Thailand new change - world wide income at Thai tax levels to be taxed

[mmueller]

Thanks for the clarification. Reading up on the new visa types⁣ I note that the LTR (long-term resident) has high requirements for yearly income, qualifications and/or⁢ assets as explained here: https://ltr.boi.go.th/#what

I was slightly confused because I thought the LTR visa︀ was the same as DTV visa, the new "Digital Nomad" visa everyone has been touting︁ the last year. But turns out it is not, and the tax exemptions you list︂ don't seem to be available on the DTV visa.

 

[pomo]

Yes, the exemptions only apply⁢ to the LTR visa (and even then, only a subset of the categories). I don't︀ think that many nomads qualify for the remote work category, as even with the recent︁ changes it still requires you have an employment contract with an entity that has an︂ annual turnover of US$50M. The BOI page says they have 695 applications in the "Work-from-Thailand︃ Professionals" category as of November 2024 (no data on how many of those approved).

In the "Wealthy Global Citizen" only 229 applications, guess not that many are happy to invest︄ $500K in Thailand either.

 

[JackAlabama]

well bc this 500k has a lot of characteristics of a dono (if you're foreigner).

Plus you need to declare 1M usd, might not be great for your safety either (but︀ as they have 100k usd millionaires themselves this might be ok if you are in︁ the rich neighbourhood).
For safety reasons, Id still tend to avoid this tho.

 

[pomo]

Agreed, although you can invest in property and $500k put in⁣ a condo in BKK seems pretty sure to stay yours. Liquidating that could take some⁢ time though unless you pick well.

 

[JackAlabama]

sure, but condos are a bad investment with⁠ an almost guaranteed loss on it, plus handling fuss.
Id personally do stock market but⁤ its murky and if they only accept the foreigner registered shares (instead of the nvdrs)⁣ theres next to 0 liquidity.
gov bonds is anyhow out of the question.

 

[yngmind]

"
Thailand set to become a new hub for the rich and successful? Visa rules‌ have changed

The Thai government has decided to simplify the rules for obtaining long-term visas‍ for foreign citizens.

The new measures are aimed at attracting wealthy people, skilled professionals and⁠ digital nomads, which should stimulate their relocation to the country. These changes were approved at⁤ a cabinet meeting and include a number of significant concessions.

✅ Minimum annual income requirement has⁣ been abolished

✅ One of the key innovations is the abolition of the minimum annual income⁢ requirement for specialists wishing to obtain a long-term visa. Previously, applicants had to prove that︀ their income over the past two years was at least 80,000 euros per year. However,︁ as the Board of Investment (BOI) analysis showed, this condition has become a reason for︂ rejecting many potential candidates, although it was not the main factor for issuing a visa.︃

✅The annual income threshold for companies has been lowered
The requirements for digital nomads working︄ remotely for foreign companies have also been lowered. Now, companies whose employees plan to work︅ from Thailand must have an annual income of at least 50 million euros over the︆ past three years instead of the previous 150 million euros. This change is aimed at︇ simplifying access to visas for remote workers.

✅Limit on the number of family members has︈ been removed
Another important decision is the abolition of the limit on the number of︉ family members that a visa holder can bring with them to Thailand. Previously, there was︊ a limit of four people for long-term visas, which made it difficult for large families︋ to move.

✅As part of the reform, the cabinet also decided to abolish most types︌ of Smart visas, leaving only a visa for startup owners. This change is explained by︍ the fact that most of the conditions of Smart visas duplicate the conditions of long-term︎ resident visas (LTR).

Thailand is the second most popular destination for digital nomads in the️ world, second only to Mexico. According to Nation Thailand, the country accounts for 12 percent‌ of all digital nomads who choose to work and live there.

Among the most popular‍ cities are Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Koh Phangan."

 

[lavel]

nice copy / paste work @yngmind when doing so you should put the source to‌ the information below the paste!

 

[yngmind]

Quick google search will give‍ you a plenty of sources
https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/new...perts-investors-and-executives-302351256.html

 

[foreverdoomed]

Quoting an old message, but I've seen a⁠ video in which a guy from the Revenue Department says the pre-2024 tax free stuff⁤ applies only to 'cash in the bank' e.g. not to brokerage accounts or crypto

I'm not sure if it was just poorly translated or not, but I've also read this⁣ a few times, what do you think?

 

[cckuhqilfownnfctux]

does anyone know what this is about?
I have accounts in several banks but have‌ received such SMS only from Krung Thai. maybe because they are a semi-government-owned bank?

 

[Radko]

Thailand belongs to the CRS, so all Thai⁠ banks report.

Are you a Thai resident or are you a resident of another country?⁤
And are you a U.S. citizen?

Either one (CRS and FATCA) will report you if⁣ you are not a Thai resident.

If you're a Thai resident then no big deal.⁢

 

[41632584]

Thai banks are starting to verify tax residency/status⁠ of their account holders. K Bank started in November. There are reports Bangkok Bank has⁤ been circulating such forms and today apparently Krungthai started as well. I read a similar⁣ post today on another forum.

 

[churumbelo]

Yes, a friend of mine got the same message. Also, be careful, if the name‌ your phone number is registered under doesn’t exactly match the name on your bank account,‍ they will close your accounts. You need to sort it out before April 30th.

 

[Wellington]

Only if it’s not under your name or your spouse name⁤ which is the same surname

 

[churumbelo]

In my case, it’s under my name, but people‍ from certain nationalities (Portuguese for instance) may have compound names and multiple surnames. So mine⁠ isn’t registered exactly as it appears on my bank accounts, and I need to go⁤ sort it out. It could be something like the order is not the same.

 

[cckuhqilfownnfctux]

they wanted to know my tax ID and tax residence, and⁠ that I don't have a US passport or a green card.

yes I gave them my⁣ Thailand tax ID and they have copied the page with a long term visa in⁢ my passport, I'm afraid this will be more difficult for people with a tourist visa.︀

the bank clerk said that this is an order from the Central Bank of Thailand,︁ all Krung Thai customers will have to fill this form every year, and other banks︂ might ask for this form too, however I did not receive such request from any︃ other banks yet.

 

[JackAlabama]

no biggie, in that case they shouldnt︁ even report you.
Its imo better than having some accounts e.g. in Singapore and you︂ arent resident which then gets reported to whereever.

 

[Mercury]

Surprising that Singaporean banks report‍ non-resident accounts to random jurisdictions.
They should report to the country tax residence address provided⁠ at account opening, or do you have any different proper information?

 

[JackAlabama]

yeah this. Depending where you live this is not⁠ good at all. Dont want Don Carajo showing up on my beach front villa in⁤ Guadalajara.

 

[FZSAAS]

Seems like they are only after US tax residents at present