Funds transfer abroad after selling a property

[max72]

Hallo

I am aware that sending money abroad from Thailand might be little bit complicated.

Foreigners working here might justify that showing bills they need to pay abroad.

But in my case, I have always come here as a tourist spending the winter months (3-4 months a year) and 6 years ago I have acquired a condo.

Now for familiar reasons, I plan not to come in the next years as usual and I am selling my condo.

Would be difficult to transfer back my money after the sale ?

I can't show any bill I need to pay, because in reality I don't have to pay anything, I just no need my condo anymore and I wouldn't be coming to Thailand as usual.

I have asked my bank twice and gave contradictory answers, one says one thing, than another says another.

Has anybody had to do the same thing ?

Besides a selling receipt from the land department what else might I be asked ?

Using the same bank (SCB) I had used to transfer the funds in 6 years ago to buy the condo, would be more helpful ?

Thanks in advance

[Langsuan Man]

If you have a foreign exchange certificate from when you imported the money to buy the condo into Thailand all you need to do is show that to your bank and they will allow that much to be wired out of Thailand

When you purchased the condo the original of the FEC was attached to the chanote at the Land Office and will be returned to you when you go to the land office with the buyer to conclude the sale . You should have a copy of the FEC that the Land Office gave you when you registered the property

I don't understand what you mean by "bill"

You should have a chanote (deed) and that is what proves that you own the property, the FEC that shows that you brought the money in from overseas, and you may have, but are not required to have, the receipt from the seller / land office from when you purchased the condo which shows how much in tax and what fees were paid at that time.

If you sell the condo you have already satisfied the 5 year rule for the tax rate you will pay on any profit you may have made (less than 5 years, a higher tax rate) and since the Land Office handled the initial sale they will know how much profit my may or may not have made

[hhgz]

"they will allow that much to be wired out of Thailand "

Baloney. After I sold my first condo in Thailand, I transferred much more than the sale price of the condo - excess funds better held in the US.

You can make the fund transfer as complicated as you want. On the other hand, if you want things to go smoothly, you should bring several documents:

1. An FEX indicating that you had funds transferred for outside of Thailand.

2. The purchase contract.

3. A copy of the deed with your name on it.

3. A statement from your condo stating that you owe no funds.

4. A statement from your condo indicating the farang-to-non-farang ratio.

5. The sales contract.

6. A receipt showing the taxes you paid when you sold the contract. A very accurate tax calculator: http://www.acuterealty.com/calculator.asp

At the bank, you'll need to complete two forms:

1. A document that indicates that you're selling THB, and buying whatever currency (US $, for example) you want.

2. A document that transfers the money from Thailand, to whatever country you want.

Finally, if you are hand-carrying currency or traveler's checks in excess of $10K USD, many countries require you to report that on a form. The US one is online.

[wpcoe]

What is the standard way of repatriating USD back to America? Is it converted to dollars by the Thai bank before the (SWIFT?) transfer, or is it sent as THB and the US bank converts to dollars? If there is a choice, which method is better?

[THAIJAMES]

What is the standard way of repatriating USD back to America? Is it converted to dollars by the Thai bank before the (SWIFT?) transfer, or is it sent as THB and the US bank converts to dollars? If there is a choice, which method is better?

Best to convert to dollars here in Thailand, you will get a much better rate. In other words send money in US dollars.

[flyingdoc]

Or remit in £ but make sure you go to a large and experienced money changing Office for the best rate!

[grabitanrun]

I transferred £60k overseas about 5 years ago without any problems, albeit I had to do it in 3 transfers.

Other option if the condo wasn't too expensive is just to exchange into usd/gbp in country and take it out with you if your bank won't help?

[Mr Wonderful]

Hallo

I am aware that sending money abroad from Thailand might be little bit complicated.

Foreigners working here might justify that showing bills they need to pay abroad.

But in my case, I have always come here as a tourist spending the winter months (3-4 months a year) and 6 years ago I have acquired a condo.

Now for familiar reasons, I plan not to come in the next years as usual and I am selling my condo.

Would be difficult to transfer back my money after the sale ?

I can't show any bill I need to pay, because in reality I don't have to pay anything, I just no need my condo anymore and I wouldn't be coming to Thailand as usual.

I have asked my bank twice and gave contradictory answers, one says one thing, than another says another.

Has anybody had to do the same thing ?

Besides a selling receipt from the land department what else might I be asked ?

Using the same bank (SCB) I had used to transfer the funds in 6 years ago to buy the condo, would be more helpful ?

Thanks in advance

You need to show proof that the condo was under foreign quota and therefore you had to provide an FET (or the developer did) at time of transfer to you.

You don't need to show those FETs, you just need to show evidence of the sale and confirmation that it was registered under your personal name (foreigner quota) and you can transfer all the money out because tax is already withheld by land department at time of transfer to the new owner.

You don't just get permission to send back the original amours but the full net amount of the sale after fees and taxes.

[LivinLOS]

"they will allow that much to be wired out of Thailand "

Baloney. After I sold my first condo in Thailand, I transferred much more than the sale price of the condo - excess funds better held in the US.

6. A receipt showing the taxes you paid when you sold the contract. A very accurate tax calculator: http://www.acuterealty.com/calculator.asp

In case your missing the obvious.. Most farangs dont want to pay the tax, just sell and repatriate. Its not just the sales tax but capital gains your supposed to pay as income.

If you have an FETF / TorTor3 you can send that much without any tax issue..

Different banks seem to operate slightly different policies on outward transfers.. Breaking it into amounts of less than the FETF amount (50k USD these days) can help but some banks are total blanks on this (one of mine was simply 'cannot' for a while until calls made to bangkok).

Edited January 15, 2016 by LivinLOS

[dotpoom]

I sold a condo and was worried about how to send the money home after all I had heard and read. On the day to do the transfer I went into The BKK bank armed with every paper possible including my contract of sale...THEY DID NOT WA T TO SEE ANY PAPERS...they simply asked me for the a/c No. I was transferring to and it was all done.

[topt]

What is the standard way of repatriating USD back to America? Is it converted to dollars by the Thai bank before the (SWIFT?) transfer, or is it sent as THB and the US bank converts to dollars? If there is a choice, which method is better?

Best to convert to dollars here in Thailand, you will get a much better rate. In other words send money in US dollars.

I think you will find that you do not have a choice anyhow - IE it needs to be exchanged into the foreign currency in Thailand.

I am a little surprised that someone with over 4k posts even needs to ask the question as the Thai baht is not widely traded anyhow.

[duckmandon]

Just did this 2 weeks ago from Bangkok bank. We sold our house which was in wifes name & sent the money back to an Australian account in my name. We had to prove where the deposit in the bank came from which meant copy of contract for sale of property, copy of title with old & new owner on it. All we did then was fill out 2 forms & the money was sent. It went in that night in Australia. Ask your bank what is required. Its not hard to do as long as you can prove it's your money & not obtained illegally.

[sendintheclowns]

Hopefully this is not off-topic, I sold my house in 2014. Obtained clearance from BOT to transfer the funds (an official letter). I have kept the funds in Thailand, since then. Earning a decent % dividend return on my money.

Where would I be able find out how long the BOT clearance letter is valid for? SCB does not know. Tks.