A practical statement about Thailand’s new tax rules

I’m of the view that taxing overseas income is a big mistake, there will be a ton of pushback from entrenched interests including some of the wealthiest people in Thailand, and if it happened it would effectively end the retirement industry here as well as end a lot of other remittances into Thailand and maybe crash the baht.

All that said, if it’s happening, and you’re a Thai tax resident, here’s what really matters to you now, from a practical perspective:

* Thai officials are notorious for shooting giant footguns left and right in the early stages of policy proposal/implementation, they constantly say stuff that gets massive details wrong. Stuff gets changed, walked back, details are not filled in, etc. The footguns are all going off right now.
* If you live here year round, you will be classified as a tax resident here for the 2024 tax year if you’re still here on June 29 or thereabouts (180 days of residing here). This means you have until June 29 to figure out exactly how the rules affect you, and say goodbye permanently to Thailand as your home if that’s what you need to do. Even though the rules go into effect on January 1, they won’t apply to you if you leave here by June 29, so you have some time to make your plan.
* This is plenty of time to find a good accountant and make your decision, but expect that the accountants will be almost as clueless as we are for the next month or three due to bad communication from the Thai gov’t.

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