Bank Savings Interest Rates

[meatboy]

i dont see why you guys have to worry about tax being withheld,if you involve the wife and you and her are not working then between both of you can earn 150.000bht.each in interest.if tax is witheld then claim it back.the wife does it all every january and we have never had any problem.

as long as your HONEST with them.

many banks have fixed terms and rates[eg.LH.] pay interest monthly which goes into a current acc.and as long as you keep the balance above 500,000

we get just above 2%.

so if your looking for income always fix at what your comfortable with,1yr-2yr-or 3yr.the lowest fixed accs.we have at the moment are,

18month@ 2.7% and 24month at 2.7% interest and tax paid monthly.

you have to shop around eg.the wife has some good interest paying accs.with thai credit union.some are available to farangs.

one acc.fixed over 3yrs.pays3.25% and a monthly savings acc.eg.25k.a month for 2yrs.paying 3.60%.

SO GET THE WIFE INVOLVED.

[jpinx]

October's notice gives Krungsri Mee tae dai 1.8% -- assuming they don't lose any more on bad debts

[Oorinara]

StanChart eSaver down to 2.0% p.a.

https://www.sc.com/th/en/help-centre/interest-rates.html

[meatboy]

the wife got the latest from thai union credit bank,term over 12months,deposits,100,000bht to a maximum of 900,000bht,interest paid up front @ 2.20%.

not sure if its available to us,but its tax free.

[meatboy]

i dont see why you guys have to worry about tax being withheld,if you involve the wife and you and her are not working then between both of you can earn 150.000bht.each in interest.if tax is witheld then claim it back.the wife does it all every january and we have never had any problem.

as long as your HONEST with them.

many banks have fixed terms and rates[eg.LH.] pay interest monthly which goes into a current acc.and as long as you keep the balance above 500,000

we get just above 2%.

so if your looking for income always fix at what your comfortable with,1yr-2yr-or 3yr.the lowest fixed accs.we have at the moment are,

18month@ 2.7% and 24month at 2.7% interest and tax paid monthly.

you have to shop around eg.the wife has some good interest paying accs.with thai credit union.some are available to farangs.

one acc.fixed over 3yrs.pays3.25% and a monthly savings acc.eg.25k.a month for 2yrs.paying 3.60%.

SO GET THE WIFE INVOLVED.

an update from thai credit union,the saving monthly acc.over 2yrs.pay 3.25%.

1,000bht to a maximum of 25,000.interest on the max. 20,034bht.no tax. FOR THE WIFE

[lostoday]

I will not be surprised if the Thai tax folks start to require a complete tax return from expats who file for interest refunds, simply because of the volume of refunds now involved and the popularity of this process amongst expats. The risk of course is that overseas pension payments paid into an account in Thailand become taxable in the year they are remitted here, rental income is also taxable of course - expect tax to represent the next big push for revenue from expats (and others).

Name of the Tax treaty "Convention Between The Government Of The United States Of America And The Government Of The Kingdom Of Thailand For The Avoidance Of Double Taxation And The Prevention Of Fiscal Evasion With Respect To Taxes On Income"

There is no risk for overseas pension payments paid into an account in Thailand.

There will be no tax on your pension/SS here. They are exempt from taxes.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/732083-will-i-have-to-pay-taxes-on-my-social-security-or-pension/

Edited October 6, 2015 by lostoday

[chiang mai]

Cool!

Can we now perhaps get back on track with the subject which is interest rates on savings and fixed rate deposits in Thailand.

Thanks

[scooterboy]

Hey, guys - this is a great - and very informative thread - and it would be a pity to have it closed for one reason or another.

That said, I have to agree with CM that this is about interest rates. The inevitable "secondary" subjects can be quite interesting, BUT if they start to run amok with more than just one or two replies, then the thread quickly becomes boring for (I suspect) other readers.

And yes - it has been requested before (also by myself) to keep this thread on track about current interest rates only.

Thanks

[chiang mai]

Moving on and back to the subject of bank interest rates:

I think there's a good possibility that BOT will cut the bank rate again before year end, that means that individual bank savings rates will fall.

Readers may wish to read the following article from the Straits Times and consider this aspect when thinking about which bank/savings account, what rate and for how long.

http://www.straitstimes.com/business/thai-central-bank-holds-key-rate-says-growth-forecast-to-be-cut-again

[AyG]

I think there's a good possibility that BOT will cut the bank rate again before year end, that means that individual bank savings rates will fall.

The newly appointed BOT governor made it clear before his appointment that he was keen on a change of policy viz. using not only interest rate but also exchange rate to manage the economy. I therefore suspect that there won't be an interest rate cut in the near future. I'd also like to think that the BOT has learnt from the recent experience of western countries, namely that if you cut interest rates too far, that leaves you without further flexibility to cut. (That, plus the ultra low interest rates haven't provided the economic stimulus hoped for and are misguided policy.)

If (and it's a big "if") work starts on the large infrastructure projects in the next few months, then we'll see economic stimulus and there might be scope for interest rates to rise again. In the interim, there may well be further weakening of the baht.

[chiang mai]

I hope you are right. But perhaps rather than try and debate what might happen (or not), maybe best to just flag this as something savers should consider/watch if opening new accounts or reinvesting, in the next three months?

[chiang mai]

Can we please stick to the topic of the thread, bank interest rates, thanks.

[chiang mai]

Guys, direct the thread as you wish and I'll divert my energy elsewhere, I'm tiring of trying to keep alive what people have asked for.

Mods (are you actually out there) can feel free to close the thread at will, it has served its purpose.

Out.

[Rimmer]

I pinned this topic a long while back in order for people to be informed and have a handy guide to and about interest rates, I do not moderate this forum but will try to look in here from time to time in order to see what is happening, anything other than the latest interest rate obtainable will be removed without notice.

It is not about tax rebates it is not about the strength of Thai Baht please stay on topic.

I have now removed multiple off topic posts in the last couple of pages, if you want to talk about tax or the fluctuating baht then start your own topic and ask a moderator to pin it for you do not do it here.

[Oorinara]

Thai Govt Savings Bond, 3% p.a.

http://www.bangkokbank.com/BangkokBank/PERSONALBANKING/BUILDYOURWEALTH/INVESTMENTSANDDEPOSITS/BONDS/Pages/Bond2559.aspx

Not strikingly interest rate, but bond coupon rate, though.

[AyG]

Thai Govt Savings Bond, 3% p.a.

http://www.bangkokbank.com/BangkokBank/PERSONALBANKING/BUILDYOURWEALTH/INVESTMENTSANDDEPOSITS/BONDS/Pages/Bond2559.aspx

Not strikingly interest rate, but bond coupon rate, though.

To save others looking up the details, this is three years fixed, 3% coupon paid semi-annually after deduction of withholding tax. Max. subscription 2 million baht per bank. Only available to Thai nationals and those with PR.

Can anyone explain why the coupon rate is so high? Thai government bonds with 3 years to maturity are yielding about 1.6-1.8%. Fixed deposit 36 month accounts are currently in the same range - 1.6-1.8%.

[JAS21]

For those interested ... CIMB November offer

[Oorinara]

Govt Housing Bank (GHB) 2% fixed until Jun 2016

http://www.ghbank.co.th/en/services_loan_detail.php?cms_id=183&cms_cate_id=6&parent=services_loan.php?cms_cate_id=6

[JanDetlefsen]

4.1% interest for 60 month fixed, does anyone have information on how to access a credit cooperative?

http://www.fsct.com/english/index.php?f1=menu6.html#3

[meatboy]

4.1% interest for 60 month fixed, does anyone have information on how to access a credit cooperative?

http://www.fsct.com/english/index.php?f1=menu6.html#3

never heard of them DEPOSIT INTEREST RATES TOOOOOOOOOOO GOOD TO BE TRUE.

EG.12MONTHS 3%

[AyG]

4.1% interest for 60 month fixed, does anyone have information on how to access a credit cooperative?

That rate isn't for consumers. It's the rate for cooperatives to deposit their money with the FSCT. Cooperatives take deposits at rates similar or fractionally higher than commercial banks - but at considerably higher risk of losing the money to fraud.

[scooterboy]

A perhaps "interesting" one, for some -

Government Saving Bank - GSB, the purple bank- are offering the following -

5 years fixed term - 1 Deposit payment (their so-called "5 tab 1 account")

Age limit : 7 - 60 years old

Deposit : Minimum 50K Baht or more, but only by multiples of 10K Baht (i.e. 60K, 70K, 80K....etc)
Maximum 5M Baht

Interest : Paid yearly to a Current Account. 3% after year 1, 3% after year 2,
3% after year 3, 3% after year 4, Deposit repaid after year 5 (no interest).
All interest is Tax-free.

(Note : Average Tax-free interest for the 5 year period : 2.40%)


To 'sweeten' the deal a bit, there is a small perk.

Life Insurance for the 5 year period is issued absolutely free, at 105% of the Deposit sum. If you croak along the way, your named benefactor gets your deposited amount + 5%, so don't tell the wife....

The product is just now available, so maybe there are no proper materials or pamphlets at your branch, as yet.

I believe this offer expires 30th November 2015 OR before, if investments are overwhelming......
Still, there was some confusion about this at my branch - in other words, they didn't really know ... .



Me, I think I'll skip this one. The above-mentioned average rate could be considered as being quite ok, considering that the present rates are rather low.
However, I'm hoping that rates will improve in the course of the next 2 years - and a 5 year period is a long time to tie up a chunk of cash.

I was originally interested in the product, as I already have several "similar" products from a long while ago- but at somewhat higher rates.

It's a very reasonable deal if you're just wanting a steady return of some sort on your spare cash - and not interested in fluctuating interest rates.

Eat it or beat it .......


Cheers

Edited November 10, 2015 by scooterboy

[HampiK]

that is the big gambling. If someone really would know if Interest rate would go up again in the next 2-3 years...

I actually hope they go up because of the change in US interest changes....

[jpinx]

Term investments usually have a clear enough penalty clause in the event of early termination, so it is just mathematics to know what increased rate will make it worth getting out and into the new, better rate at a certain point in time. Trying to second-guess the movements if rates is a fools game -- if it was easy we'd all be millionaires. I never understand why people will gamble with their precious "pension fund". Ask any serious investor and you will find that they only gamble with money they can afford to lose........

[meatboy]

Term investments usually have a clear enough penalty clause in the event of early termination, so it is just mathematics to know what increased rate will make it worth getting out and into the new, better rate at a certain point in time. Trying to second-guess the movements if rates is a fools game -- if it was easy we'd all be millionaires. I never understand why people will gamble with their precious "pension fund". Ask any serious investor and you will find that they only gamble with money they can afford to lose........

these gsb.fixed interest accs.seem to be TAX FREE,yet they advertise the rate IT WOULD BE BEFORE tax was deducted. over 3yrs.ago we opened 2 of these accs.and as we claim all tax back we asked can we have the rate before tax withheld.UHMMMMMMMMMMMMMM NO.

SO 2.40% over 5yrs. NO THANK YOU.

[JAS21]

Have a look at post #1826. You just need to look out for what is available. It's some money that we don't want to gamble with and is security for my wife if ..... 4.95% 6 years claim the tax back every year.

[regedit]

KrungSri Mee Tai Dee down from 1.8% to 1.7% since 11 Dec 2015 on balances THB 100,000+

[mariohh1]

I tried this now twice and they always ask what i work and where my money comes from and i never got my tax back. I dont work and i am not married. What am i doing wrong? I live in chiang mai is there a office who can do it for me for a charge?

[meatboy]

I tried this now twice and they always ask what i work and where my money comes from and i never got my tax back. I dont work and i am not married. What am i doing wrong? I live in chiang mai is there a office who can do it for me for a charge?

what kind of savings accs.have you got.

do they give you the tax witheld certificates at the start of the new yr.

also what is your visa status.

we all find the tax revenue staff very helpfull.

so if you can give us a bit more info i am sure there are quite a few that will help you.

oh and dont use an agent,all the forms to fill in the tax staff will help you.

did they give you a tax id.this is your personel no.to quote when making a claim.

my wife done it all for me and yes she will be there next week.[korat ]

[mariohh1]

I tried this now twice and they always ask what i work and where my money comes from and i never got my tax back. I dont work and i am not married. What am i doing wrong? I live in chiang mai is there a office who can do it for me for a charge?

what kind of savings accs.have you got.

do they give you the tax witheld certificates at the start of the new yr.

also what is your visa status.

we all find the tax revenue staff very helpfull.

so if you can give us a bit more info i am sure there are quite a few that will help you.

oh and dont use an agent,all the forms to fill in the tax staff will help you.

did they give you a tax id.this is your personel no.to quote when making a claim.

my wife done it all for me and yes she will be there next week.[korat ]

yes i get this tax form from my bank and the lady in the tax office filled the form and i got a receive but after a couple of weeks i get a call and they want to know where the money is from and what i work. My answer is the money is from germany and i dont work and than they say i have no right for a claim. thats when i stop doing anything 555 but i have an old tax id from south of thailand when i had a company and they used that number but i will try to change this next week here in cm