Wester Union

[Dahee]

Hello all.

Apologies if this has been covered elsewhere on this forum but I can't find a definitive answer to my problem.

Basically all I want to know is does a Western Union transaction of US$10,000 or more into Thailand get taxed by Thai authorities?

If it does, is it just because of the inflow? And if it does what would be the going rate that Western Union would charge?

Thanks in advance to all posters.

[Jimjim]

For anything over that amount I believe at least from where you send it there is serious inquiry as to what it is for? I thought you couldn't send that much with Western Union at all but what do I know?

Edit: Moneygram has better rates and cheaper fees.

Edited September 19, 2008 by Jimjim

[Governor]

Western Union is a convenient but very expensive way of transferring money into Thailand and they give a very poor exchange rate, and yes I believe there is a limit on how much you can send, so it might require multiple transactions.

Who is the recipient of the transaction? transferring the cash into a bank account would be far more cost effective. I transferred a similar amount, albeit from the UK, this week, it cost me $35 and though they told me it would take up to 4 banking days it was in my Thai account 30 minutes later.

But to answer your question, I am pretty sure there would not be a tax liability, I have never had to pay tax on similar, and much larger transactions.

[CWMcMurray]

9,999 USD per transfer would be better...

I believe anything over 10,000 USD requires a form that needs to be filled out and sent to the IRS (assuming from US given the curency, if not check the regulations of the country its coming from)