the wrong interpretation as you alluded to.....

Certainly Expattax and others have called it differently.

13 hours ago, topt said:

Personally I think this is the wrong interpretation as you alluded to.....

Certainly Expattax and others have called it differently.

However, this particular statement, inaccurate as it may be, does IMHO illustrate perfectly the extent to which the current UK/Thailand DTA is, quite frankly, no longer fit for purpose, particularly when it comes to State and company pensions. Bearing in mind that it has been in force for 45 years, it is IMHO high time for a fresh agreement to be negotiated and implemented. Unfortunately I would have thought it highly unlikely that Andy Burnham would see this as a top priority for his new government, in the same way as he does freezing bus fares, for instance. Ditto with Anutin at the Thai end.

Went to file for Thailand Tax last February at my local Tax Office in Ratchaburi.

Rather than pursuing the route you took (seeking and NT code / no tax deducted at source in UK)

I decided the lesser of two evils (or lesser level of ineptitude) was to do the following:

Provided completed paper (English) versions of all the necessary Thai forms.

Entered amount in Baht of tax withheld (UK Tax already paid on my UK pensions by PAYE), and submitted print out from the UK Government Gateway.

tax.service.gov.uk/check-income-tax/income-tax

Over an hour long session, the clerk struggled to enter into the 'system' from whence relief was being claimed - she wanted to know the 13 digit Thai code for the withholding tax, (of which there was none) and was thrown completely by my UK National Insurance number.

The 'boss' was called, equally clueless, but, as lunch time was imminent, he accepted the UK print-out and my conversion rate (that day) into Thai Baht and he told the clerk to enter zero in the appropriate box for Thai tax payable. A struggle but a win.

As I said, this was my preferred route, having dealt with Double Taxation ignorance from HMRC clerks three years ago, when I worked in China for a UK university and was taxed twice. in that instance, I submitted a long complaint about being taxed TWICE and finally got a reply, apology and compensation from somebody who seemed to understand their own rules.

The NT code (from HMRC) for Thailand residents, is not available I think perhaps noted in the DT digest ( read in conjunction with the application form).

If the NT code was allowed, and the pension was not taxed, the Thai authorities only look at the remitted bit leaving a potentially unremitted non taxed bit of UK pension. All to complicated. If Thailand moved to global taxation then NT maybe possible. But global taxation would horrible magnitude worse! They would want to tax UK ISAs! A probable hard ceiling of 179 Days for me if that happens.....

1 hour ago, UKresonant said:

The NT code (from HMRC) for Thailand residents, is not available I think perhaps noted in the DT digest ( read in conjunction with the application form).

Is an NT code possible for someone resident in Thailand on the basis of total UK income (including the pension) falling below the UK personal allowance?

1 hour ago, lamyai3 said:

Is an NT code possible for someone resident in Thailand on the basis of total UK income (including the pension) falling below the UK personal allowance?

They do have discretion clause, if it's never going to escalate above the currently frozen £12570 personal allowance, would seem to be a potential avenue.

You would have to speak with one of HMRC's technicians, I think.

But if they are all cumulatively below the threashold they would not be deducting tax, so why would you need a NT code?

8 minutes ago, UKresonant said:

They do have discretion clause, if it's never going to escalate above the currently frozen £12570 personal allowance, would seem to be a potential avenue.

You would have to speak with one of HMRC's technicians, I think.

But if they are all cumulatively below the threashold they would not be deducting tax, so why would you need a NT code?

Defined benefit schemes etc are set up by default with an emergency tax code, usually basic rate. Some proaction would be required to correct the tax code, just wondering if anyone has been successful doing this while a Thai resident... I've read elsewhere that this is unlikely.

Meanwhile, the vagueness of future tax rules regarding DTA's etc in Thailand only adds fuel to the confuddlement.