Passport Certification for UK Bank

[WeeWee]

Hi,

My UK bank (NatWest), need me to declare my tax residency. I can handle the form, BUT they need a certified copy of my passport (all pages from the looks of it).

I'm in Bang Saen. Does anyone know anyone someone in Bang Saen/Chon Buri/Pattaya or BKK who could do it for a reasonable fee? 
 

They require:
1. A lawyer or solicitor who is listed on a law society or bar association website

2. An accountant who is listed on the lnstitute of Chartered Accountants or equivalent recognised professional
body. YES PLEASEY! (presume can be Thai?)

 

3 Embassy official consulate or high commission.

 

The fourth is a route I know, but would require an advance appt, trip to BKK and 1150 baht.

 

Has anyone done anything similar successfully, and if so, how?
 

Any useful advice much appreciated. Thanks,

 

WeeWee

[Here2008]

Forgive me for asking but I wonder why the bank is concerned about your tax status. Surely that is a matter which lies between you and HMRC? 

 

If you prefer not to respond on the public forum please don't hesitate to send a PM. 

[KittenKong]

2 hours ago, WeeWee said:

1. A lawyer or solicitor who is listed on a law society or bar association website

2. An accountant who is listed on the lnstitute of Chartered Accountants or equivalent recognised professional
body. YES PLEASEY! (presume can be Thai?)

 

3 Embassy official consulate or high commission.

 

I had this done for another bank a couple of years ago. I went to a lawyer in Soi Post Office in Pattaya. After some negotiation I paid 500B which I think was way over the top, but was much cheaper than some other thieves lawyers were charging.

 

As far as I know the British consulate in Bangkok charges around 2500B but you should also be able to get it done by one of the smaller consulates in Pattaya/Jomtien. I think that some of them have much more reasonable prices (but probably still more than the cheapest lawyer).

 

An accountant sounds like your best bet and I would look here: http://en.fap.or.th/

 

The UK government should bring in a law that obliges bank to reimburse all the costs of performing these ridiculous and pointless certifications.

[KittenKong]

2 hours ago, Here2008 said:

Forgive me for asking but I wonder why the bank is concerned about your tax status. Surely that is a matter which lies between you and HMRC? 

 

UK banks have to "know their customer" by law these days, and your tax status is part of this. All the information is passed to HMRC and can potentially be shared with governments in other countries.

[partington]

15 hours ago, Here2008 said:

Forgive me for asking but I wonder why the bank is concerned about your tax status. Surely that is a matter which lies between you and HMRC? 

 

If you prefer not to respond on the public forum please don't hesitate to send a PM. 

Just to supplement what KittenKong said: there is now a new world-wide standard for banks and financial institutions to share account details across international borders, which has been signed by more than 100 countries so far with more to follow.

 

It is known as the CRS (Common Reporting Standard), and many countries that signed agreed to gather the necessary information before April 2017, while others have to do it by 2018. So expect more requests like this, not fewer, in future to account holders of many nationalities.

 

What financial institutions need to do in signatory countries is (a) determine the tax residency of any account holders and (b) report tax residency to the tax authorities in the country of the account (eg HMRC in the UK).

The tax authorities then report the account to the tax authorities in the country of tax residency.

 

This is not so the HMRC can tax you, but so that if you are, say, a German with a hidden account in the UK, HMRC will report this to German tax authorities, so they can tax you.

[WeeWee]

Yes, apparently Thailand may request info as if I have any income from the UK I could have to pay tax on it in Thailand?! Crazy stuff! Thanks so much for the info KittenKong. British Embassy BKK want 1150, have found 2 lawyers in pattaya at 1000 and got my office manager at work on it too! Would prefer 500 so may check out Soi Post Office, though I'm based in Bang Saen, one more Q: Can anyone decipher which 'TIN' I use as I have lots of different numbers.....

[Eff1n2ret]

13 hours ago, KittenKong said:

The UK government should bring in a law that obliges bank to reimburse all the costs of performing these ridiculous and pointless certifications.

I wish they would. When you have to keep getting your passport certified at the whim of multiple organisations, it does get quite expensive. I think it also demonstrates a totally misplaced faith in the probity of lawyers. I bet I could buy some of that rubbish they peddle on the Kao San Road and get it certified by almost any lawyer.

[KittenKong]

8 hours ago, Eff1n2ret said:

I wish they would. When you have to keep getting your passport certified at the whim of multiple organisations, it does get quite expensive. I think it also demonstrates a totally misplaced faith in the probity of lawyers. I bet I could buy some of that rubbish they peddle on the Kao San Road and get it certified by almost any lawyer.

 

The ridiculous thing is that I recently opened an account with one of the new UK online-only challenger banks. I did the whole thing via their Android app and they verified my identity and all my details electronically, from my UK credit history and (presumably) passport or driving licence records. The funniest part is that my UK address is only for correspondence. I have never lived there and in fact I havent lived in the UK at all for more than 40 years. So much for knowing your customer.

[KittenKong]

9 hours ago, WeeWee said:

British Embassy BKK want 1150, have found 2 lawyers in pattaya at 1000 and got my office manager at work on it too! Would prefer 500 so may check out Soi Post Office, though I'm based in Bang Saen,

 

1150B is much lower than I was expecting.

 

Did you try the accountant's website? I would have thought that would be your best bet.

[darrendsd]

1 hour ago, KittenKong said:

 

The ridiculous thing is that I recently opened an account with one of the new UK online-only challenger banks. I did the whole thing via their Android app and they verified my identity and all my details electronically, from my UK credit history and (presumably) passport or driving licence records. The funniest part is that my UK address is only for correspondence. I have never lived there and in fact I havent lived in the UK at all for more than 40 years. So much for knowing your customer.

Hi do you mind sharing the name of the bank?

[OJAS]

On 8/8/2017 at 0:25 AM, KittenKong said:

The UK government should bring in a law that obliges bank to reimburse all the costs of performing these ridiculous and pointless certifications.

Agree 100% but unlikely to happen in practice, I fear. The banks would probably counter by pointing out the ridiculous and pointless certifications which the government itself requires us to obtain at not insignificant expense - State Pension life certificates being a classic case in point. And, if they were on the ball, they might also draw attention to the significant costs of making 2 physical journeys to an office building with an exceedingly silly name somewhere in deepest darkest Bangkok, which those of us living out in the sticks have been faced with at passport renewal time for 3 years now.

[WeeWee]

Hi all, already shared the bank I think - NatWest. 1150 ain't bad but I live in Chonburi....Got a lady at work hunting an accountant. Looked at the website but no easy direct links. step by step! the form's actually a bit of a nightmare - they ned the past year so I have to give them my UK details, but with dates, do I put from 16 years of age?! I plan to call them to go through the form when I have the certification.....drama = life!!

[Maestro]

In Thailand, any lawyer who has a certificate as a Notarial Services Attorney from the Lawyers Council Of Thailand can notarize documents. The problem seems to be to find a complete list of these attorneys or of law firms that employ them.

 

http://www.siam-legal.com/legal_services/Thailand-Notary-Service.php

 

This appears to be the Council's website:

http://www.lawyerscouncil.or.th/

 

...and this their Facebook account:

https://www.facebook.com/สภาทนายความในพระบรมราชูปถัมภ์-272640916117799/