@Nick ***********

You obviously didn’t read or didn’t care to read my “odd” last sentence. Maybe try to comprehend what I wrote…

“Hopefully someday my income will justify that I must pay millions”.

Now let that sink a bit. You can do it! Show us you can!

Nowhere did I write that I am hoping to pay millions of tax.

Read it, Nick! Come on! Show us you’re capable of reading *and* understanding.

I challenge you!

PS spending one full day per expat on an audit to get 2,000 baht tax + fine + interest is definitely cost effective! Multiply that with 3 mln expats.

AI says average income for civil servants is a bit more than 10 k per month, say 500 baht per day…

They could setup a company to do this for them! 😉

@Peter **********

I don’t know whether the Oz DTA protects Australians from having dual tax residencies. To be honest, it would surprise me if that were true. But anything is possible.

Be as it may, I don’t know the ins and outs of the Australian DTA. So I’ll take your word for it. 👍

/edit 10 minutes later: article 4 is interesting and does assure that Australians are tax residents in one country only. I’d love to continue this conversation in our tax group as this may affect all Australian expats.

Thailand Tax rules for expats

(Having read only article 4)

I would keep it abroad. But that’s because I’m a financial nerd and follow exchange rates almost every day. So I hold my money in original currency (Euro) and exchange when I feel the exchange rate is best.

Getting money into Thailand is quite easy. Getting a substantial balance out again seems to be more complicated, so having a fall-back balance abroad might be a smart idea.

If your income is only US social security then sending it or not doesn’t have any tax implications.

@Peter **********

I stand corrected. 180 days and qualify for filing (have assessable income above stated limits). You are right.

The 180 days rule merely defines whether you are tax resident or not. My bad.

@Roger *******

Correct, with a little change:

…”Regardless of when it was earned, but after 31-12-2024”…

Note that one of the Thai tax experts in our group (Thailand Tax rules for expats) contests the legitimacy of the entire policy change.

His opinion, however, hasn’t been tested in courts yet and I bet it won’t in the near future.

@Roger *******

If you mean “registering for a TIN” I doubt whether they will ever “prosecute anyone who doesn’t register.

About checking those who didn’t file, I have information straight from a Bangkok TRD official that they plan to start audits during 2025. However, given the fact that 1) the TRD is currently highly understaffed, 2) most TRD employees don’t have a clue about the tax rules for foreigners, I have a very strong feeling that the story might just be a wet dream of said official.

But what is now doesn’t provide any guarantees for tomorrow.

@Peter **********

Technically you’d have to get a TIN when staying 180 days or more, though I wonder if anyone within the TRD really cares when you don’t have any assessable income. 👍

@Nick ***********

1) How many people stand at a red traffic light and ask you to stop?

2) How many people ask you not to cut them while you hold your steak knife?

3) How many people ask you not to hit little children?

That said, you are legally required to know the law of the country where you live, and abide by the law. It’s really that simple.

Some people get away unpunished when dealing drugs, abusing women or committing tax fraud.

Others get caught.

Today the TRD doesn’t have the means to track your finances and take action. But they have 10 years to install whatever system they want, backwards change bank reporting criteria and whatnot.

Will they do it? I don’t know. To be honest, I don’t care either. I prefer to stay within the boundaries of the tax laws and not worry about being fined or possibly even refused an extension after 9 or 10 years.

I build my future here and pay my dues, limited as they are, while doing everything within the limits of the law to pay as little as possible.

In my case possibly between 1,000 and 2,000 baht per year.

Hopefully some day my income will justify that I must pay millions, but in all honesty I don’t see that ever coming. 🤣

Thailand Tax rules for expats

@Roger *******

That’s true (but it’s “more than 179”).

The reason this came up only since approx 2 years is that they changed (the interpretation of) a taxation policy during 2023.

Until then, Foreign income would become “untaxed savings” at year end.

Since 2024 this is no longer the case and foreign income earned while being tax resident remains taxable (when being brought into Thailand and not protected by a double tax treaty and and and…).

@Roger *******

And people named Norton and people not named Norton. Bet you work for DT as well. 🤣