Bank Savings Interest Rates

[MrMuddle]

Chiang Mai, I have both types of accounts, but I'll be definitely looking at reclaiming the tax on my fixed deposit account. I'll also be transferring the majority of other bank deposits into fixed term accounts, now that i know i can get tax free interest on them, thanks for the help.

[meatboy]

the fixed term acc.which i leave my visa ext.amount in is due to mature aug 6th,as its left in bkk bank i wonder whats on offer,7months or more.

[meatboy]

Chiang Mai, I have both types of accounts, but I'll be definitely looking at reclaiming the tax on my fixed deposit account. I'll also be transferring the majority of other bank deposits into fixed term accounts, now that i know i can get tax free interest on them, thanks for the help.

all mine and mrs are fixed accs.but you need an ordinary acc.for the interest to be paid into expecially if you have a step acc.where eg.say 11months term,4monthsx 2% 4x3% then3x4%.the thai tax year is to the end of dec.so just go along to the bank and ask for certicates for tax paid.then in my case the wife went along and done it all at the local tax office they were very helpful,they put the first claim in,you will get a tax id card name,address and tax id no.then the next year you claim on line

[John 1]

the fixed term acc.which i leave my visa ext.amount in is due to mature aug 6th,as its left in bkk bank i wonder whats on offer,7months or more.

SCB is offering 3.3% for 7 month's it doesn't say if it's for Thai only or everyone. They have 9 month's at 3.1% it's for Thai only.

[chiang mai]

the fixed term acc.which i leave my visa ext.amount in is due to mature aug 6th,as its left in bkk bank i wonder whats on offer,7months or more.

SCB is offering 3.3% for 7 month's it doesn't say if it's for Thai only or everyone. They have 9 month's at 3.1% it's for Thai only.

Post 173 gave you the tax reference link that you wanted, are you now satisfied on this point? Also, are you still certain that tax is being deducted on all your savings amounts, even those below 20K of interest per year?

[John 1]

the fixed term acc.which i leave my visa ext.amount in is due to mature aug 6th,as its left in bkk bank i wonder whats on offer,7months or more.

SCB is offering 3.3% for 7 month's it doesn't say if it's for Thai only or everyone. They have 9 month's at 3.1% it's for Thai only.

Post 173 gave you the tax reference link that you wanted, are you now satisfied on this point? Also, are you still certain that tax is being deducted on all your savings amounts, even those below 20K of interest per year?

I though you wanted to keep this to interest only thread.

[chiang mai]

the fixed term acc.which i leave my visa ext.amount in is due to mature aug 6th,as its left in bkk bank i wonder whats on offer,7months or more.

SCB is offering 3.3% for 7 month's it doesn't say if it's for Thai only or everyone. They have 9 month's at 3.1% it's for Thai only.

Post 173 gave you the tax reference link that you wanted, are you now satisfied on this point? Also, are you still certain that tax is being deducted on all your savings amounts, even those below 20K of interest per year?

I though you wanted to keep this to interest only thread.

Well you know John, given that we've devoted as much effort as we already have to your tax affairs, I just thought it would be a nice courtesy and wrap up if you were to confirm that all is now well, that way perhaps it would prevent other posters from trying to take us down the same road.

[John 1]

Ok as far as I'm concerned yes I pay tax on all interest earned on saving account's at various bank and are all under 20,000bt per year interest. On reading the attachment from post 173 what i read it says is item 3.2 interest item 2 if not more than 20,000bt interest from saving account and 15% has been deducted it doesn't have to be included in PIT.

[chiang mai]

Ok as far as I'm concerned yes I pay tax on all interest earned on saving account's at various bank and are all under 20,000bt per year interest. On reading the attachment from post 173 what i read it says is item 3.2 interest item 2 if not more than 20,000bt interest from saving account and 15% has been deducted it doesn't have to be included in PIT.

So the answer to this whole mystery is that you are an existing tax payer in Thailand and that you file PIT (personal income tax) hence you are not entitled to have bank interest paid gross, as per my first answer in post 153:

"I wonder if perhaps you have a work permit based visa because if so, chances are your taxation will be similar to a Thai national".

[JoePai]

Why are we talking about tax please ? I opened this because it said Interest Rates - not all this other nonsense, please get back on topic.

Thank you

[chiang mai]

Why are we talking about tax please ? I opened this because it said Interest Rates - not all this other nonsense, please get back on topic.

Thank you

Read the thread and you'll understand why!

[MrMuddle]

Surely interest rates and the taxes one pays on interest on them are intertwined? I for one, am grateful for the advice I've received in regard to taxes, on this topic. I thought the whole object of the exercise on TV was for ex-pats to help out other ex-pats in regard to problems in Thailand?

[Darrel]

.... I pay tax on all interest earned on saving account's at various bank and are all under 20,000bt per year interest. ...

I don't. All my savings accounts appear to pay interest gross. None has more than 1MB in, so none earns more than 20KB/year interest.

[meatboy]

.... I pay tax on all interest earned on saving account's at various bank and are all under 20,000bt per year interest. ...

I don't. All my savings accounts appear to pay interest gross. None has more than 1MB in, so none earns more than 20KB/year interest.

how do you get them to pay interest gross.

[chiang mai]

.... I pay tax on all interest earned on saving account's at various bank and are all under 20,000bt per year interest. ...

I don't. All my savings accounts appear to pay interest gross. None has more than 1MB in, so none earns more than 20KB/year interest.

how do you get them to pay interest gross.

In my case they do it automatically and always have, here's some of the criteria that I know of:

Not be an existing Thai tax payer, i.e. already filing a personal income tax return every year;

Have anual interest of under THB 20k per year;

Not have a joint account with a Thai person.

I'm sure there may be other criteria of which I am unaware.

[meatboy]

.... I pay tax on all interest earned on saving account's at various bank and are all under 20,000bt per year interest. ...

I don't. All my savings accounts appear to pay interest gross. None has more than 1MB in, so none earns more than 20KB/year interest.

how do you get them to pay interest gross.

In my case they do it automatically and always have, here's some of the criteria that I know of:

Not be an existing Thai tax payer, i.e. already filing a personal income tax return every year;

Have anual interest of under THB 20k per year;

Not have a joint account with a Thai person.

I'm sure there may be other criteria of which I am unaware.

thanks for that,i am not an existing tax payer[retired]

last jan.i done a tax return showing tax.certiicates from diff.banks[tax reclaimed]

has an anual interest paid not exeeding 20k bht.

the accounts are in my name,the wife has her own.

[Darrel]

In my case they do it automatically and always have...

Same here. I've actually seen it written in the English T&Cs for one or two of my accounts. "Interest under 20K paid gross."

[John 1]

the fixed term acc.which i leave my visa ext.amount in is due to mature aug 6th,as its left in bkk bank i wonder whats on offer,7months or more.

SCB is offering 3.3% for 7 month's it doesn't say if it's for Thai only or everyone. They have 9 month's at 3.1% it's for Thai only.

Just received a reply from SCB the 7 mth 3.3% account is available from 7/7 to 31/8 and is OK for a foreigner it's for 1MB and up..

[chiang mai]

I must confess I don't fully understand yet why some people have tax deducted and others do not, unless it's got to do with when the account was opened, all of mine are less than one year old since I tend to close out my accounts when I change provinces in Thailand. If anyone has any insight into this aspect it will useful to hear then we can finally put this aspect to bed.

[Darrel]

Maybe a mod would like to extract the messages relating to tax in this thread and put them into a new thread dedicated to that topic?

[fletchsmile]

To wrap up the tax. There are a couple of issues:

1) Whether an amount is "taxable" or not

Post #173 sets out the tax rules. i.e taxable if over 20k in aggregate.

2) Whether tax is actually deducted at source (by bank) or not. This is an admin procedure. A lot of this comes down to bank policies. Usually if over 20k interest the bank automatically deducts tax. There are variations though by type of account and policies. Bank staff will tell you that by splitting the account into several amounts you avoid tax deducted at source.

This does not mean it is not taxable, simply tax is not deducted at source. 2 accounts earning 30k interest create the same tax liability as one paying 30k, but may affect whether it is taken off initially or not. Unfortunately a lot of people mix up the 2, including posters on here as well as bank clerks. So splitting the accounts mainly affects the admin, not how much tax should be paid

3) Tax deducted at source cannot be reclaimed on savings deposits but can on fixed deposits

4) A lot of people don't bother doing anything else, and just accept what is deducted or not, so:

a) Technically if you are over 20k in aggregate you have a potential tax liability you are omitting by not doing a return regardless of how many accounts you have

b ) If your interest on savings deposits is less than 20k and tax is being deducted, speak to your bank as to why, because you are losing out and can't reclaim it

c) For fixed deposits these have an advantage over savings deposits that tax can be reclaimed if you bother going thru the process (which strictly speaking you should be doing anyway)

As an example I have 2 identical style accounts with Stan Chart. One deducts tax because it pays over 20k interest. The other doesn't because it pays under 20k interest. It happens to be the one I use with 400k in for my marriage extension of stay (visa reasons). However, both are effectively taxable regardless of whether the bank takes it out or not. It is my responsibility to declare the correct amount in total on the tax return.

Oops longer "summary" than I thought. Thailand is never simple, plus tax enforcement and follow up can be lax, so people don't bother or don't know what they should be doing, and just keep quiet. I was going to suggest on rates, but will put below in a separate post

Edited July 12, 2012 by fletchsmile

[fletchsmile]

Back on topic. Someone mentioned money maturing in August. Two accounts + another thought, I like are with Standard Chartered:

1) E-Saver account: pays 3%. You need THB 10k to open. It is an internet only account, so no ATM, cheque book, passbook etc, and you might want to supplement it with other accounts with more features but less interest. Interest is higher than usual accounts due to less admin for internet only. You can easily do online transfers to your normal account and take the money out that way via ATM, cheque etc.

2) Marathon Savings account. Each year in September, October, November they bring out a promotional account to coincide with their marathon. The rates vary each year, but are set for a full year. They are usually good rates compared to normal accounts and are stepped. Last year was 2.75% for first 4 months, 3.25% next 4, and 4.5% next 4 months for a compound average 3.54%. Conditions: minimum 200k. You can only add in first month you open. (You can open multiple accounts tho and in different months over this 3month promotional period), after that no more additions. Maximum 2 withdrawals per month (so you need another account for regular use), but for someone who manages their money with some foresight this is a useful account. Withdrawal by passbook only. It pays a better rate than normal accounts, and although some restrictions it has more flexibility than say 12 month fixed deposit, with some access. I use this for my THB 400k visa requirements, so don't touch it but could do if needed.

Stan Chart aren't very useful outside Bangkok for retail clients, and aren't particularly interested in expats, but they are quite good in bring out new products, even if service is shall be say "variable". On a normal mass retail savings accounts, Thai banks will usually pay better rates. It's on the product innovation they may be useful.

3) For someone looking for a mortgage (if you have Thai spouse) there's also another interesting product called "Mortgage One". They were one of the first to bring out an "offset" mortgage, whereby if you open a linked savings account together with the right mortgage (Mortgage One), broadly they will charge interest on the net of the two balances. Given mortgage rates can be say 6% and savings say 3%, this can be useful. What it effectively means is that instead of earning 3% on a savings account alone of say 30,000 on THB 1mio, you can instead reduce your mortgage by 60,000 by offsetting that same 1mio. i.e

Normally:

Savings 1miok @ 3% = 30k

Mortage 10mio @ 6% = 600k outgoing

Total outgoing 570k

With Mortgage One product and linked savings account

Mortgage 10mio less 1mio savings account nettted off = 9mio net

9mio net @ 6% rate = total outgoing 540k

Interest payment saved 30k.

Worth considering if it suits your circumstances, as it's a good effective rate. You can also over pay your mortage each month to reduce overall interest and withdraw against it via ATM among other features

Edited July 12, 2012 by fletchsmile

[meatboy]

the fixed term acc.which i leave my visa ext.amount in is due to mature aug 6th,as its left in bkk bank i wonder whats on offer,7months or more.

SCB is offering 3.3% for 7 month's it doesn't say if it's for Thai only or everyone. They have 9 month's at 3.1% it's for Thai only.

Just received a reply from SCB the 7 mth 3.3% account is available from 7/7 to 31/8 and is OK for a foreigner it's for 1MB and up..

is that min.deposit 1mb.or up to 1mb.if the later bkk.bank had better come up with somewhere near.one maturing on 6th aug.3.25 that was 7months.

[John 1]

the fixed term acc.which i leave my visa ext.amount in is due to mature aug 6th,as its left in bkk bank i wonder whats on offer,7months or more.

SCB is offering 3.3% for 7 month's it doesn't say if it's for Thai only or everyone. They have 9 month's at 3.1% it's for Thai only.

Just received a reply from SCB the 7 mth 3.3% account is available from 7/7 to 31/8 and is OK for a foreigner it's for 1MB and up..

is that min.deposit 1mb.or up to 1mb.if the later bkk.bank had better come up with somewhere near.one maturing on 6th aug.3.25 that was 7months.

Minimum deposit is 1 MB. it's on the SCB web site go to deposit interest rates.

[chiang mai]

Opening a Stan Chart account in Bangkok is fine, I wouldn't recommend you try it in Chiang Mai unless you're prepared to dedicate a lot of time to it and get very frustrated in the process - also, you'll need copies and originals of absolutely everything including the kitchen sink.

[Obb]

Thanachart Ultra Savings Account details:

http://www.thanachar...ypeid=9&proid=1

Edited July 13, 2012 by Tywais
Flame removed

[Sophon]

Just received a reply from SCB the 7 mth 3.3% account is available from 7/7 to 31/8 and is OK for a foreigner it's for 1MB and up..

is that min.deposit 1mb.or up to 1mb.if the later bkk.bank had better come up with somewhere near.one maturing on 6th aug.3.25 that was 7months.

Bangkok Bank already has something similar; 3.25% p.a. for five months. However, it's only open for deposits until July 25th so you will have to see what they come up with after that one.

Edit! Minimum deposit is 200,000 baht.

Sophon

Edited July 13, 2012 by Sophon

[meatboy]

Just received a reply from SCB the 7 mth 3.3% account is available from 7/7 to 31/8 and is OK for a foreigner it's for 1MB and up..

is that min.deposit 1mb.or up to 1mb.if the later bkk.bank had better come up with somewhere near.one maturing on 6th aug.3.25 that was 7months.

Bangkok Bank already has something similar; 3.25% p.a. for five months. However, it's only open for deposits until July 25th so you will have to see what they come up with after that one.

Edit! Minimum deposit is 200,000 baht.

Sophon

i have to have one that takes me past my extension date middle of jan.

[mmaacc]

Supposedly TMB interest rates will drop next month if I read this here correctly. So we have 2 options other than fixed deposit which is Standard Chartered with 3% and Krungsri with 2.9%. Any take on the stability of these offers?

[John 1]

Supposedly TMB interest rates will drop next month if I read this here correctly. So we have 2 options other than fixed deposit which is Standard Chartered with 3% and Krungsri with 2.9%. Any take on the stability of these offers?

I've just put money in SCB at 3.6% for 7 month but a was substantial amount. I checked TMB they are offering 3.5% for 12 month's and interest paid in 7 days up front.