Tax

[thaidup]

Hello everyone,

Firstly thanks to all involved in this forum for their valuable insight into life in Thailand, it has been a great source of information....

I am 28 and a UK citizen.

Like many others I have been to Thailand a couple of times and have fallen in love with the place.

I am now very fortunately in the position of being able to work abroad for my company doing the same job as I am doing now (web based), and even more fortunately my company has offices in Bangkok, so I am now making plans to move there in maybe 9 months time or so for a 12 month contract.

From this forum I'm pretty clued up on what I need for a work VISA but one thing has stumped me on this site...

Tax... I can't get my head round the figures on thaivisa, nothing wrong with them I'm sure but my financial skills aren't brilliant!

So I would be eternally grateful if anyone here is in the same position that I'm planning on being next year, basically doing their original job (+ extra's to justify a work VISA) from their home country and how they deal with tax, i.e. how much it is, how it's paid etc.

What would be great if someone could let me know based on a salary of approx. 160,000 baht/month how much they are left with after the various forms of taxation and what the method/frequency of payment of this tax is.

Many thanks,

John.

[Sumitr Man]

Hi John:

Have you looked here yet:

www.rd.go.th/publish/5998.0.html

SM

[thaidup]

Thanks SM,

This is pretty similar to the quotes on Thaivisa, I'll have to see if I can find an accountant friend to advise...

I'd still love to here from someone in this positioin to see how it works for them.

Cheers,

John.

[Ted]

John,

Best of luck with it all. I'm a recruiter myself and whenever I have contractors out in the field I always pass them onto Management companies (sometimes referred to as 'Umbrella' companies.) They all give free advise as they want you to pass over your financial affaris over to them when you do start working overseas (usually at a days salary fee per month). There are lots of them out there. Albany and Prosperity4 are 2 UK based companies. Worth picking their brains for free info.

BTW I intend to try and relocate to BK once I've built up a larger Asian client base

[Khun ?]

good idea, they need to see how it works out you doing your work from their bkk office. If it works out ok they should replace you with a local

[andyadam]

It might be worth checking yor position in the Uk aswell, I'm pretty sure, if you are working outside the UK for more than 6 months a year you are not liable for UK tax, but it might be worth paying national insurance. Good luck

[bkk_mike]

It might be worth checking yor position in the Uk aswell, I'm pretty sure, if you are working outside the UK for more than 6 months a year you are not liable for UK tax, but it might be worth paying national insurance. Good luck

Dead wrong.

The rule to get out of UK tax (for a UK domiciled person, and then only on non-UK income) is.

No more than 90 days in the UK in any one tax year

No more than 180 days in the UK over 3 tax years.

i.e. You have to average less than 60 days in the UK for 3 consecutive years to not be liable to UK income tax on non-UK income. (although double taxation agreements effectively mean you wouldn't get taxed in the UK on income taxed elsewhere, even if you're out of the UK for a shorter period).

The UK domiciled bit is extremely important for tax purposes. Literally it means the country where your father was ordinarily resident at the time of your birth. As if you're not UK domiciled, you are only liable to UK income tax on UK source income, or money you take into the UK. (rather like Thailand's rules for non-residents, and is the reason why foreigners can sometimes see the UK as a tax haven if they have a large offshore income).

You can't get out of paying UK income tax on UK source income though.

However - as you've got a Work Visa, and your company is presumably paying you in Thailand through their Bangkok Office with Work Permit etc., it sounds like your company will be paying you in Bangkok, which means it will be Thai income for tax purposes, and therefore taxed in Thailand, and probably not liable to UK taxes under the double taxation agreement between the two countries. In any case, your company's HR department is probably working out your taxes for you...

[thaidup]

Thanks for all your replies, indeed bkk_mike I'm going to be getting on my companies HR department shortly...

Cheers,

John.

[Martin_F]

Income tax is progressive in Thailand and is based on the following bands:

0- 80,000 free

80,000- 100,000 5%

100,000- 500,000 10%

500,000-1,000,000 20%

1,000,000-4,000,000 30%

4,000,000+ 37%

Taxable income is basically

salary in your case 160,000 X 13 (assume 1 month bonus) = 2,080,000

Less earned income allowance (60,000)

Less personal allowance (single person?) (30,000)

Net taxable income 1,990,000

Tax (1,000+40,000+100,000+990,000X30%) 438,000

Net income p.a. 1,552,000

Normal per month (1,552,000/13) 119,000

Which is very quite ok to live on if you live in the suberbs, but a CBD apartment is going to cost THB60+ whereas a house in the suberbs in THB5-20/mth.

Other costs as you go but consider THB1K-2K confortable.

[thaidup]

Thanks for that Martin, that's a real help.

Cheers,

John.