Topic: Thailand to start taxing overseas income next year, including from crypto (Read 265 times)

Ever since the new King (Maha Vajiralongkorn) was crowned in, Thailand government has taken measures that are increasingly hostile to the expat population.  And let's also not forget the fact that Bitcoin was banned for a long time in Thailand, and even possession of cryptocurrency was a punishable offense. It became legal only a few year's back. So what I can see is that Thailand was never a crypto-friendly country and they are increasingly becoming hostile. I am more worried that it will become a norm and will be followed by other countries.

First of all - I have a great love and respect for Thailand ! Often vacationed there, traveled there.... Culture, nature, cuisine - it's all beautiful ! But did not stay as a "remote employee". But I know a lot of people who chose this beautiful country as a place to live and work remotely. And it was very comfortable, affordable and pleasant ... Against the background of European rental prices, cost of living, comfort of living - Thailand very noticeably wins!
Of course the Thai government, which has been hit hard by the pandemic, needs to find ways to fill the budget, and this step is expected ... Hopefully it will be a balanced solution

They should have done that a long time ago. Because of how cheap living there is, putting a tax on the income of the foreigners there who have been traveling and working at the same time should benefit their government. Next would be a digital nomad visa or something like just Portugal. But I think that since Thailand isn't strict with tourists and they don't have visas for most countries(cmiiw). This is even better and could get them more tourist as it's a signal that if you stay there for long and you're working and getting paid offshore, could make more laws and give incentives to them since they're bringing more money to their economy.

Most countries in the world are still struggling to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, but some countries are experiencing greater difficulties than others. Thailand is one of the countries that has recently returned to growth while tourism is also starting to recover but global trade and interest rates are hampering its recovery but one sector is increasingly becoming a ray of hope and that is crypto. So in my opinion this is not bad news, because previously Thailand was a very crypto-friendly country, now the government is planning to take foreign income tax from crypto traders, which is a good step. Because this is the government's effort to fund economic stimulus measures, with this new tax policy it is hoped that the government can target income from abroad, especially crypto traders.

Apart from that, we can also see that with this change, Thailand is showing its commitment to regulating the crypto industry better and of course strictly. Although this may raise concerns among the crypto community, this step can provide clarity and certainty for investors and traders in Thailand.

As of January 2022, income generated from crypto has indeed been subject to taxation, so this news should not come as a surprise to residents living in Thailand. The tax rate is quite reasonable, standing at 15% of capital gains rather than the total transaction amount. Furthermore, in March 2022, the tax was reduced to 7%, which is even lower than before.

Looking ahead to the new regulations set for January 2024, I believe it won't have a significant impact on those earning money from crypto. Considering that most people here derive their income from crypto, this might not bring substantial changes.

However, it could potentially introduce a new rule for residents earning money from sources outside Thailand. Think of it as a fee for the privilege of residing in Thailand. Contributing towards enjoying public facilities or security services requires financial support to make them better.

I'm not against it as based on the information those foreigners live in Thailand for more than 180 days meaning they have property there or have transactions there that took a long time to do so they should pay tax as they have already been living or staying in Thailand for a long time.

The government should impose a tax on those people because they are using the infrastructure in the country and basically they are somewhat citizens there so like others they should pay and for sure they don't have a problem with this mostly if they are earning money outside the country so they are earning huge.

I think taxing the foreign income earned by overseas Thai workers can have negative impact on their official remittance inflow of foreign exchange and can lead to reduction in foreign exchange income of government, as overseas workers may opt to unofficial channels to send money to their families. However, it is likely a step of the current government to increase their tax revenue to reduce their budget deficit.

Regarding the unfriendly stance towards cryptocurrencies, it might be a cautious approach of the government to avoid frauds, money laundering and financial stability. A more effective approach could be to regulate crypto currencies to protect the consumers and financial system.

It doesn't seem like a crazy policy because maybe the government wants to gain or maximize sources of income through its taxes, so people think it is inappropriate.
The government seems to have learned that they can impose taxes on various sectors, even on crypto, so they want to get an even bigger source of income.
If it helps the government improve services to its people, it can be maximized so that tax revenues in Thailand can increase as long as its officials do not corrupt it.
But visitors from abroad may decrease with the new regulations so that the plan cannot go according to plan.
After all, it will still be in effect next year so the Thailand government will probably trial its regulations with people already in Thailand to see how it goes.

I don't think that they are including tourists on that law so I don't think the tourists need to worry about that, they're probably talking about expatriates who have been living in Thailand but are working in overseas and are getting paid by the country that they're working from so if you're a tourist nothing to worry about I think. I think leaving the country for some of these expatriates are far fetch thing for them to do because what's a little more tax compared to going back to their country with a much higher standard of living than what they currently have in Thailand.

I agree with your analysis in general, but on this point I think it will depend on the tax rate as well. If they are setting it for the first time I suppose it will be low and some people who have been there for a long time will not be motivated to go, as for example Dubai is much more expensive than Tahiland. If they are foolish enough to set a relatively high tax rate then I think they will provoke a stampede of foreigners and it will backfire.

Well, there's a specific loophole this new policy is trying to address. Just like in medicines, however, there will be side effects-- unpleasant ones. And then there's also the question whether this new policy will even be effective in dealing with the said loophole. Or it will be inutile to the ones who've got powers and connections and will be a heavy burden to those who don't have them. Corruption is present in Thailand.

Anyway, I haven't read the policy itself but I am curious as to whether it is really in the policy that foreign income shall be taxed "even if it wasn’t going to be used in the local economy." I always have reservations when reading news coming from Cointelegraph and other crypto online magazines.

Yeah it is crazy, but for most cases, taxation law allows the authorities to impose tax on anything that you've earned, that means if you have 2 or more job, they will find a way to get you taxed for each income you have earned for each of those jobs/business.
That's the bitter part of all these taxation stuff, especially to an underdeveloped countries. People are paying high taxes only for the government officials to steal it.

Everybody is upset when we're talking about taxations, I think nobody is happy about it lol.

If we look at it from a socio-economic perspective, the long-term impact of this new regulation may worsen because there will be income inequality in Thailand itself. Because rich people who own businesses and private banking services, are very likely to avoid reporting taxes like this, ultimately making middle class traders and those who do not have the financial means to avoid it.

In short perhaps, even though this new policy aims to increase revenue by closing existing tax loopholes, the potential negative impact could be very big big. Because this makes things difficult behavior of the business world, which will create obstacles to effective law enforcement, and raise questions about the main impact of these guidelines on the economic and social order in Thailand.

If the income is foreign generated, I'm not sure how large the tax burden should be in the jurisdiction that the person resides in. Someone living in Thailand is still subject to VAT, so it's not as if they're paying nothing.

And any foreign income would be subject to income tax from the original jurisdiction too. Not great for investors.

I agree with you, taxing income, and attacking tourists is the dumbest thing ever because they can simply go elsewhere. The smart way is to add taxes on top of services (VAT), make tourists pay a bit more for food and drinks, allow various attractions, gambling for instance, but tax it. They could also make the country even more attractive, the way El Salvador did. Be a tax haven for bitcoiners, make them spend their money there, invest in the country.


Unfortunately Thai government is dumb because they don't allow businesses to use bitcoin, but they want a piece of people's income? I can already see them standing in lines to pay up

I feel like that's not really a bad idea at all. I am sure that it will have some sort of impact on the short term where a lot of foreigners and Thai people who make money overseas to end up having trouble, so short term we will see a lot of people leaving. It will lose the great attention it got from people who earned dollars overseas and spent it there and lived a cheap life.

But, I believe long term it will be better, eventually it will level off and the ones that stay after it's all said and done will help the nation most. The important point here would be making sure that people who stay will pay taxes that really goes back to the public and not corruption. I do not know much about Thai politics, but if it goes back to people, it will be awesome.

180 days is approximately six months and that's too much for tourism. If you are spending more than six months in a country it will be proper to pay tax. Those public facilities you are enjoying are from tax, so you need to contribute if you are staying that long. But the tax shouldn't be high and there should be a mechanism to check double taxation.


Such a policy might add to the revenue of Indonesia but it also has other disadvantages. Don't forget that these foreigners also contribute to the economy of your country in areas like the hospitality sector. It could also discourage investors from coming to your country because foreigners will be scared of double taxation. The policy might not also be effective because these foreigners will devise means to invade this tax.

It seems quite a fair move and maybe long overdue, if it's like certain other countries they will be getting an influx of Russian visitors at the moment and maybe seeking to balance things out slightly with contributions from these visitors. Besides that, if you're living in a country for over half a year at a time, it is quite reasonable that they be able to start asking for a contribution for the upkeep of all the services within it - beyond what you may pay for things like food or renting. A lot of people become accustomed to the generous perks that are sometimes given, in an effort to attract talent, but are often all too quick to spirit away funds that they've earned while living luxurious lifestyles in comparison to locals around them.

In Bangladesh overseas shipping taxes can be 350% to import a car depending on its quality, price, and other factors. Paying 3.5X from its total value is robbery. Just imagine if a car importer brings some BMW through overseas shipping what will be the cost of it? So what car importers do is only import reconditioned car.

Politicians target certain types of people by charging unreasonable tax limits.

I will not call it paying the tax twice, because you, as a citizen of Thailand, pay tax on a single product, then pay tax on another product, and if you buy another product or service, then you pay tax on that too. This means, why don't you call those 1st, 2nd, or third tax? Then why are you calling tax paying twice tax? I don't think you guys can do anything about this policy.

You guys at least got a better chance, because here in our country, BTC is banned, but it will not be banned in your country; instead, you have to pay some tax, and that's better than bans and punishments. In my view, countries that make bold moves to adopt something new, like BTC, etc., are the ones that will not be left behind in the race for development. These countries will become fully developed one day just due to such a bold move.

This time might be hard for the tax payers, but one day the same tax will be used for the development of the country and your country will grow, and if you guys are making some money in crypto, then why do you guys hesitate to pay tax? I know it hurts when someone deducts some money from your assets only for making transactions, but as I said before, what can we do other than accept this fact?

I am amazed at how much many people in other countries (outside of the United States) are taxed on certain things like this.  For example Europe has VAT taxes.  Just to be able to receive stuff like silver and gold coins, countries in Europe/India etc charge anywhere up to 40% of the cost of the actual item.  To me this is absolutely criminal.

People need to vote out politicians who support this crazy overseas shipping taxes.  It's not right.

For foreigners who include tourists and expats who are from countries where they already have a Double Tax Agreement in place, they will be exempted from this taxation rule. The reverse is the case for foreigners who not already taxed in their country.

Thailand is just taking advantage of their influx of people and not these people would move to the next location. There is no need to tax them since there is already tax on the things they buy like groceries, autos, meals at restaurants, etc. What real value does Thailand offer these foreigners that would make them say more than 180 plus days.

Yes, raising taxes and taxing everything is an ideal way to help your country's economy. It's always easier to follow this path than to actually develop the economy.

They decided to plug holes in their budget at the expense of visiting foreigners? Foreigners will solve this problem very easily - they will leave for countries that are more loyal to foreigners. Other countries (like Dubai) are trying to attract foreign investment with zero tax rates, while the Thais, on the contrary, are scaring them away with such taxes.

In general, it is standard global practice to impose taxes on tax residents (who have lived more than 180 days in a year). An interesting fact is that this now applies to cryptocurrencies (in Thailand). The solution is simple - foreigners will leave for other countries as these deadlines approach.

Having an income in America, you can move to almost any country in the world. There is no need to stay in Thailand in this case.

Very soon, every country will want to get a piece of the bitcoiner's assets. Wherever bitcoiner goes, they will try to tax him abroad (from cryptocurrency).

That will less likely affect people who who earn crypto in decentralized manner.
Taxing income from crypto can only be justified if a crypto user is somehow dependent on the country or centralized system controlled by any country to earn cryptocurrency. The lesser you depend on centralized system to earn crypto the less likely you will be taxed. Even if you are taxed it will be lesser than people who are more reliant on centralized system to earn crypto. If you are completely independent of the centralized system then you don't deserve to be taxed.

So, if you don't want your crypto income to be taxed at all, go fully decentralized in everything.

I don't think it's twice, it's either the tax are different for general income and profit from cryptocurrency, or profit from cryptocurrency is included in income tax.

I wonder why Thailand didn't tax the foreigners yet? Thailand is very known as entertain country, you will see a lot good looking woman with a dick in there. It's because working in there are really hard, so many men willing to become ladyboy. Maybe with this tightening tax rule, this will make Thailand's government can open more jobs for their citizen.

Why is it always perspective of foreigners that is taken for granted? I think as a country they have taken bold decision. Since their sole income source is only from the tourism and few agendas that are not really tourism associated its best decision so far. This can make their country grow properly, in right direction and with amazing funds in their reserves. This is excellent for the locals also since they won’t be burdened with the taxes from their government. It feels like more or less equal opportunity to everyone in the country. Good move.

If I caught the news correctly, the tax object applies to everyone living in Thailand, including the indigenous population. But seriously lol, I don't know from your perspective you think that's bad news. Is the number of corruption cases high enough in Thailand?
Well, this rule is just another urge for citizens to try to be as honest as possible. Talking about the loophole, it will remain there forever due to the default characteristics of bitcoin, such as bitcoin addresses not being geographically identifiable.

I agree with you. Maybe it's true, governments everywhere do the same thing, especially in an economy like this. They believe that they can create changes like this to achieve the goals they have. But they never consider the idea that the people they want to tax always have other options. It's like double taxation for foreigners is tax inequality. Foreigners are taxed in their home country and will now be taxed in Thailand at the same amount. Does Thailand want to get rid of all foreigners?

I think we should not call it bad news even though this step will cut some of the money from the incoming or outgoing transactions but in the end or I should say in the long run this will increase funds in national reserves and the poverty and unemployment will can be dealt with that money if used properly without any corruption. If a thing goes right then in the end Thailand will become a good place and it's economy will stabilize itself over time as when there will be less inflation and stagflation.
We also pay taxes on each and everything and India also pays taxes on each and everything and they (India) also pay taxes on foreign transactions made via crypto. So I don't think it's a bad step but people still found ways to save themselves from huge taxations. And the downside of it is, that those who think that they can store their funds in crypto now have to pay taxes too.

I wish Indonesia will follow Thailand in creating this kind of rules, I am from Indonesia by the way. There has been to many foreigners exploiting tax rules, they use Indonesian facility, but they don't pay taxes. Not to mention that they come with more powerful currency and gentrified the location that they live in, pushing the local away. Don't get me wrong I am not against foreigner coming to cheaper country, but at least they should contribute.

Thailand is known for its tourism, and it is true that some foreigners live in their exploding tax loopholes. But this policy can create a negative impact on foreign investment and tourism. Many foreigners were happy about their low tax rates, which made them an attractive place for many expats. Most of these expats were already paying tax in their home country; now if they need to pay a high tax in Thailand as well, this will force them to leave the country.

As mentioned already on your post. This is loophole on tax. Foreigner is using Thailand as their place most of the time which means they can be considered as residents if they stay there for half a year. There’s nothing wrong with it since they are being resident of that country.

Yes, foreigners is paying taxes on their original country but they are using Thailand most of the time for their stay which means they are experiencing the benefits of Thailand which is being paid by Thailand citizens. The duration is half year here which means those will be affected are people that live already on Thailand most of there time compared to their original country.

Bad news for foreigners with foreign income living in Thailand as the government in Thailand will tighten tax regulations on foreign income to Help the Thai economy right. Thailand will tighten loopholes in tax rules on overseas income as the new government attempts to lower income gaps as well as increase income to pay for measures to stimulate the economy the finance ministry last week issued stricter rules on overseas income.

Thailand's prime minister told the Business Forum on Monday that new rules that will come into effect on January 1, 2024 will allow authorities to tax foreigners' income if they have been residents of Thailand for at least 180 days in a given assessment year. This is in accordance with the announcement by the Thai Revenue Department. Some people may not be happy that I delve into this area, but inequality is a big problem referring to the growing wealth gap due to tax loopholes.

the big question is how many people come to Thailand and stay here properly and live off the money they earn from other sources of income from other parts of the world.
I have some Thai acquaintances, the situation in Thailand currently, is not crypto friendly. Is This a crazy policy? They already pay taxes on their income, there is no need to do it twice. What do you think will be the response to this news? I mean, let's say you're a foreigner in Thailand, let's say you have income in America does that upset you?

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Source : https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-thailand-tax-overseas-income