What are the tax implications for staying in Thailand for 6 months or more?

@Pete ******

Why don't you go to the source of information that will tell you everything. All you do is spout your bs. You know NOTHING

@Andy ***********

so you agree there is no magical tax free pixie dust that you can sprinkle over expats. Your statement that expats are non taxable is false. We agree that a person’s tax status is unique and based on their personal financial situation and that all tax resident expats are subject to Thai tax law.

@Pete ******

I was stating the small change to the tax rules is targeting wealthy Thai citizens, not the non-taxable retirees. Sadly, like many on Facebook you twisted what I said and inferred I was applying it to all expats. Many expats work in Thailand so if course they pay tax, many are digital nomads who, should they bring in untaxed money, will have to pay tax. I was referring to one category of expat. If you have full tax residency in Thailand and nowhere else, of course you must pay tax, that's the same everywhere in the world.

@Andy ***********

… and then you start to defend your mistake by limiting your generic statement to a single category (which you didn’t in your statement so Pete is totally right when telling you wrong) and you make the next mistake after mistake, merely because you limit your view to a single type of person who probably fits into your limited view of the world… Let me just address the last erroneous statement and then I give up.

“If you have full tax residency in Thailand and nowhere else, of course you must pay tax, that’s the same everywhere in the world.”

First of all you don’t have a clue about “everywhere else in the world” so you’re entitlement to make such a statement is zero and non existent.

Secondly, if you are Thai tax resident and nowhere else, you must only pay tax if you have taxable income. Again an omitted limitation. Your generic statement ignores a large group of people who have close to zero taxable income and who thus may have to pay zero tax.

My advice to you;

1) Please refrain from making statements about taxes when you’re not capable of acknowledging that there are many many different people with equally many different backgrounds which puts them in many many different tax categories.

2) For your personal sake, find help about tax laws. Consult someone who can tell you beyond doubt to which extent you might be taxable or not. Acknowledge your limitations and don’t feel ashamed of not knowing every detail if the laws of a country with an unfamiliar language and an unfamiliar alphabet.

@Peter *********

I lose interest in your long-winded f*cked up rhetorics after two sentences. You really have no clue do you? Read the DTAs instead of sprouting bs 😂😂😂

@Andy ***********

Maybe you need to either follow a course how to write what you want to write, or a course how to read what you wrote.

You clearly stated “It’s Thai citizens who are being targeted, not expat retirees, who remain non-taxable.”

There are too many mistakes in this statement. First of all it’s completely irrelevant whom the rules change targets. It might be targeted at polar bears, but as soon as penguins fall under the same criteria the law applies to them too. Whether they are polar bears or not.

1) The law might not target expats, but as soon as they are within the criteria set by the law, which quite likely includes every expat in Thailand, they are within the boundaries of the tax laws.

2) Expats remain non-taxable. It’s a funny thought because this seems to imply that expats were ever no -taxable. Not true. Since the law was created, I believe in previous century, expats are just as taxable as anyone else as soon as they reach the 180-days-in-Thailand limit. There are rules which parts of their income was taxable and there are treaties on a per country basis which reduce the tax load on some nationals. However, if you check the list you would soon find out that there are no DTAs with both the North Pole and Antarctica, meaning that both polar bears as well as penguins will become taxable as soon as they stay here 180 days in a calendar year (provided they declare themselves human beings).

There indeed is (almost) nothing new here. Expat retirees were always taxable but could reduce their ass-essable income by lifting their income transfer over the year end. But this has changed. Since /2024 only savings as per 31 dec 2023 can be taxfree brought to Thailand.

For new expats nothing changed, being that income earned in years before they become taxable resident will not become taxable no matter when it’s brought to Thailand.

That’s all. Do *not* state that “expats remain untaxed” merely because because dta with your particular country happens to protect your particular income from being taxed in Thailand!

There is no such general rule!

@Peter *********

F*ck! How bored are you to sit there writing long-winded crap posts? EXPAT RETIREES WILL NOT BE TAXED IN THAILAND. Got it now? Sheesh!

@Andy ***********

Expat retirees are taxed in Thailand unless their income is excluded by a dta! Get that into your thick skull!

@Peter *********

Yep! 😂😂😂

@Michael *****

what does this mean?

"You need to see an accountant in Pattaya, they seem to be clued up on this question, as no ferang in pattaya has actually gone through the new tax arrangements for foreign sourced income."