Getting Taxes Back.

[mozzermarr]

Hi, I was under the impression that every person is tax exempt for his or her first two years working in Thailand (being from Canada or Britain, etc). I'm wondering how I can get back my taxes for the past year. I was losing 2500 baht a month, and that has now grown to 5000 since the new year. The secretary at my work is a muppet and I have the feeling that no one in my school (Thai staff) either cares or has a clue as to what is going on. I keep asking questions and stirring the pot, but not even the foreign staff seems to care much about it. I on the other hand do care a lot about it and would like to get my money back .

So, can I actually get my money back and how would you suggest I go about doing it? I am entitled to it and I don't want to be ripped of by either my school or the govn't.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

cheers.

[899cc]

Mozzermarr i don't know any country that is exempt for 2 year's from paying taxe's in Thailand, you mention the u.k, they have a reciprocal agreement with the Thai goverment about tax affair's as do most foreign country's have here,if your out of your own country for more than 180-days then you come under the country your working in to pay taxes, imo you will be lucky to reclaim anything here............................good-luck

[culicine]

Ask in the www.tes.co.uk forums, in the 'overseas' section. I was under the impression that it was doable (quite a bit of paperwork), and that you must leave the country after the two years has expired. Not sure if it is possible to leave and then return to continue teaching though.

[lonexpat]

The school advised me to claim back my tax. Cost me 6000b in unpaid taxes Go figure..

.

[mozzermarr]

Hi guys, thanks for the replies.

My research shows that people from countries (u.k, canada, etc) that have tax agreements with Thailand do no pay income tax in the first two years of that person working in Thailand. It must be the person's first time working in Thailand. I know that schools in Asia ( I also lived in Korea and had issues) can be dodgy so I was just wondering if anyone knows of any more info that i can use.

I'll check that site out Culicine. cheers.

[mozzermarr]

Thanks for the replies lads.

I am still confused (thought that people from the u.k, canada, etc did not have to pay income tax in their first two years of working life in thailand?). I know that asian schools ( i also lived in korea) can be dodgy on certain issues, so i was just wondering if anyone had any inside info that i can use. ive read that tax agreements online and i know that i am not supposed to be getting any taxes deducted from me. im now losing 5k a month and not happy abou that.

ill check out that site Culicine. cheers for that.

[mozzermarr]

I keep trying to post a reply but it won't let me....thanks for the resonses by the way. cheers.

[culicine]

Hi this was posted in the TES forums a while back:

• As someone who has very successfully received back their two years of tax I can confirm that the system works and that it's not too difficult, however, you will need the support of your school and a Thai speaker/writer. The steps are as follows:
  1. You need your tax registration form from your employer
  2. You need your annual tax return form, which is normally completed by your employer every year, or can be done on line at the Thai revenue department.You need this as you need to show that there is no deficit in your payment for that tax year.
  3. You need your equivalent of a P45 in UK which shows that your employer has actually paid the tax.
  4. You then need
  a)a translated copy of your contract,
  b)a copy of your air ticket for arrival in Thailand. This must be a direct flight from your home country. You cannot claim tax back if, for example you are British and you came to Thailand from Saudi, you must come initially from the UK. Likewise the regulations state that you MUST not return to your home country in the two year period. If you do you will only be able to claim tax back from the date of first entry to Thailand to the date of departure to your home country.
  c) copies of all dependents details
  d) translated copy of the relevant tax treat between Thailand and your home country
  e) Copies of every page in your passport
  f) letter from your employer stating their belief that you are entitled to this rebate
  g) proof that at the end of the two years you will be flying directly back to your home country, your claim will be invalidated if you fly elsewhere.
  Once you have all this you must find out which local tax office deals with your school and you must go there personally and complete Form 10 in Thai. You then submit every document above. They will interview you in Thai to validate all the details and then you have to wait, normally 6 months. When they have decided about your claim they notify you by registered post TO YOUR HOME ADDRESS IN THAILAND. You must take the letter and contact the local revenue payments office who will tell you when you can go and collect the money, they need time to earmark revenue collection to pay you. Once you are told to attend they will issue a cheque, its not cash and therefore you need an open Thai bank account.
  There are a number of pitfalls, the most obvious being the rule that you must arrive in Thailand directly from your home country and you must return to Thailand at the end of your contract, before the 2 year period, to your home country. The other pitfall is that it is very difficult to know when to lodge the claim as you must have all your annual tax returns and you cannot claim after December for that tax year, which means you have to make three separate claims over the course of your contract (Sept-Dec of your first year, Jan – Dec of your second year and Jan – Aug). The last one is very difficult to claim back as they cannot work with half years. The easiest to claim is the complete full year you have worked.
  It is a very difficult but with patience and time on your hands it is possible to do it yourself which is much better that using a financial agent who will rob you of a minimum of 10% of the claim. I’ve had back about 8,000 pounds equivalent and there was no way I was giving 10% of that to anyone!
  Good luck to everyone out there – don’t listen to the stories and don’t listen to ISAT who will tell you it isn’t possible, or that it’s only possible for Americans so forget it if you’re a Brit! The fact is that the British Treaty is even clearer than the American one and there are over a hundred Dual Tax treaties with countries around the world – you can check if your country has a treaty by looking on the Thai Revenue website and can even download some treaties from there.
  
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  Posted by: 22/05/2007 at 12:22
  Reply
  Joined on 22/05/2007
  Posts 4 Sorry - posted too quickly without checking first. Should read:
  There are a number of pitfalls, the most obvious being the rule that you must arrive in Thailand directly from your home country and you must return to directly to your home country at the end of your contract, before the end of the 2 year period.