Remote Working Legalities and Requirements

[Eneukman]

No one's ever been prosecuted for remote online work, it's not explicitly illegal just currently in a grey area.

The UK doesn't require you to pay taxes on any income outside the UK (unlike the US).

You don't need to pay taxes in Thailand if you don't remit earnings to Thailand in the same year they're earnt.

If you have money in your overseas account and you remit some to Thailand, how do they know a) where you earnt it; or when you earnt it

Basically they can't.

Virtually all of my income comes from various sources in the UK (1 pension, 1 annuity and dividends from stock exchange investments). The income is paid into a current account with a building society. When the balance exceeds a certain amount, I transfer funds to an off-shore account in the Isle of Man, the interest on which is exempt (at present) from UK income tax. I then transfer funds to my account with Bangkok Bank 2 or 3 times a year. As you suggest, it is virtually impossible to state when that money was earned.

The downside is that I can see the UK government, in the not too distant future, taxing those of us who claim to be non-resident for income tax purposes on our worldwide income or lose our personal allowance. From a personal point of view, paying tax on income from outside the UK won't be a major issue for me as thanks to the low interest rates just now, the additional tax payable would be less than about £40 or so. Even if interest rates were to increase, I doubt my tax bill would be much in excess of £200.

I think the only time the tax authorities might take an interest in your overseas earnings would be if that money was remitted direct to Thailand.

Alan

[stament]

<p>Married to a Thai wife, you have two options:

• Following an initial Non-O visa to visit your wife, you can get one-year extensions of stay, showing either income or 400,000 baht in a Thai bank account. Depending on the immigration office, the one year extensions can end up being irritating with various conditions that must be met.
• You can get one-year, multiple-entry Non-O visas based on marriage from the Thai consulate in Savannakhet Laos. With this, you must leave the country every 90 days. If you are planning periodc work trips to HQ, I would suggest this as a simpler option.

I would prefer just to report to immigration every 90 days rather thsn leave the country, so I assume option 1 is the best avenue to go down.

We live in Chiang Mai, not sure if the Immigration office there is irritating or not. I assume for all these visas, I apply to a consulate outside of Thailand as I have done in the past for multi entry tourist visas.

[stament]

No one's ever been prosecuted for remote online work, it's not explicitly illegal just currently in a grey area.

The UK doesn't require you to pay taxes on any income outside the UK (unlike the US).

You don't need to pay taxes in Thailand if you don't remit earnings to Thailand in the same year they're earnt.

If you have money in your overseas account and you remit some to Thailand, how do they know a) where you earnt it; or when you earnt it

Basically they can't.

Virtually all of my income comes from various sources in the UK (1 pension, 1 annuity and dividends from stock exchange investments). The income is paid into a current account with a building society. When the balance exceeds a certain amount, I transfer funds to an off-shore account in the Isle of Man, the interest on which is exempt (at present) from UK income tax. I then transfer funds to my account with Bangkok Bank 2 or 3 times a year. As you suggest, it is virtually impossible to state when that money was earned.

The downside is that I can see the UK government, in the not too distant future, taxing those of us who claim to be non-resident for income tax purposes on our worldwide income or lose our personal allowance. From a personal point of view, paying tax on income from outside the UK won't be a major issue for me as thanks to the low interest rates just now, the additional tax payable would be less than about £40 or so. Even if interest rates were to increase, I doubt my tax bill would be much in excess of £200.

I think the only time the tax authorities might take an interest in your overseas earnings would be if that money was remitted direct to Thailand.

Alan

Please can you expand on your last sentence, are you referring to the Thai authorities or UK?