TAX on Income from Abroad

[newtovillagelife]

Just use a Visa service and you don't need to show income from abroad, or money in the bank.

[sometimewoodworker]

Just use a Visa service and you don't need to show income from abroad, or money in the bank.

You understand that the service you refer to shows that you DO have money in the bank!!! It is certainly not impossible that the taxation department will assume that the money that seems to be yours, is yours and so potentially taxable. Your idea is rather less foolproof than it seems.

[newtovillagelife]

Just use a Visa service and you don't need to show income from abroad, or money in the bank.

You understand that the service you refer to shows that you DO have money in the bank!!! It is certainly not impossible that the taxation department will assume that the money that seems to be yours, is yours and so potentially taxable. Your idea is rather less foolproof than it seems.

However, it will not be a foreign remittance. So why would it be taxable?

[tamada]

Just use a Visa service and you don't need to show income from abroad, or money in the bank.

You understand that the service you refer to shows that you DO have money in the bank!!! It is certainly not impossible that the taxation department will assume that the money that seems to be yours, is yours and so potentially taxable. Your idea is rather less foolproof than it seems.

However, it will not be a foreign remittance. So why would it be taxable?

The RD isn't after taxing only the money being transferred in from overseas. The RD is after taxing all income if you've been here for 180 days and up in the tax year. It doesn't matter that the money was magicked in-and-out locally by an agent, it was still in your account and will he regarded as income. You can't claim it wasn't yours even though it truly wasn't ever yours.

[newtovillagelife]

Just use a Visa service and you don't need to show income from abroad, or money in the bank.

You understand that the service you refer to shows that you DO have money in the bank!!! It is certainly not impossible that the taxation department will assume that the money that seems to be yours, is yours and so potentially taxable. Your idea is rather less foolproof than it seems.

However, it will not be a foreign remittance. So why would it be taxable?

The RD isn't after taxing only the money being transferred in from overseas. The RD is after taxing all income if you've been here for 180 days and up in the tax year. It doesn't matter that the money was magicked in-and-out locally by an agent, it was still in your account and will he regarded as income. You can't claim it wasn't yours even though it truly wasn't ever yours.

So this new wrinkle, could put a huge dent in the Visa Service industry.

[tamada]

Just use a Visa service and you don't need to show income from abroad, or money in the bank.

You understand that the service you refer to shows that you DO have money in the bank!!! It is certainly not impossible that the taxation department will assume that the money that seems to be yours, is yours and so potentially taxable. Your idea is rather less foolproof than it seems.

However, it will not be a foreign remittance. So why would it be taxable?

The RD isn't after taxing only the money being transferred in from overseas. The RD is after taxing all income if you've been here for 180 days and up in the tax year. It doesn't matter that the money was magicked in-and-out locally by an agent, it was still in your account and will he regarded as income. You can't claim it wasn't yours even though it truly wasn't ever yours.

So this new wrinkle, could put a huge dent in the Visa Service industry.

Inasmuch as some long-term residents with limited incomes may relocate or go home, probably.

[jackspratt]

I may be giving the RD too much credit, but imagine the delicious irony if it decided to go down the rabbit hole.

RD to skint Extension applicant A - "so where did this money (briefly) in your account come from"?

Response - "Oh, my migration visa agent put it there, and then removed it shortly thereafter"

RD - "why would the agent do that"?

Response - "because I paid them THB20,000 (or whatever number) for them to expedite my application for extension"

RD to Visa Agent - "skint applicant A tells us he paid you 20,000 for your visa services. Where does this appear in your accounts? We need to tax you on it."

Visa Agent - "well I only actually received half of it. The balance went to the Office down the road"

RD - "perhaps we should pay a visit down there".............

[BillaRickaDickay]

Ahhhh, but they dont do that anymore. Do they?

[newtovillagelife]

Well obviously immigration and the Visa Agents have an arrangement to look the other way, why not with the Tax department also.

[noosard]

RD to skint Extension applicant A - "so where did this money (briefly) in your account come from"?

No money goes into the applicants bank account at all now

[newtovillagelife]

Just use a Visa service and you don't need to show income from abroad, or money in the bank.

You understand that the service you refer to shows that you DO have money in the bank!!! It is certainly not impossible that the taxation department will assume that the money that seems to be yours, is yours and so potentially taxable. Your idea is rather less foolproof than it seems.

However, it will not be a foreign remittance. So why would it be taxable?

The RD isn't after taxing only the money being transferred in from overseas. The RD is after taxing all income if you've been here for 180 days and up in the tax year. It doesn't matter that the money was magicked in-and-out locally by an agent, it was still in your account and will he regarded as income. You can't claim it wasn't yours even though it truly wasn't ever yours.

So this new wrinkle, could put a huge dent in the Visa Service industry.

Inasmuch as some long-term residents with limited incomes may relocate or go home, probably.

I'm willing to bet that's more than 50% of their customers. Those who for whatever reason, would not qualify on their own merit.

[tamada]

RD to skint Extension applicant A - "so where did this money (briefly) in your account come from"?

No money goes into the applicants bank account at all now

That may be unique to the Udon Thani "arrangement" or it could be more common.

I'm willing to bet that's more than 50% of their customers. Those who for whatever reason, would not qualify on their own merit.

Then they would simply increase the annual fee for the "arrangement" for those remaining.

[BillaRickaDickay]

Ahhhh, but they dont do that anymore. Do they?

No bank involvment now, prepping the way forward?

[sometimewoodworker]

However, it will not be a foreign remittance. So why would it be taxable?

Being a devils advocate;

It is quite possible that you could be required to prove that it was not foreign income.

It is certainly possible that the wealthy Thai, who are the real target, could have large sums of foreign currency couriered into the country, it can then be converted to baht and transferred domestically, while it could work once do you imagine that a loophole like that is going to survive. The indigent foreigners aren’t the intended target but could easily be caught in the net.

Taxation departments are not in anyway stupid, they are likely to be some of the smartest people around

[tamada]

However, it will not be a foreign remittance. So why would it be taxable?

Being a devils advocate;

It is quite possible that you could be required to prove that it was not foreign income.

It is certainly possible that the wealthy Thai, who are the real target, could have large sums of foreign currency couriered into the country, it can then be converted to baht and transferred domestically, while it could work once do you imagine that a loophole like that is going to survive. The indigent foreigners aren’t the intended target but could easily be caught in the net.

Taxation departments are not in anyway stupid, they are likely to be some of the smartest people around

Totally agree. The exceedingly rich Thai will carry on doing what they've always done and step over any RD tax tripwires. Foreigners are truly the low-hanging fruit in this cash grab.

You mentioned in earlier posts how some foreigners may be using the "recycle" method of maintaining monthly minimums from overseas for immigration purposes. Once the tax ID (TIN) is attached to the accounts being used, there's nothing to stop RD and/or Immigration joining the dots and exposing that charade. Any pleas about personal data protection violations will, as in the west, fall on deaf ears as the linkage being used is the fundamentally anonymous TIN.

The IRS hijacked the American citizens SSN for exactly the same reasons decades ago and that works very, very well.

[Whistler]

The chances of some very tense conversations with thai tax authorities sometime down the line are certainly very high.

The fact the the details and procedures for new tax targets are obscure will offer no respite. Even by Thai standards this is a farce

[jackspratt]

The tax year in Thailand finishes on 31 December, and we are not yet to the end of February.

This tax will not be retrospective.

Isn't a bit early to be getting knickers twisted?

[sometimewoodworker]

The tax year in Thailand finishes on 31 December, and we are not yet to the end of February.

This tax will not be retrospective.

Isn't a bit early to be getting knickers twisted?

The first 2 statements are correct
1) Yes
2) Yes the 2023 tax year has no change
2) The changes apply from January 1 2024, the tax return, if required is in 2025.

If you have not/are not minimising income being transferred into Thailand now it is the Thai RD who will be twisting your knickers to ring out the money that you owe them.

We don’t know what documents will be required what proof will be accepted, but not planning for next year now is the hight of foolhardiness.

In my case our spending for the next 15 months has been transferred in from last years (and the years before) income and rents. So I am practically immune to paying any tax in the 2024 Thai tax year.

It is almost mandatory to minimise the tax you pay any taxation department for small amounts of current and future tax I generally don’t bother to do much, for tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands I will be working hard or employing a tax professional to work for me.

[jackspratt]

Go for it, woody.

Based on what I know so far - which is very little - I am happy to wait and see, rather than lose sleep over what may, or may not, eventuate.

I'll continue to go commando for the next few months.

[rick]

I expect to pay little if any tax in Thailand, as i qualify for about 300,000 baht of Thai tax allowances, apart from anything due under double taxation agreements . However, my current remittance stream is the last step in a series of account transfers in the UK, and it may be hard to provide reasonable proof that the income is not taxable. Yes awaiting advice from Thai RD later this year, but without knowing what is required for the 2024 year, hard to make changes (some of which I might have to do in the UK, rather than electronically).