A British Ex-pat's Dilemma

[Peterpan]

I have to pay tax on this money even though I am no longer entitled to any benefits.

You are entitleled to benefits, just not when living overseas its called Pension Credit which gives the elderly without the state pension a minimum amount per week think its around £120.

Also you would be entitled to winter fuel payments & a few other small help add on's its not the states fault your in Thailand sorry.

Thia post about paying tax on his pension is not correct.

A personal allowance is approx 9000 pounds a year. If he is married then both get this allowance before tax.

If he has other income then once the allowance is breached then,yes,tax is then due on the excess.

I have a state pension of 137 pounds a week on which NO tax is due. I have other pensions and tax is deducted from these .

Please check the following URL it will tell you what you need to know on Tax in the UK. http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/rates/it.htm

Tax laws 90 days in the UK within a tax year max average over 4 years, this way you are tax free.

And about NI number, I dont have one, mine was removed from the system even though I have a britsh passport and I had a house in the UK which I gave to the X-wife in 2000. I had not paid into the system since 1980 as I have worked overseas all this time.

If you dont pay into the system then Im not entitled to take anything out.

If you leave the country for more than 181 days you are classed as none resident and the Doc will remove you off his system.

[billd766]

I have to pay tax on this money even though I am no longer entitled to any benefits.

You are entitleled to benefits, just not when living overseas its called Pension Credit which gives the elderly without the state pension a minimum amount per week think its around £120.

Also you would be entitled to winter fuel payments & a few other small help add on's its not the states fault your in Thailand sorry.

Thia post about paying tax on his pension is not correct.

A personal allowance is approx 9000 pounds a year. If he is married then both get this allowance before tax.

If he has other income then once the allowance is breached then,yes,tax is then due on the excess.

I have a state pension of 137 pounds a week on which NO tax is due. I have other pensions and tax is deducted from these .

Please check the following URL it will tell you what you need to know on Tax in the UK. http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/rates/it.htm

Tax laws 90 days in the UK within a tax year max average over 4 years, this way you are tax free.

And about NI number, I dont have one, mine was removed from the system even though I have a britsh passport and I had a house in the UK which I gave to the X-wife in 2000. I had not paid into the system since 1980 as I have worked overseas all this time.

If you dont pay into the system then Im not entitled to take anything out.

If you leave the country for more than 181 days you are classed as none resident and the Doc will remove you off his system.

I have not lived in the UK since 1991 and during that time I have paid tax on ANY income derived from the UK.

Even when I was based in the UK with a UK company I paid hypothetical tax as the company had to guesstimate the salary I would have earned. Some parts were tax free but most were not.

When I was self employed based out of the UK in Europe my accountant did all my taxes and I still paid tax on my pensions as I still do now.

The only times I did not pay income tax in the UK on my earnings is when I lived full time in Thailand, working offshore in 1 country, employed by an agency in another country and being paid in a different currency than either into my account in Thailand.

I do my UK income tax online and yes I DO pay tax on my pensions which were earned during my time working in the UK.

[chrisartist]

An income of over GBP1000 a month from investments is a fairly hefty chunk of change. So, why don't you sell some of your investments (to the tune of THB800,000). That will not diminish your capital much. Then you can just keep the THB800,000 in a bank account in Thailand until you decide to leave. Then you can live on whatever the monthly return on your investments happens to be at any given time without worrying about whether or not you can satisfy the requirements for extending your visa.

[lioness]

borrow money from a thai relative to put in the bank in your name and let them keep the bank book and atm card.

Good Lawd, do Thai relatives have money? if so how about a swap?

[Penkoprod]

Also, dont forget there is the matter of these new biometric passports being fully implemented by (i think) 2010.

They probably wont be be able to tell what meal you had on the plane, but they WILL be able to tell the relevent people exactly when you left, by what means, and even the weather at the time you raised 2 fingers to gordon Brown and his "band of gypsies"

Its not a case of being non resident for tax purposes that may well trip you up, but just the fact you aint in uk for over 12 months that will.

Penkoprod

Here ya go !!!!!!

Proof (fairly) possitive that the buggers are doing it

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/travel/ne...icle5683677.ece

Penkoprod

[dutchguest]

Just some -rather speculativ- ideas about the economic future:

I am not an economist but I think economists have -like all specialists- their restrictions. I think the ecomic situation for the rich western countries is going to get -relativ- worser and for the poor countries better. Untill in a globalizing world with free trade their will be more equality and probably (in the far future) one currency, just like now in Europe we already have the euro.

This development has i.m.o. become more visible with the (partial) collaps of the western economies which in my view will not stop before there is some more equality, balance in the whole world between poor and rich.

This means we might see a yearly devaluation of the worth of western money, compared to e.g. Thailand, of may be 5-10% yearly (very speculativ).

I am sorry for this pessimistic view (for the rich) but on the positiv side I think we will gain in peace of mind. I think this is the unevitable direction of the development (about the speed I am not so sure).

P.s. being retired myself I do not yet feel the direct consequences of the crisis because I have a buffer and some playing room left. If the UK would have joined the euro-countries the effects would have been less desastrous there. A question of spreading the riscs. So you may thank your gouverment for their great vision (or were it dreams of past greatness)?

[billd766]

Also, dont forget there is the matter of these new biometric passports being fully implemented by (i think) 2010.

They probably wont be be able to tell what meal you had on the plane, but they WILL be able to tell the relevent people exactly when you left, by what means, and even the weather at the time you raised 2 fingers to gordon Brown and his "band of gypsies"

Its not a case of being non resident for tax purposes that may well trip you up, but just the fact you aint in uk for over 12 months that will.

Penkoprod

Here ya go !!!!!!

Proof (fairly) possitive that the buggers are doing it

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/travel/ne...icle5683677.ece

Penkoprod

Wow. I have just read that report and it is scary.

I am glad I left when I did.

I plan to go back once more in a couple of years to show my son and wife where I came from and then never again

[offset]

This might help anybdy over 65 if they return to the UK and are taken ill

Visitors who can receive NHS hospital treatment free of charge

You and your dependants are entitled to free NHS hospital treatment if your need for it arose during your visit to the UK. A medical opinion may be needed in order to decide if treatment should be provided free of charge. You have the right to free NHS hospital treatment if:-

you are a national of an European Economic Area (EEA) country, living in an EEA state or Switzerland, or a refugee or stateless person living in an EEA state or Switzerland, or you are a non-EEA national who lives in an EU state and pays national insurance contributions there

you normally live abroad, and are receiving a UK state pension, and have lived in the UK in the past for at least ten years

you have lived in the UK for at least ten years in the past, but now live in an EEA state, or in a non-EEA state with which the UK has a reciprocal agreement

you are a national, or a resident of certain non-EEA countries, with which the UK has a reciprocal agreement.

EEA countries are the European Union countries and Liechtenstein, Iceland and Norway.

To find out which countries are in the European Union, go to The European Union.

In addition, people from some countries can get free hospital treatment if they have been referred to the UK for that treatment, under the terms of the reciprocal agreement. There are also special arrangements with certain countries which enable people from outside the UK to get free treatment. The Department of Health can give details of countries with which the UK has a reciprocal agreement and for which there are special arrangements

[spongeman]

Yes that is true once you are married to an Irish National for 3 years then you can apply for a passport.

You renew a spousal visa for 3 years in the meantime, unlike Thailand where you keep doing it.

Its not like expats would go on the dole in Thailand and suck the life out of it .