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What are the new tax rules for expats living in Thailand from January 2024?

Expat TaxationThailand Tax RulesVisa RegulationsThai Bank Account TaxationDouble Taxation Agreement (DTA)Income Tax Threshold in ThailandRetirement Visa in Thailand
Feb 14, 2024
10 months ago
John ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
New tax rules for expats living in Thailand.

I'd like some correct advice regarding the new tax rules implemented from Jan 1st 2024.

I believe if you spend more than 180 days in any one year in Thailand, any money you have transferred or deposit into your Thai bank account is classed as taxable income.? Also, if you have a Thai bank account and transfer, or deposit monies into it, in any one year, but do NOT spend more than 179 days in Thailand, that money is not taxable. Also if you deposit monies into your account in a year that you don't spend more than 180 days in Thailand, but the next year you stay the full year, does the money that you deposited the previous year, then become taxable? I have read that if you have income of 150,000 baht a year, this is not taxable, but if you have say 400,000baht a year income, do you pay tax on all of it, or is 150,000 baht tax threshold and anything above that you pay tax on, for example 400,000 - 150,000 = 250,000, is that the amount you would be liable to pay tax on.

Any advice greatly appreciated.
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TLDR : Answer Summary
Starting January 1, 2024, new tax rules for expats in Thailand will affect those spending more than 180 days in the country, making their income, including remitted funds, taxable. If an expat remains under this threshold, income transferred into a Thai bank account may not be taxable. A significant tax exemption is allowed up to 150,000 baht annually, with taxes due on any amount over this threshold. There are complexities with dual taxation, requiring consideration of earnings from abroad and potential tax credits for amounts already paid in another country.
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Colin ***********
We are planning to move to Thailand from U.K. and already own a house in Thailand looking at the “wealthy”long term retirees visa. Does anyone know if you pay tax on sale of a property (no capital gains apply in U.K. as it’s our main residence.

We will need to bring in around 1 million baht a year to live on and house hold expenses. Included would be state pension of £10,000 tax free in U.K. so under double treaty no tax either.

If we buy any funds into Thai bank we will be taxed on as savings or does it not count as there was untaxed already in U.K.

our other option is not to stay in Thailand for 180 days and spend time traveling to Malaysia etc.

Good thing about this visa is we can apply for 5 years stay and get tax benefits
10 months ago
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John **********
@Colin **********
 you need to speak to the BOI about their requirements for this visa but I believe you need a minimum of 80k usd pension income per annum. If you qualify for that visa I don't think you need to worry about tax in Thailand.

Your understanding of the dual tax agreement is flawed though. Just because something is free of tax in the UK doesn't make it so in Thailand. All income you bring in to Thailand is assessable for Thai tax, then you get a pro rata credit for any tax already paid in the UK. So let's say you have an income of £50k in the UK but only bring £25k of that into Thailand. That £25k would be assessed for Thai tax and you would get credited with 50z% of the tax you paid in the UK
10 months ago
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John ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@John *********
 Crikey £50 grand in the UK! I only wish 😂 😂 😂
9 months ago
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John ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@John *********
 but if your state pension in the UK is below the threshold where you are liable to pay tax, why would you have to pay any tax on it in Thailand? As I understand and have had explained to me, there is a tax threshold in Thailand of 150,000 baht, if that is the case, then only monies over and above that would be liable for taxation. Is this true?
10 months ago
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John **********
@John *******
 it's 190k if you are over 65 plus 60k personal allowance but that is only around £5500 so you would pay tax on anything above this
10 months ago
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John ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@John *********
 John thankyou very much for clarifying this. So before tax you can deduct 250,000 baht and say if you have 400,000 a year, you'd pay tax on 150,000? is that correct?
9 months ago
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John **********
@John *******
 it depends, you only pay tax on income so if you remit savings you wouldn't. You can also claim additional allowances for health insurance etc and since it looks like your married also 60k for your wife assuming she doesn't file tax herself
9 months ago
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John ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@John *********
 Not married, been there T-Shirt cost me a fortune 😭 😂
9 months ago
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John **********
@John *******
 so how do you get away with 400k
9 months ago
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John ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@John *********
 Very difficult, had to hide it and skip the village 😂 😂 😂
9 months ago
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John ********
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Colin ***********
@John *********
 that’s sound advise… we plan to live off the proceeds ongoing for a few years we hope to live in our place in Thailand but go to Malaysia every 6 months at least for the first few years just to explore. But if we can avoid being Thai residents all the better for now. The income of around 25k wouldn’t raise that much tax in Thailand if any so it’s just to try and maximise our savings with little risk. Lucky we already purchased our house 15 years ago if we had to bring money in for that now assume we will be taxed
10 months ago
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John **********
@Colin **********
 you only get taxed on income, not what you bring in. Although it doesn't sound like you have the requirements for the ltr visa. The only way to avoid becoming tax resident in Thailand is to spend more than 185 days outside of Thailand every year
10 months ago
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John **********
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Colin ***********
@John *********
 Hi John thanks for reply you seem to get the complexity of the Thailand regs. Yes we plan to get full info from BOI it’s also good to hear your take on things on the ground too. The main issue we have is we will only have income from our house purchase, no fixed wages etc so although it is quite a bit we don’t want to bring it all to Thailand but in manageable amounts when we are there. Our option is to become residents and pay minimum taxes and spend the money traveling to Malaysia Singapore Vietnam etc but have a base in Thailand.

Paying the bills and insurances perhaps we can pay from U.K. to Thai healthcare insurers etc… then we only really need bare minimum expenses for food etc?
10 months ago
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John **********
@Colin **********
 I'm confused. You can't have income from a house you've sold in the UK, and I assume you will live in your place in Thailand. Where does the income come from? Are you planning to invest the proceeds of the house sale to provide you with an income? If so its that income that would be taxable

Also I'd suggest if you're planning selling your house in the UK you do so before you become tax resident in Thailand otherwise CGT will be due in the UK.
10 months ago
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John **********
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DK *****
Different offices and different officers seem to have different interpretations. We will know what their true intentions are in the coming years. However, I think many countries are becoming isolationists after COVID-19. As an example, Malaysia virtually stopped the MM2H program. Expats may face increasingly bad times everywhere.
10 months ago
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Ron *******
Here's the law how it was passed in October and translated.
10 months ago
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Tony ********
No John, this is the original stating an implementation date of
***
/24, on all monies brought in after that date. There was an amendment in November to say basically 'and earnt after
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/24, which removed the need for a rush to move money into country by
*****
/23.
10 months ago
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Tony ********
@Ron ******
 there was an amendment in Nov to basically ringfence monies earnt prior to 2024. So only monies earnt (abroad) after
***
/24 are subject to new rule.
10 months ago
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Ron *******
@Tony *******
 that's exactly what it states. Section 3 Money entering the country from
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/24.

People also need to read and understand Article 2 of the code
10 months ago
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Ron *******
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Tony ********
Thailand has never been a Tax Free country for expats as such, the vast majority don't pay tax in Thailand as they probably pay tax in their original country and there is a DTA in place to cover that. Its not a new tax law for expats, although they make up a large percentage of those bringing income from overseas. The change is to the tax return allowing persons to exclude income if it wasn't earned in the tax year it was remitted. Your 3 scenarios seem to be correct from my understanding, although if you have payed UK tax on that income (usually done at source) there is no tax to pay in the first scenario under the DTA at the end of the year. There are several exemptions allowed on top of the initial tax free allowance that can also be used for any untaxed uk income being remitted. So, yes in worse case scenario you remiited 400k (untaxed in uk) into Thailand without any other exemptions being considered you would be liable to tax on the 250k at incrementing tax rates starting at 5%. The tax due would probably be less than the expense of trying to stay in any individual country less than 180 days.
10 months ago
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John ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
If there is a DTA agreement for the UK & Thailand. If you only have a UK state pension & it is below the tax threshold of £12,500, therefore not liable for tax in UK . How would that equate in Thailand?
10 months ago
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John **********
@John *******
 if you bring it into Thailand you get assessed against Thai tax but you would have no credit to offset. So whatever it works out under the thai tax regime is what you would pay. Take a look at this booklet, it's not quite up to date but the Personal Tax section is near enough

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10 months ago
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John ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@John *********
 Thanks
10 months ago
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John ********
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Stuart ***********
@Tony *******
 apologies for joining this conversation, but your response is very clear, concise and well informed, so I wanted to ask a silly question as I am unclear.

I receive a work pension from the UK and I pay tax on it, so I believe the DTA applies.

Do I need to do anything in Thailand to show that I already paid tax?

Apologies if it's a silly question.
10 months ago
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John **********
@Stuart **********
 in previous years as long as you brought income into Thailand in the same year you received you were meant to file a Thai tax return, if it was from a previous year you didn't have to. That has now changed to income received in any year from
*****
/2024 onwards. So the old loophole has been closed. If a single person brings in more than 60k baht in a tax year they are legally obliged to obtain obtain a TIN, a higher limit for a tax return. The only bearing that your UK tax has is the ability to claim a credit against Thai tax for tax already paid in the UK. If your pension is a government pension you don't need to pay tax on, there's a definition of government pension somewhere on the hmrc website.
10 months ago
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Stuart ***********
@John *********
 thank you John.
10 months ago
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Stuart ***********
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Tony ********
@Stuart **********
 officially yes, but officially you have to wear a helmet on a motorbike. So if your a tax resident you are supposed to apply for a TIN at local tax office after your first remitence after you have reached 180 days, and then file a tax return by the following March 29th. This has always been the case and hasnt changed. However 99% of expats never bother, and from what i have read, most tax offices have histoically said don't bother as the DTA's and old loophole usually meant there was no Thai tax to pay, and its just extra work for them with no gain. I can't see this changing, but if you do do a tax return and detail your remitance, you have to include a copy of your uk tax return or P60 i believe to prove tax paid.
10 months ago
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Stuart ***********
@Tony *******
 thank you Tony.
10 months ago
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Stuart ***********
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John ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
10 months ago
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John ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Tony *******
 Thankyou, I think I got a handle on your reply. I don't pay any tax in the UK because I'm a pensioner and the tax threshold here is £12,500 a year, so if you were liable for tax, it would only be for monies above this figure. Seeing as in Thailand you don't pay tax on 150,000 THB or under, would it be correct that this is a tax threshold, so as I said in previous enquiry, that if you had 400,000 THB per year, you would only be liable for tax on the residue of 250,000 baht?
10 months ago
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John **********
@John *******
 as you're a pensioner you'll be over 65 so the starting point for you is 190k plus you can claim various other allowances on top of that
10 months ago
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John ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@John *********
 Thankyou for the clarification. The first answer I could understand.
10 months ago
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John ********
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John **********
You pay tax on income, either earned in Thailand or remitted to Thailand from overseas. Nothing to do with how much you have in the bank
10 months ago
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John ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@John *********
 I don't think you understand what I asked. Right, in the UK any income you have regardless of what it is, ie., earnings or private pensions, the first £12,500 is tax free, so if you earned say £30,000 a year, then you would be taxed on £17,500 not on £30,000. So tax free earnings or money from any other source into a Thai bank account because 150,000 THB is tax free threshold. Would that be deducted from 400,000 THB leaving 250,000 THB as the taxable amount.
10 months ago
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John **********
@John *******
 you can deduct more than that. If your over 65 then the 150k becomes 190k, plus 60k for yourself and if married 60k for your wife, plus various expenses such as insurance, mortgage etc. You really need to go read up about it, way to complicated to explain here
10 months ago
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John **********
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