Thailand LTR + US LLC

[nasariohernandez]

The Thailand LTR visa applications kicked in this month. I am researching possible combination of Thai LTR and US LLC for tax optimization purposes.

From talking to some people living in Thailand on Golden Visas and running similar setup with US LLC, seems like it is quite reasonable approach. The logistics I have been described is following:
1. Have all the income funneled through US LLC (consulting work and SaaS revenue)
2. Do not remit any of it for at least one year to Thailand (live first year from existing savings)
3. Invest most of the income through LLC and remit a portion for living expenses.
4. Declare remittance to Thai authorities to have some numbers on tax returns (for example for future residencies etc.).

I plan to live in SEA through next 3-4 years - splitting time between Thailand, Indonesia, and traveling outside of SEA for few months now and then. Not really sure if I would be spending over 183 days of the tax year in any of these countries, but having "substance" and tax returns in Thailand seems like an optimal way to go. The main concern is covering myself with proper tax returns paperwork if/when I decide to go live in Europe or Central America in later stages of life.

Any experience with similar setup or other recommendations?

 

[Freeman111]

Without spending over 183 days in Thailand you won't be able to get a tax‌ return I believe.

it is very easy to get a TIN and a tax return‍ if you spend 183 days and remit some money in a Thai bank that you⁠ can declare as income. make sure to remit over 10-15k USD if you want a⁤ proper Certificate of Tax Residency, otherwise they might deny your request.
You can use a⁣ credit cards or loan to bypass the taxable income remittance limitation.

Also the requirement for⁢ the LTR are very high, an Elite visa is very cheap if you have that︀ kind of wealth and accessible with mostly the same benefit.
if you don't plan on︁ staying more than a few months consecutively you can even achieve this on a tourist︂ visa very easily believe or not.

 

[mrthit]

Hello! can you explain︃ a bit more on the credit cards or loan?

thanks!

 

[johnwickert]

Setting up a US LLC to funnel income and investing it before remitting to Thailand‌ can be a reasonable tax optimization approach. It's important to declare remittance to Thai authorities‍ for tax returns and consider future residency plans.

 

[zzzzzz]

If you⁠ bring cash and deposit it to thai bank account, is that remittance or not? What⁤ if you remitt less than 150.000 THB per year which is 0% tax bracket, do⁣ you need to file tax return?

 

[johnwickert]

Bringing cash⁠ and depositing it into a Thai bank account can be considered remittance. Even if remitting⁤ less than 150,000 THB per year, it's still important to declare it for tax returns.⁣

 

[zzzzzz]

I'm looking at LTR requirements, one of them is $80000 personal annual income. If you‌ withdraw monthly $6700 from brokerage account to bank account, can this be considered as required‍ personal income? What if you deposit back to brokerage account half of that money monthly?⁠

 

[Mercury]

Better to ask BOI, but I assume they want⁤ to see passive regular dividends/interests from low-risk/low-volatility assets rather than capital gains or savings.

 

[Clank]

Which LTR visa are you looking at? Retirement?

 

[zzzzzz]

Yes.

 

[A2934]

Shifting money between your accounts is NOT considered income.⁤

 

[zzzzzz]

Personal income‍ under LTR : Wealthy Pensioners definition is “unearned income such as a pension, rental, capital⁠ gain, dividend, etc”. Earned income (salary) will not be considered eligible income for LTR: Wealthy⁤ Pensioners application.
https://ltr.boi.go.th/

 

[luap]

A video I watched suggested there are various workarounds for this rule:

Anybody have any experience with this?

 

[Clank]

Can you post the videos?

I’m stuck‌ with this.

 

[A2934]

They are very strict‌ on this and seem to rather want to decline than not. Need to present audited‍ financial statements in case of private company. In case of public company only acceptable if⁠ you actually work for the listed entity, not any of its myriad subsidiaries. So just⁤ as an example if you work for Apple Thailand, then it does not work since⁣ Apple Thailand is an unlisted subsidiary