Tax And Work Permits

[bencottrell]

after a discussion with my accountant on how much tax I will pay if I have a work permit through my company I understood the following...

you pay different tax depending what kind of visa you have.

as far as I'm aware every new work permit applicant has to get a 3 month non-imm B visa outside the country, then get their WP inside the country.

after this you have 2 options...

1. recently they started to allow people to get a 1 year visa inside Thailand, this visa allows you to get a work permit valid for the full year, no need to do any border runs or renew work permit. at the end of the year the WP and visa can be renewed inside Thailand

If you have this kind of visa you are subject to 1 tax rule (around 7% monthly tax based on a salary minimum 50,000 + around 1500 insurance). Plus your company has to pay monthly insurance for 4 Thais.

2. if you get the 1 year non-immigrant B visa (only available outside Thailand), you can get a WP but have to do border run every 3 months, plus get a new WP stamp every 3 months. This is the 'old' way of doing it.

If you have this kind of visa you are subject to a different tax rule (around 430 baht per month + 400 baht insurance). No need to prove insurance for 4 Thais.

is this the tax and insurance rate Thais pay?

can anyone verify this whole thing....it sounds absurd, but my accountant is Thai and very experienced in her field

[lopburi3]

Not the way it works from my understanding - you pay a personal income tax based on income just as anyone else

.

1. This is a one year extension of stay and has always been available - the only change is that they now issue work permits for a full year even if you do not have the extension of stay for the full period - they are not tied together as they were in the past. This is not a visa and may be obtained from a non immigrant B or O visa entry.

2. You can, if you meet the requirements, obtain a multi entry visa which requires border run every 90 days or obtain a new visa every 90 days if you do not meet the requirements for extension of stay in 1 above (there is a salary requirement as well as company paperwork requirement that can sometimes case a problem). If you use this system you can now obtain a full year work permit and not have to report to Labor office every 90 days. In the past you had to renew on each entry.

[monty]

Personal Income Tax is levied exactly the same on everybody, regardless of nationality.

Thailand uses a progressive tax level, where the first 150,000 Baht is tax free up to 37% for anything over 4 million Baht yearly income.

Social security is indeed capped at 1500 Baht/month.

The only thing I can imagine is that your accountant is talking about the tax withheld from your salary. When on a 3 month extension you might get away with lower monthly tax payments as they might assume your yearly income will be limited to the earnings during those 3 months.

This will however have no effect on the actual taxes owed. Same as most other countries, the final tax will be calculated at the end of the tax year. If you overpaid you'll get a refund, if you underpaid you'll have to pay more!

[QED]

You started a previous thread in which you were advised by me and several other posters what the exact tax regime is. As previous posters have mentioned your visa status makes no difference on your tax rate.

I suggest a new accountant as the one you are using is obviously misleading you. If either of your scenarios were true there would be alot of happy expats here, but sadly you will have to pay proper tax like the rest of us.

[PoorSucker]

2. you must make at least 30.000 baht/month.

For more info on tax: Pesonal income tax

[thaiphoon]

bencottrell

"my accountant is Thai and very experienced in her field"

I have been here 7 years on NonB. I never heard so much gibberish from a so called 'expert'

I agree 100% with QED - you are being led up the garden path by your accountant. Crikey, I don't want to think about what problems your company is going to face when it files its annual returns or when you file your income tax return at the Revenue Department based on this information.

[Mighty21]

Regarding workpermit,even if you have non-B visa for 3 months only they will give you 6 months workpermit like my own,I'm here in Pratumthanee..New law for 6 months now..

Mighty

Not the way it works from my understanding - you pay a personal income tax based on income just as anyone else

.

1. This is a one year extension of stay and has always been available - the only change is that they now issue work permits for a full year even if you do not have the extension of stay for the full period - they are not tied together as they were in the past. This is not a visa and may be obtained from a non immigrant B or O visa entry.

2. You can, if you meet the requirements, obtain a multi entry visa which requires border run every 90 days or obtain a new visa every 90 days if you do not meet the requirements for extension of stay in 1 above (there is a salary requirement as well as company paperwork requirement that can sometimes case a problem). If you use this system you can now obtain a full year work permit and not have to report to Labor office every 90 days. In the past you had to renew on each entry.