Can LTR visa holders legally work remotely from Thailand for a foreign employer without tax implications?

@Neil *****

As a lawyer how would you interpret the meaning of "habitually" in the context of the section on PE in the UK-Thailand tax treaty (though I think similar wording in other tax treaties(, where it refers to an employees role in revenue generation or sales. Basically if you are involved in a sales transaction that involves a Thai client entity, then there is PE, unless that is not an habitual role. That includes contract signing on behalf of the company. Anyone in senior management could be asked to do that. Anyone hoping for career progression could do that. Basically the LTR restricts what you can do for your employer. I don't even know what means for employment rights in terms of redundancy. And the only person wanting to be in Thailand is the employee. There is no incentive on the employer to make this work unless they wanted to retain the employee, and that means senior management only. Everyone else is expendable. I've had conversations withe a senior tax law expert in a Hong Kong based merchant bank who knows a thing or two about international tax law and had a completely different view of this. What's more, Thailand can change their mind in 5 years time and those people who thought they were there for 10 years aren't. Name these global firms who are on board with shipping out senior managers to Thailand under this scheme. Virtually all senior managers in a public company are directly involved in revenue generation. Thailand require furnishing of accounts show no sales in Thailand otherwise they can levy a 5% charge.

@Andy *********

there are lots of employees who are internal function employees unrelated to sales or direct revenue. I can’t comment on UK or anything I haven’t specifically read, but I certainly have an analysis on the Thai regulations and many internally functioned employees can work remotely here without triggering tax withholding. I do, however, think that as LTR evolves over time, there will be clarifications in the regulations that make the analysis easier for employers to consider. I can promise you that I know a senior manager of a global company in Thailand working remotely who has absolutely zero chance of being involved in PE.

@Neil *****

Tax withholding is not the same as PE. One is about personal income tax and the other is about corporation tax. So you have gone from loads of examples to one. OK. LTR might be gone in five years, maybe next. For a junior person with a masters on $40k, just about making the cutoff, they will have think carefully about career development as there will none. Matters less for those already on a downward trajectory. The other option for those in global companies is to check whether they have a Thai subsidiary. Then there are other routes available. Post covid companies do recognise that employees might want to relocate to other countries. But employees might find their employer will pay them at local rates. Moving to somewhere like Singspore, no big change in salary. Thailand though will have a big cut. Outside of LTR Thai rates are bit regressive compared to UK and tax take only starts to improve once you get past £60-70k. LTR also apparently doesn't help if you want permanent residency.

@Andy *********

Corporate tax withholdings. I thought that was obvious. It obviously doesn't work for everyone. But, there's certainly an argument to be made for some employees that working from TH on LTR is not considered Thai labor and therefore the foreign employer shouldn't pay local rates because the employment isn't considered Thai employment under Thai laws (LTR work from TH). Again, this kind of privilege wouldn't be available for lower salary or early career. The situation is for unique situations, but that doesn't mean we should ignore their existence.

@Wayne ********

just like my boss. He'll only answer the first question in any email 🤦🏻‍♂️

@Brandon ***********

we call it kiss. Keep it stupidly simple.

Some only read first 2 or 3 lines then bored