Why is TAX being taken from my Krungsri Bank savings account?

[meatboy]

On 3/8/2560 at 5:13 PM, Monkie Business said:

 

 

thank you , I have read through the comments in that thread and it seems that there was no real solution I am a retired full time resident with a thai wife , and I don’t normally touch these MTD accounts . The  MTD accounts offer easy access to the money so I’m not really interested in any money being tied up for a fixed term , and I do use one of my MTD accounts for my immigration visa extension application.

 

 
Now I’m wondering if there's an update about what others in a similar situation with MTD accounts , did to try and stop paying tax , and I wonder what the person who I deal with at Krungsri  bank will recommend , when I talk to them. 

 

Currently the amount of TAX being taken each month from each of my MTD accounts varies between 300 / 400 Baht 

Not a lot I know , but its going to add up . 

 

 

 

if i am reading it right,your monthly TAX WITHELD is 300/400bht. it is no wonder they have caught up with you.

300bht.tax monthly that amounts to 24,000bht.a yr.400bht.monthly amounts to over 31,000bht.interest yrly.

31,000a yr.x 15%=2600bht.a month=390bht.tax.

[Pib]

3 hours ago, jacko45k said:

Yes that makes more sense, I guess the bank will need to supply a statement of the tax paid to help,

Yes, the bank provides a letter which says how much tax was withheld (sent to the govt).  That letter is filed with your refund request at your local govt tax revenue office.

[meatboy]

1 hour ago, meatboy said:

if i am reading it right,your monthly TAX WITHELD is 300/400bht. it is no wonder they have caught up with you.

300bht.tax monthly that amounts to 24,000bht.a yr.400bht.monthly amounts to over 31,000bht.interest yrly.

31,000a yr.x 15%=2600bht.a month=390bht.tax.

the above no's above 31,000 a yr. x15% =4,600 not 2,600 that would equal 390bht.tax every month.

so if MB has more accs.he might get a demand for back tax.

[Monkie Business]

5 hours ago, meatboy said:

the above no's above 31,000 a yr. x15% =4,600 not 2,600 that would equal 390bht.tax every month.

so if MB has more accs.he might get a demand for back tax.

Cheers   MB , now that has made me feel a lot better   

[Pib]

19 hours ago, Monkie Business said:

 

Thanks again Pib , I did try and do a search for the passbook codes with no luck  , honest 

 

So this is how its been so far and all the account changes were recommended and sorted out by the person at the bank who I only ever dealt with .

 

1. On 10th of September 2014 , I opened  3 MTD saving accounts , in each account I deposited   Approximately One Million Three Hundred Thousand Baht .

 

For my personal records those accounts I numbered – 1 -2 -3 

 

2. On the 5th of September 2015 , 2 accounts numbered 2 + 3 which had been earning interest were closed and no tax had been taken from any of these accounts in the past , the account balance of these 2 accounts contained the original One Million Three Hundred Thousand Baht + earned interest .

 

3. On the 5th of September 2015 , the original deposit of One Million Three Hundred Thousand Baht + earned interest was withdrawn from account number 1 . This account was left active and only contained the interest earned . No tax was ever taken from this account .

 

4.  On the 5th of September 2015 , 3 new MTD savings accounts were opened and the balances from accounts 1-2-3 , was deposited . These new accounts were named  by me as  A-B-C .

 

5. These 3 new MTD accounts A-B-C were earning monthly interest from day one (  5th of September 2015 ) and no tax was taken , until the first time on the 30th of May 2017  . ( 360 Baht ) then tax was taken every month after,  on the same day  and approximate same amount , from each of the 3 accounts . A-B-C .

 

I think its now plainly obvious that I messed up and I should have been paying more attention and taking more care . Hopefully I can try and redeem  my self by attempting to claim back future tax amounts .

 

Like meatboy has already pointed out they seem to be taking more tax than they should....maybe because of back tax not taken which should have been, but Krungsri simply failed to do so. 

 

I say that because the MTD has been paying 1.3%/year (currently) to around 1.85% (two years ago) from looking at Krungsri's interest rate schedules.  But just for purposes of this example let's say it averaged 1.5%/year over the last two years.  One account with Bt1.3M earning 1.5% interest would earn Bt19,500 interest/year or Bt1,625/month.   15% withholding tax on Bt 1,625/month would be approx Bt244/month tax, but you said approx Bt360 is being withheld which is far north of Bt244.

 

And if it was only "one" account the Bt19,500 fails short of the over Bt20K tax trigger....no taxes would be withheld.  However, you have multiple accounts (three accounts each with an approx Bt1.3M balance) which means the total/aggregate interest earnings is way over Bt20K/the tax withholding trigger level.....somewhere around Bt59K in  total interest from 3 accounts.

 

Maybe Krungsri got caught not withholding any tax when they should have been and the govt required them to forward back taxes due within a certain time frame.  Probably got caught last year when they added that statement into the MTD brochure about how withholding tax will be based on total/aggregate interest earned in all accounts.

 

Normally when a bank fails to withhold tax the burden just gets shifted to the account owner to submit the possible tax liability....but if the account owner has not be paying taxes/filing an income tax return (whether he's required to or not), then the bank is probably forced to hit the person's account for back taxes because the govt wants its tax money....got submarines to buy and high-speed rail lines to build!!!

[inThailand]

Will the bank even submit the 15% tax to the govt? Or are they pocketing it? Is that why one poster said the MTD tax paid was not claimable for a refund?

[Monkie Business]

46 minutes ago, Pib said:

Like meatboy has already pointed out they seem to be taking more tax than they should....maybe because of back tax not taken which should have been, but Krungsri simply failed to do so. 

 

I say that because the MTD has been paying 1.3%/year (currently) to around 1.85% (two years ago) from looking at Krungsri's interest rate schedules.  But just for purposes of this example let's say it averaged 1.5%/year over the last two years.  One account with Bt1.3M earning 1.5% interest would earn Bt19,500 interest/year or Bt1,625/month.   15% withholding tax on Bt 1,625/month would be approx Bt244/month tax, but you said approx Bt360 is being withheld which is far north of Bt244.

 

And if it was only "one" account the Bt19,500 fails short of the over Bt20K tax trigger....no taxes would be withheld.  However, you have multiple accounts (three accounts each with an approx Bt1.3M balance) which means the total/aggregate interest earnings is way over Bt20K/the tax withholding trigger level.....somewhere around Bt59K in  total interest from 3 accounts.

 

Maybe Krungsri got caught not withholding any tax when they should have been and the govt required them to forward back taxes due within a certain time frame.  Probably got caught last year when they added that statement into the MTD brochure about how withholding tax will be based on total/aggregate interest earned in all accounts.

 

Normally when a bank fails to withhold tax the burden just gets shifted to the account owner to submit the possible tax liability....but if the account owner has not be paying taxes/filing an income tax return (whether he's required to or not), then the bank is probably forced to hit the person's account for back taxes because the govt wants its tax money....got submarines to buy and high-speed rail lines to build!!!

 

So basically I’m stuffed  , and the only option open is to apply for a tax ID number and at the beginning of January next year , go to a tax office and apply for a tax refund for my current 3 MTD savings accounts and see what happens .

 

I have 3 MTD accounts , only one of them needs to have access to withdraw funds , for immigration  requirements , would changing the other 2 MTD accounts ( which I don't have to use ) to different types , be of any tax benefit .

 

Thanks 
 

 

 

 

 

[Pib]

31 minutes ago, inThailand said:

Will the bank even submit the 15% tax to the govt? Or are they pocketing it? Is that why one poster said the MTD tax paid was not claimable for a refund?

Yes, it goes to the govt.  I don't know what's up with the non-claimable thing...just that local tax revenue office maybe....maybe it's only claimable when filing a full tax return...maybe something unique to the individual based on other income also, .etc.

 

Now for me I've never earned over Bt20k interest in my MTD account so I have never needed to file a claim for it.  But I have filed claims for Bangkok Bank "fixed" savings accounts and got refunds no problem.

Edited August 5, 2017 by Pib

[Pib]

16 minutes ago, Monkie Business said:

 

So basically I’m stuffed  , and the only option open is to apply for a tax ID number and at the beginning of January next year , go to a tax office and apply for a tax refund for my current 3 MTD savings accounts and see what happens .

 

I have 3 MTD accounts , only one of them needs to have access to withdraw funds , for immigration  requirements , would changing the other 2 MTD accounts ( which I don't have to use ) to different types , be of any tax benefit .

 

Thanks 

 

 

yeap, file for refunds.

 

Since Krungsri keys-in all your savings accounts, whether MTD or regular or XYZ savings account,  seems having a big chunk of money only in Krungsri Bank automatically sets you up for some tax withholdings.   So, maybe you need to open some accounts with other Thai banks (i.e., Bangkok Bank, Kasikorn, whoever) to help avoid the Bt20K interest earn trigger level at a bank.

 

And based on some posts I've read over the years, you don't need to have all of your Bt800K in one Thai bank account because technically it can be spread among several accounts.   HOWEVER, BUT, that means the immigration officer would need to look closely at each account over the last 2 to 3 months to ensure the aggregate balance did not drop below Bt800K....and I don't thing most immigration officers are willing to do that level of review and math.  Personally, I would keep the Bt800K in one account.

[Monkie Business]

12 minutes ago, Pib said:

 

yeap, file for refunds.

 

Since Krungsri keys-in all your savings accounts, whether MTD or regular or XYZ savings account,  seems having a big chunk of money only in Krungsri Bank automatically sets you up for some tax withholdings.   So, maybe you need to open some accounts with other Thai banks (i.e., Bangkok Bank, Kasikorn, whoever) to help avoid the Bt20K interest earn trigger level at a bank.

 

And based on some posts I've read over the years, you don't need to have all of your Bt800K in one Thai bank account because technically it can be spread among several accounts.   HOWEVER, BUT, that means the immigration officer would need to look closely at each account over the last 2 to 3 months to ensure the aggregate balance did not drop below Bt800K....and I don't thing most immigration officers are willing to do that level of review and math.  Personally, I would keep the Bt800K in one account.

 

Great Info and advice 

[moogradod]

I am aware of this somewhat silly question but just to be very sure:

 

Is it true that if my Thai wife has 30 fixed asset accounts with each 1 Mio THB in it, there will be no witholding tax ? Could even she as a Thai Citizen claim back tax if one of the accounts were to gain more then 20THBk per year (This one is very unlikely I know, I ask anyway) - pls. bear with me.

[Blinky62]

 
I have several saving bank accounts in my name with the Bank of Ayudhya ( Krungsri ) which I have held for several years , in the past when the interest on each account came near to the maximum amount of interest earned to keep under having to pay government tax , all the interest amounts earned were transferred to another savings account , that I use for daily living expenses , thus I never had to 
pay any tax on any of the interest earned. This transferring of interest earned into one separate single bank account was the idea of the person who I deal with at the bank. Recently I decided to update my saving account passbooks and was surprised to see that on each account , a monthly amount had automatically been withdrawn from the bank passbook it was marked as TAX .

Before I go to the bank and question the person who I deal with , can any one explain whats going on and what I can do , to not pay any tax on my saving accounts as in the past .
 

Because your a farang with billions of baht and they think you should share it , 555


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[inThailand]

Yes in the past you could avoid the tax by opening several accounts. This a what KS recommended I do. But those days are over.

 

I believe the tax is applied to all customers, Thai or otherwise.

[Pib]

19 minutes ago, moogradod said:

I am aware of this somewhat silly question but just to be very sure:

 

Is it true that if my Thai wife has 30 fixed asset accounts with each 1 Mio THB in it, there will be no witholding tax ? Could even she as a Thai Citizen claim back tax if one of the accounts were to gain more then 20THBk per year (This one is very unlikely I know, I ask anyway) - pls. bear with me.

If by fixed asset accounts you mean a fixed savings account, the 15% withholding tax is applied regardless of the interest earned on each fixed account.  Fixed savings accounts are taxed differently than regular savings accounts in terms of when the withholding tax trigger occurs.  

 

On a traditional fixed savings account say you only earn Bt1K in interest...you would still get hit with a Bt150 (15% of hte Bt1K) tax withholding.  But on a non-fixed savings account the trigger would not occur until you went over Bt20K interest earned.

 

And sure, she could apply for a tax refund but how much refund she might get (or more tax money owed) will be based on her total income from all sources (job, interest, dividends, etc) and cranking in all her deductions.....all of this to determine how much tax she should have paid....if she paid more taxes than she should have then she'll get a tax refund of X-amount.  Basically it's based on the results of her tax return.

 

Take a look at below webpage at the Thailand Tax Revenue Dept talking Personal Income Tax.  Down in para 3.2 they talk "interest earned."

 

http://www.rd.go.th/publish/6045.0.html

 

 

 

 

[meatboy]

13 hours ago, moogradod said:

I am aware of this somewhat silly question but just to be very sure:

 

Is it true that if my Thai wife has 30 fixed asset accounts with each 1 Mio THB in it, there will be no witholding tax ? Could even she as a Thai Citizen claim back tax if one of the accounts were to gain more then 20THBk per year (This one is very unlikely I know, I ask anyway) - pls. bear with me.

me and the wife has over 6different fixed accs.every one of them tax is witheld,she files for the refunds her's and mine at the same time.as long as your income from all the accs.come to less than 190,000bht.each we get all the tax held BACK.

the wife does it all and finds the tax officials very easy to deal with.

just a few small cakes for them.

[Pib]

MTD account is not a fixed saving account hence why immigration accepts it. It is the best savings account interest wise in Thailand with few restrictions.
 
As reported before, KS bank this year now totals up all your accounts and when the interest earned for the year exceeds 20,000B they deduct 15% tax every month from each account.

Regarding immigration not accepting fixed accounts as implied above I used Bangkok Bank fixed savings accounts for several years to meet the Bt800K in a Thai bank requirement to get my annual retirement extension of stay at Bangkok immigration. No problems.

As long as the funds are immediately available that satisfies immigration. Of course you will almost always lose all or part of interest earned if accessing a fixed account before its maturity date.

Now I have read some posts where a few immigration offices apparently will not accept fixed accounts if those posters truly had a traditional fixed account vs really having another type where you simply can not access the funds till maturity no matter how much you beg the bank.

[inThailand]

11 minutes ago, Pib said:

 

Regarding immigration not accepting fixed accounts as implied above I used Bangkok Bank fixed savings accounts for several years to meet the Bt800K in a Thai bank requirement to get my annual retirement extension of stay at Bangkok immigration. No problems.

As long as the funds are immediately available that satisfies immigration. Of course you will almost always lose all or part of interest earned if accessing a fixed account before its maturity date.

Now I have read some posts where a few immigration offices apparently will not accept fixed accounts if those posters truly had a traditional fixed account vs really having another type where you simply can not access the funds till maturity no matter how much you beg the bank.
 

 

My understanding is immigration looks at the Thai name of the account and if it's not a savings account then it's a no go. I concur, some fixed saving accounts which are for a fixed term can be terminated early for a steep penalty, so in theory these accounts should be acceptable to immigration. To be fair, how is immigration going to know the terms and conditions of each bank's multiple fixed savings accounts. 

Edited August 6, 2017 by inThailand
fat fingers

[Pib]

Yes...the account needs to be in the applicant's name only.

[inThailand]

1 minute ago, Pib said:

Yes...the account needs to be in the applicant's name only.

Yup that too!

 

I was referring to the account type. As an example, the MTD book states in Thai and English on the cover it's a Saving Account.

[meatboy]

13 minutes ago, Pib said:

Yes...the account needs to be in the applicant's name only.

my retirement [800k] has been in a fixed acc.for this is the eight yr.and have never been questioned,last time the officer did ask why have you never touched it?but they know i have a different acc.for living exs.

i do know one fixed acc.they will not except is,one that pays interest up front.

[Pib]

1 hour ago, inThailand said:

Yup that too!

 

I was referring to the account type. As an example, the MTD states in Thai and English on the cover it's a Saving Account.

Yeap....my Krungsri MTD savings account and Bangkok Bank regular savings account passbooks and Direct Deposit savings account say "Savings Account" on the front covers.  However, the Bangkok Bank fixed savings accounts books did not say Savings Account; they said Fixed Account (savings not in the name).   See snapshot below showing the right half of a Bangkok Bank regular savings account and fixed savings account passbook.  

 

As mentioned earlier I used Bangkok Bank fixed savings accounts for several years when applying for renewal of my annual retirement extension of stay at Bangkok/Chaeng Wattana immigration.    And it all cases the only activity showed in the books was the initial deposit....no other activity.  Never a problem with Bangkok immigration...they never asked me what money I was living on since there was no withdrawals shown in the fixed account passbook.

 

However, I have read posts over the years where some immigration offices have asked the applicant to show some spending activity since their regular or fixed savings account savings account book showed very little or no activity other than deposits and maybe interest payments....no withdrawals shown.  Guess the immigration officer got suspicious of just what money the person was living on.

 

Sometimes there are just things that trigger the suspicions of the applicant's application.   And of course there are just some immigration offices that are a pain to deal with...seems like they have made up their own special rules.
 

 

 

[jphasia]

So, in my understanding from this posts, as the interest for MTD account is currently 1.3%, if your balance exceed 1.3M let's say for a year long, you can expect to pay 15% tax on the interest?
I opened a MTB account last February and i deposit 2M. I never touch that account. So i might expect some taxes coming soon?

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[meatboy]

9 hours ago, jphasia said:

So, in my understanding from this posts, as the interest for MTD account is currently 1.3%, if your balance exceed 1.3M let's say for a year long, you can expect to pay 15% tax on the interest?
I opened a MTB account last February and i deposit 2M. I never touch that account. So i might expect some taxes coming soon?

Sent from my SM-N920C using Tapatalk
 

why put 2million into an account that only pays 1.3%.when there is plenty of 1.8%fixed for 1yr. giving you 36,000bht.before tax.

which is 5,400bht.but you get that back.

if you are useing your acc.like large amounts going in,then simular going out it makes sense.if not you are throwing away 

10,000bht.

as i previous posted you can earn 190,000bht.interest or other before you have to pay tax.[refundable].

[jphasia]

why put 2million into an account that only pays 1.3%.when there is plenty of 1.8%fixed for 1yr. giving you 36,000bht.before tax.
which is 5,400bht.but you get that back.
if you are useing your acc.like large amounts going in,then simular going out it makes sense.if not you are throwing away 
10,000bht.
as i previous posted you can earn 190,000bht.interest or other before you have to pay tax.[refundable].

Thanks. I never really checked about that. I will. I guess you are talking about fixed deposit account.

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[meatboy]

38 minutes ago, jphasia said:

Thanks. I never really checked about that. I will. I guess you are talking about fixed deposit account.

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yes fixed accs.say if you dont touch it,like i have done for my retirement money,i have fixed it over many yrs.at the best rates i can get.

1million @ 3.20%,1yr. then at 2.70% 2yrs.now at 2% 3yrs.

as long as its available on request,you will loose the interest that is fine with immigration.

most of mine and the wife are with LH.BANK and the wife has some with thai credit union.their rates are better than most banks.

[Pib]

11 hours ago, jphasia said:

So, in my understanding from this posts, as the interest for MTD account is currently 1.3%, if your balance exceed 1.3M let's say for a year long, you can expect to pay 15% tax on the interest?
I opened a MTB account last February and i deposit 2M. I never touch that account. So i might expect some taxes coming soon?

Sent from my SM-N920C using Tapatalk
 

Yeap, with Bt2M in the account earning 1.3% that means you will earning approx Bt26K interest/year or appox Bt2,166/mo which means after approx 10 months they will then start tapping you for tax.  It would probably be in Nov or Dec they start tapping the 15%, and may go back to apply back tax also.   

 

At the current 1.3% interest and assuming you just don't want to be hit with the 15% withholding tax and don't want to be bothered to file for a refund, then approx Bt1.53M would be the most you want to keep in the account month to month if you monitor the balance religiously and promptly withdraw the interest earned monthly to keep the balance at Bt1.53M.   With a balance of Bt1.53M that works out to annual interest of Bt19,890....really close to that Bt20K tax trigger point.....little too close for me.  

 

Now I said a little to close to me because although for around 4 years I had some fixed savings accounts at Bangkok Bank and got hit with the 15% withholding tax "and also applied for the refund each year" with no problems....always got the refund from the govt in X-weeks, at this point in time I'm in the frame of mind I just don't want to play the Thai tax system game.  Instead I'll just play my home country tax system game by keeping the great bulk of my savings in my home country financial systems even though they are paying less bank interest and Thai bank interest.   To each his own.

 

As said if not wanting to play the tax refund game I would pick a little lower balance, maybe around Bt1.3M to Bt1.4M to where you didn't have to be withdrawing funds each and every month to keep the balance below the tax withholding trigger level.  

 

A Bt1.3M balance would earn you Bt16,900 interest per year....good breathing room below the over Bt20K interest earned trigger point.  Now if you go with say a Bt1.4M balance that works out to Bt18,200 interest/per year...still some breathing room but keep in mind if you don't want to withdrawal some funds frequently during the year, that interest you are earning monthly is increasing your balance which means the next month's interest will be a little more than last months.   Don't let the over Bt20K point sneak upon you if you primarily just let the balance set and earn interest versus doing some withdrawals to keep below a certain balance you don't want to exceed for whatever reason....like maybe a 15% tax withholding trigger reason.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Monkie Business]

38 minutes ago, Pib said:

Yeap, with Bt2M in the account earning 1.3% that means you will earning approx Bt26K interest/year or appox Bt2,166/mo which means after approx 10 months they will then start tapping you for tax.  It would probably be in Nov or Dec they start tapping the 15%, and may go back to apply back tax also.   

 

At the current 1.3% interest and assuming you just don't want to be hit with the 15% withholding tax and don't want to be bothered to file for a refund, then approx Bt1.53M would be the most you want to keep in the account month to month if you monitor the balance religiously and promptly withdraw the interest earned monthly to keep the balance at Bt1.53M.   With a balance of Bt1.53M that works out to annual interest of Bt19,890....really close to that Bt20K tax trigger point.....little too close for me.  

 

Now I said a little to close to me because although for around 4 years I had some fixed savings accounts at Bangkok Bank and got hit with the 15% withholding tax "and also applied for the refund each year" with no problems....always got the refund from the govt in X-weeks, at this point in time I'm in the frame of mind I just don't want to play the Thai tax system game.  Instead I'll just play my home country tax system game by keeping the great bulk of my savings in my home country financial systems even though they are paying less bank interest and Thai bank interest.   To each his own.

 

As said if not wanting to play the tax refund game I would pick a little lower balance, maybe around Bt1.3M to Bt1.4M to where you didn't have to be withdrawing funds each and every month to keep the balance below the tax withholding trigger level.  

 

A Bt1.3M balance would earn you Bt16,900 interest per year....good breathing room below the over Bt20K interest earned trigger point.  Now if you go with say a Bt1.4M balance that works out to Bt18,200 interest/per year...still some breathing room but keep in mind if you don't want to withdrawal some funds frequently during the year, that interest you are earning monthly is increasing your balance which means the next month's interest will be a little more than last months.   Don't let the over Bt20K point sneak upon you if you primarily just let the balance set and earn interest versus doing some withdrawals to keep below a certain balance you don't want to exceed for whatever reason....like maybe a 15% tax withholding trigger reason.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Am I correct in thinking that the above only applies to having 1 savings account in the same bank under your name , unlike my self who has 3 MTD bank accounts under my own name . So even if I keep all my 3 MTD savings accounts below the 1.3 M tax threshold , I’m still taxed on  the total amount in all my  bank accounts under my name , if the total together is over 1.3 M . 
 .

 

 

 

 

 

[meatboy]

as your first post MB.you state that you have 3 accs.EACH EARNING  below the limit.at the same bank.

so it looks like someone in the tax office has waved the red flag to your bank.that the 3accs.interest coupled together all in your name only is over the threshold.thus the bank witholding 300/400bht.monthly.that would be about the right amounts.

[jphasia]

Yeap, with Bt2M in the account earning 1.3% that means you will earning approx Bt26K interest/year or appox Bt2,166/mo which means after approx 10 months they will then start tapping you for tax.  It would probably be in Nov or Dec they start tapping the 15%, and may go back to apply back tax also.   
 
At the current 1.3% interest and assuming you just don't want to be hit with the 15% withholding tax and don't want to be bothered to file for a refund, then approx Bt1.53M would be the most you want to keep in the account month to month if you monitor the balance religiously and promptly withdraw the interest earned monthly to keep the balance at Bt1.53M.   With a balance of Bt1.53M that works out to annual interest of Bt19,890....really close to that Bt20K tax trigger point.....little too close for me.  
 
Now I said a little to close to me because although for around 4 years I had some fixed savings accounts at Bangkok Bank and got hit with the 15% withholding tax "and also applied for the refund each year" with no problems....always got the refund from the govt in X-weeks, at this point in time I'm in the frame of mind I just don't want to play the Thai tax system game.  Instead I'll just play my home country tax system game by keeping the great bulk of my savings in my home country financial systems even though they are paying less bank interest and Thai bank interest.   To each his own.
 
As said if not wanting to play the tax refund game I would pick a little lower balance, maybe around Bt1.3M to Bt1.4M to where you didn't have to be withdrawing funds each and every month to keep the balance below the tax withholding trigger level.  
 
A Bt1.3M balance would earn you Bt16,900 interest per year....good breathing room below the over Bt20K interest earned trigger point.  Now if you go with say a Bt1.4M balance that works out to Bt18,200 interest/per year...still some breathing room but keep in mind if you don't want to withdrawal some funds frequently during the year, that interest you are earning monthly is increasing your balance which means the next month's interest will be a little more than last months.   Don't let the over Bt20K point sneak upon you if you primarily just let the balance set and earn interest versus doing some withdrawals to keep below a certain balance you don't want to exceed for whatever reason....like maybe a 15% tax withholding trigger reason.
 
 
 
 
 
 

Thanks for this clear explanation. Yes i just don't want to bother with tax refund.
I will take out cash from account and leave about 1.3M.
I might check for a fixed deposit account to deposit the excess 700k and eventually add little more.
The thing is that I like the MTD account system as the fund can be withdraw anytime. Even if i have no plan to withdraw the fund or use it, i found it good to have it getting 1.3% interest instead of nothing in my others saving accounts

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[Monkie Business]

8 minutes ago, meatboy said:

as your first post MB.you state that you have 3 accs.EACH EARNING  below the limit.at the same bank.

so it looks like someone in the tax office has waved the red flag to your bank.that the 3accs.interest coupled together all in your name only is over the threshold.thus the bank witholding 300/400bht.monthly.that would be about the right amounts.

 

Thanks  MB 

 

I’m thinking that no matter how many bank accounts you have at the same bank in your name , and if the amounts in each separate bank account individually is less than the 1.3 M , but the total of all those bank accounts in your name is over 1.3 M , then you are taxed on all the accounts in your name .

 

The other thing I’m now wondering , what if you have 3 bank accounts , with 3 separate different banks but all those accounts are in your name , and individually each account is below the 1.3 M tax threshold , but the total of those 3 separate bank accounts is above the 1.3M tax threshold , would you  still be taxed on the total , because they are all in your name , but at different banks .