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Time Traveller

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Everything posted by Time Traveller

  1. I vaguely remember a census form years ago that we had to fill out
  2. Yes Thailand is definitely on the decline which was entirely predictable. In the 80s and 90s there was a clown by the name of Dr Meechai who was celebrated in the media and by the government elites. Essentially he promoted nationwide schemes to stop Thai people from having babies such as condom handouts, other forms of contraception programs and free sterilizations. In fact I think he even convinced the government to make it a law that all Thai employers must give their employees a paid day off work if they get sterilized! Anyway sad for Thailand as they watch other countries surpass them unless they change their immigration policies.
  3. The basic answer is that is what it seems will happen. The more complicated answer to that question is that it depends upon the type of income you have. If your income source is covered favorably by the international tax treaty then you can elect to have that taxed only in the US. Using your example asking about Social Security and other Government pensions, these would be taxable only in USA and so would be exempt from Thai taxes, but only if you make that tax treaty election on your tax filing. (using Form 8833). Correct, savings is not income. So should not be taxable for just simple transferring it to Thailand.
  4. Sheryl, you should probably stop giving tax advice. Using just one example, Article 20 Pensions and Social Security Payments, US Thai Tax treaty says it very clearly , quoting "Paragraph 1 provides that private pensions and other similar remuneration paid in consideration of past employment are generally taxable only in the residence State of the recipient." It could not be more clearer. Income sourced from USA is taxable only in Thailand if you are a tax RESIDENT in Thailand. For Thailand that is Residence based taxation of global income. Nothing in the code says the income must be remitted into Thailand before it is taxed. However, this ruling while it is already on the books, there is one caveat. Now I'm guessing 99.999999% of all American expats in Thailand have never used the international Tax treaty. Because the Tax treaty does not automatically apply. You have to declare that you are taking a treaty position with regards to taxes on your tax filing by using form 8833. The point is, Thailand almost never taxes this income now. But they want to change that by becoming a Residence based system. PS.. Just to add additional info. The above is inclusive of 401k, IRAs, and private pensions. For Social Security it's different as it states that it is taxable only in the contracting state (as opposed to the residence state), quoting "The treatment of social security benefits is dealt with in paragraph 2. This paragraph provides that, notwithstanding the provision of paragraph 1 under which private pensions are taxable exclusively in the State of residence of the beneficial owner, payments made by one of the Contracting States as a social security benefit or similar public pension to a resident of the other Contracting State or to a citizen of the United States will be taxable only in the Contracting State making the payment." As there is no talk about changing the US Thai tax treaty then SSI will continue to be taxable only in USA......provided that you elect to take a Tax treaty position. (Form 8833).
  5. Why do you care? Or more importantly, if you were there to witness them then why did you not say something to them at the time? Instead you took a picture behind their backs, then post to an anonymous forum to complain about how "loud and obnoxious" they were. Well, hate to tell you this but there is absolutely NOTHING that any of us readers can do about it. It was you that had the opportunity to lecture them and educate them about Thai culture. But you didn't. Is your name Karen ?
  6. Wrong. Being a US Citizen who is a tax resident of another country does not make you exempt from taxes in that country. As stated previously there are a few exceptions which are generally related to pension or social security income that is sourced from USA. Other types of income such as salaries, investment income, capital gains, royalties, rents would like still be considered as taxable income in the country where you live.
  7. Correct. Any accumulated savings or capital is not income so would not be taxed. If that happened then that's effectively capital controls tax which happened very briefly in (I think) 2007 and was quickly reversed.
  8. You're confusing what double taxation is. It doesn't mean you are exempt from income tax if you are resident in another country. It only means you're not taxed double. Let me explain. For example, if you're American and your effective income tax rate paid in the US is 20%, but the country you live in assess the same income amount should pay an income tax rate of 30%. Then you'll get a 20% tax credit for the taxes paid to the IRS, but you''ll still have to cough up the 10% difference to the taxation department of the resident country that you live in There are very few exceptions to this rule and most relate to pension or social security income and the details are specific to each treaty. BTW, if you're using a tax treaty about your income you are required specifically to state that on seperate forms when you file your taxes. It isn't automatically assumed by the taxation agencies.
  9. Don't bet on it. The Thai government are very terrible at communicating effectively and it's my belief that they intend to adopt a residence based worldwide taxation system like what many western countries have for their own tax residents. Meaning no matter whether you bring the money into Thailand or not, if it is income then they tax it. If they only taxed money coming into Thailand then how would they be able to distinguish between money that was income and money (savings) that was not income. They couldn't. That system wouldn't work or be practical. Also why would they be making a major announcement if they intended to keep offshore income untaxed as long as it was not remitted into Thailand. Because that's the system they already have now. I'm afraid to say this but it's likely the OP will get taxed on his offshore income. Thailand definitely isn't a low tax country. So you'll get a tax credit for any US income taxes paid but since Thai income tax rates are higher then you'll probably get taxed on the difference in rates that Thailand has. Sucks for high income earners, but there might be a positive for low income earners as a yearly tax filing with Thailand may open doors for immigration to accept that as proof of income for extension of stay purposes
  10. Possibly. I don't think that's their intention, but the US international Tax Treaties appear to apply based on residence. So tax free retirement vehicles in the US suddenly are not tax free if living in Thailand. That's not unusual as it seems to be the same for other countries treaties with the US for their retirement accounts.
  11. On the same day, there's another news story that Thai police are planning on make civilian ownership of firearms more difficult. This is precisely the reason civilians should have the right to legally own firearms for self defense.
  12. Kind of sad isn't it? It's obvious ozimoron 's entire life is spent online trolling people and has no understanding at all of the real world.
  13. How long have you lived in America? Or a better question is, have you ever even been to America? I can definitely say things were MUCH better under Trump. Less crime, less homeless, lower gas prices, lower food prices, lower unemployment. No new wars. Who cares what the guy's mansion is worth? How is that relevant to his role as President? And for what it's worth, depending upon the state, the county tax appraisal/assessment of property is often only a fraction of what the market value of the property is. (You didn't even know that?) For my own home, the assessment for the county tax purposes is less than a quarter of the market value. You're selectively choosing things that the media has told you as fact that are completely irrelevant to his performance simple because you don't like Trump.
  14. This is a really concerning statement because wealth is not the same thing as income. Simply having cash in a foreign account and then transferring it into Thailand is not income and therefore should not be taxable. If they do try something like (they did once before with capital controls in 2007) it will be a complete disaster. In any case, if they adopt a system similar to other countries that tax worldwide income then I don't think it should be of much concern for Americans as the tax treaty means that most of their retirement or investment income won't be taxable in Thailand. Other countries will need to check their tax treaty. On a separate note, one thing I never understood about Thailand immigration is that they never considered foreign income tax filings as part of the evidence of income for visa extensions. Because no one ever is going to declare to the IRS that their income higher than what it truly is. It's definitely a much more reliable indicator for proof of income than some Embassy witnessed statement.
  15. Imagine if USA adopted the same strict rules. There'd be like 20 million people deported
  16. On one hand, it's racist to single out Russians, but on the other hand I suspect many of these Russian people are selfish draft dodgers afraid to protect their motherland from the fascist imperialist goals of Biden's USA thugs. So, perhaps the best thing for Thailand to do is deport them back to Russia.
  17. Huh? Clearly the Thai bank regulators are not smart if they have to change the security procedures every few months. If all of the security features are so important, then why do we need more of them? The answer is, because they are not any stronger than a simple a passcode or PIN
  18. Since I started this topic, I received a bit of criticism from several people here after I said that Thai banks OTP security measures were childish and pointless. Well, well, well. It's barely 2 months later and now the Thai banks themselves agree that the OTP is stupid and pointless.. Because now they are demanding account holders to use facial recognition technology to access features on the bank accounts !!!!!!! https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/2557434/banks-tell-users-put-on-your-best-face What next, DNA testing for account holders? And where does this end? Unfortunately, it's obvious. The never ending raising the bar of security requirements ends with average law abiding account holders having no access to their own funds. So to all those simpletons who go along with giving away your freedoms little by little for the promise of "security", thanks a lot.
  19. This bank security is getting out of control in Thailand. I've accounts in Thailand for over 20 years with just ATM PIN and Internet banking password and never had an issue. Now they're forcing everyone to mobile apps, and One Time Passwords and other restrictions. Now I read they want Facial recognition technology to even access your own account!!!!!!
  20. I'm color blind but I never had a problem with the regular Thai driving color tests. However, I do have a major problem with the peripheral color test, which while I can see the lights come on, have had extreme difficulty to determine the correct color. I would like to ask why this test is important, because for anyone driving normally the only colored traffic lights that matter for you are the traffic lights directly in front of you. Not the traffic lights on your left or right hand side. Or am I missing something?
  21. Well I do have a BBL bank account, I can live without having the phone app as I can still access internet banking. The major problem is Krungthai bank which basically closed their entire online internet banking and forced everyone to use the app which requires a OTP to register. Totally blind on that account now. Then I have a stock market account which I'd like to have access to some tax reports which are blocked without a OTP. To be clear, I've tried several of those Thai virtual mobile numbers, which didn't work. They do each have the disclaimer that the numbers are not to be used for OTP from banks and so forth. So there is some mechanism preventing that option. Probably I'll just have to go back to asking someone to use their number. And hopefully be back later in the year to sort out a better plan
  22. I've had one bank account open for over 20 years, and just using online password and PIN number, I've never had a problem with security. Nor have I ever had a problem with security with my brokerage account, or my other bank account, or my credit card account with the same security measures. And just to be clear, there is no security involved here because I'm not wanting to transfer any money at all. All I'm wanting is access is the financial information in order to file my (foreign) taxes and report correct income and balances. So, yes, believing that adding a OTP is to your accounts is going to protect you is naïve.
  23. Sure, blame myself for the global spread of Covid and not knowing 3 months in advance that Thailand would shut their borders. Stupid me, huh?
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