With a Thai Elite visa can a person work legally as a digital Nomad ?

[xnpu]

It's very simple really.

If your not obliged to pay tax here, your not working here.

same goes for any country.

If the company is some obscure online international company then yes you can work in thailand. because your payment and the whole thing is not based in Thai but in either some foreign country with little to no rules or non at all.

However if the company profile is in Thai then you do need a work permit if you work here, or you need to work for a branch that is out of country.

good luck

Nu

Your first 3 sentences are right on the money, but then you draw the wrong conclusion. The question is indeed whether you are liable for taxes or not. This is a question of international double taxation treaties though, not so much one of local laws.

To make a very broad generalisation: a Digital Nomad is liable for taxes in the country where they spend the majority of their time. For many Digital Nomads here that means you're liable for taxes in Thailand and hence required to get the appropriate paperwork.

There are many details that can change ones situation though. I highly recommend the OP (and others) to read the relevant double taxation treaty and figure out how that applies to his situation. It's not the most fun read, but can save you potential headaches later on. (Not to mention make the discussion here more meaningful.)

Thailand double taxation treaties: http://www.rd.go.th/publish/766.0.html

[theguyfromanotherforum]

These digital nomads must be making some serious cash since it's p off the same old broke azz thai elite visa holders. That's the only reason this useless thread has 20 pages. Jealously.

[Maestro]

...

If your not obliged to pay tax here, your not working here.

...

Wrong.

[DrTuner]

These digital nomads must be making some serious cash since it's p off the same old broke azz thai elite visa holders. That's the only reason this useless thread has 20 pages. Jealously.

I've hired IT freelancers in the past. My guess of their income levels if operating from Thailand would be around 2-3k eur/month.

[HikeFromLA]

You can and should pay tax if you are > 180 days per year in Thailand. Just go to the revenue office, fill the form and pay. The loophole, if you are looking for one, is that you only pay for the amount you bring to Thailand and have earned in the same tax year. If you are using money earned prior to the year, ie. savings, it's not taxable: http://www.tilleke.com/resources/summary-thailand%E2%80%99s-tax-laws

Nope. That would put you in presumed or at least suspected violation of two laws, one against aliens working without a permit, the other against entering on a tourist visa to work locally.

Let it go.

By the way, plenty of online workers would gladly pay some tax to their host in the form of an easy-to-purchase, multi-month visa for a higher fee. No doubt host countries would like to have the revenue. But the immigration lawmakers have bigger fish to fry. The pathetically tiny number of digital nomads is dwarfed by their concerns about true illegal workers, sordid sex tourists, and professional criminals. Clearly the recent changes in the visa laws are aimed at all three of those categories. Regularizing digital nomad-hood would create a giant loophole for at least the latter two categories.

My guess is that digital nomads are viewed as no more pernicious than retirees.

[HikeFromLA]

To make a very broad generalisation: a Digital Nomad is liable for taxes in the country where they spend the majority of their time. For many Digital Nomads here that means you're liable for taxes in Thailand and hence required to get the appropriate paperwork.

Admirable sentiment, though not always the law. For example, if someone has an office and bookkeeping and bank account and family in Country X, the authorities there still may want taxes, even though he spends seven months a year in LOS.

Another example: I spend no time in the US, and have no wife, minor children, office, or home there, but am still required to pay roughly 15 percent of all income to Uncle Sam.

Personally I would have no problem paying tax in a country where I was allowed to work in the real world and sell to local people. This was possible, for example, in the field of real estate in the particular Mexican state where I resided until recently. But if I am denied the ability to make a sales call, to hang out a shingle, to run a cash register, well then, any online work I do is simply what I scratch out in order to prolong my stay. Which is for reasons other than business, and other than taxes. I just like it here.

[ubonjoe]

Have you noticed the date on the post you quoted.

[rwdrwdrwd]

These digital nomads must be making some serious cash since it's p off the same old broke azz thai elite visa holders. That's the only reason this useless thread has 20 pages. Jealously.

I've hired IT freelancers in the past. My guess of their income levels if operating from Thailand would be around 2-3k eur/month.

In my (20 years) experience your guess would be wrong.

Decent senior level developers earn full western rates, generally it is only the most qualified that can get full time remote work.

Most the FT long term remote roles I see are around the 100k US mark.

Edited November 23, 2015 by rwdrwdrwd