Flyguy

Thailand announcement, August 31st 2022

"Top professionals, eligible high net-worth individuals and retirees can start applying online from Thursday to stay for as long as 10 years in Thailand, according to Chayotid Kridakon, an adviser to Thailand’s prime minister.
The government has set the target of attracting one million wealthy or talented foreigners to the country over the next five years, he said at an event in Bangkok."

"Target groups Key criteria Wealthy global citizens Minimum investment of $500,000 in Thai government bonds, foreign direct investment, or Thai property, or at least $1 million in assets Wealthy pensioners Personal income of at least $80,000 per year. Health insurance with at least $50,000 coverage Work-from-Thailand professionals Personal income of at least $80,000/year in the past two years. At least 5 years of work experience in the relevant fields of the current employment over the past 10 years Highly-skilled professionals Personal income of at least $80,000/year in the past two years. At least 5 years of work experience in the targeted industries"

Here are some more key benefits of the visa:

• 10-year validity and renewable
• Multiple re-entry permit
• Permission to work in Thailand
• 17% personal tax rate for highly-skilled professionals
• Tax exemption for overseas income
• Spouse, children of LTR holders to enjoy same benefits with maximum of 4 dependents per visa holder
• Exemption from 4 Thais-to-1 foreigner employment requirement ratio
• Fast-track service at international airports in Thailand
• Immigration and work permit services at one-stop center

Thailand Lures Rich Foreigners With 10-Year Visa, Tax Breaks

This sounds fantastic. It's great to see a Government that is actually striving to hit a 1 million applicant target.
I'll probably be applying.
Anybody else?

SushiFan

I don't think that I would want to invest $500,000 in Thai government bonds, FDI or property.

Pilki

I don't know why these people think there is an immense pit of wealthy foreigners, happy to invest a small fortune to live in their corrupt society. Thailand and Malaysia really are starting to believe each other's bullshit.

Flyguy

I'm only interested in that Wealthy Pensioner option. No investment required.
With Malaysia suddenly taxing Foreign Remittances, and Thailand giving them an exemption - it's a no brainer.
I suspect Malaysia is trying to tempt in rich Arabs, or maybe Chinese. Or alternatively they're just trying to encourage all foreigners to leave.....

Pilki

Which visa would that be, what are the fees and how long is the visa valid for?
Do you still have to go the police station every n days to confirm your address?
(Sorry but the visa you referenced in the first post is behind a paywall).

Flyguy

Hi Pilki, you can read up on it here: https://www.boi.go.th/upload/content/LTR.pdf
That requirement to confirm your address in Thailand is only once a year with this scheme.
The fee on approval of the Wealthy Pensioner Visa is 50K THB. There is no charge to simply apply.

Pilki

Thanks very much for the info, Flyguy. It doesn't really seem so attractive to me, with $40K pa you still have to deposit $250K. With $80K pa, I think there are nicer places to live than Thailand.

RedApe

How has the New MM2H program done? According to Andy Davisson they've had 28 approved applications in the first six months since they reopened MM2H in October 2021. Recently released data by the MM2H Consultants’ Association showed that from October until April 8, there were only 44 applications for the programme. Of those, only 28 passed successfully. This makes it difficult to reconcile Hamzah’s assertion on January 21 that 111 applications had been submitted (as of that date).At that point only 12 applications had been given conditional approval and only 3 had actually been acquired their visas (i.e submitted their RM1 million FD and paid the RM10000 application fee (5000/dependent), and the RM 500/year in visa fees.

Other stipulations were a 3 month residency requirement for the 10 year visa.

Seems that the Thai visa is in competition in many respects with the MM2H, the PVIP, the Cambodian Retirement Program, for a pool of wealthy applicants that could have easily gotten an MM2H visa before the revision, or a Business Visa, or an Investment/Talent Visa? Yet where are these thousands of millionaires willing to pay a massive nonrefundable "membership fee"? And whose advice are they taking in making the programs that actually ARE generating interest and applications more difficult?

Flyguy

Give me some examples Pilki. But they have to be destinations where I’m not going to be taxed.
Id then need to see if there’s a DTA with my home country too. Tax Free living is what it’s all about for me.

Flyguy

Thai Visa approval received today.
Three week process, all done online, very easy. No hassles or stupid questions.
Bolthole sorted.

tdrinker

The tail wagging the dog, surely.
If you can use the saved tax to have a better quality of life, that's one thing. If it accumulates in your bank account, isn't it better pay some tax and live where you have the best quality of life?

Flyguy

Like where though?
And what's wrong with choosing Thailand - even aside from their tax exemptions I mean?

I've paid enough tax in my working life to float a boat. I have a visceral revulsion for paying any more. Especially to countries which give me nothing in return, no health care benefits, no education benefits, no social welfare benefits, and NO VOTE. No Taxation without Representation, haha!

Well, I guess some would say I should be grateful just to be allowed in!

Pilki

Although it is frequently stated that foreign income is not taxed in Thailand I have not been able to verify this from any trusted sources.

In fact, the excellent PWC Thai Tax Booklet for 2022-23 makes no mention of this at all, indeed it even states that capital gains arising outside Thailand are treated as taxable income!

It would be worrying indeed to make a, not insubstantial, investment in a Thai Elite visa only to find that the tax reality does not live up to the visa hype.The fact it is a commercial website marketing these visas under the name thaiembassy.com is not terribly reassuring.

Perhaps Flyguy has some more information on this?

https://www.pwc.com/th/en/tax/assets...23-booklet.pdf

Flyguy

Folks - just in case there's any misunderstanding here, I'm not some kind of Agent or Promoter for this Visa. I'm just a user of this website and interested in finding ways to avoid this unfair new tax imposition in Malaysia.
As regards the tax benefits in Thailand under this Visa, I did my own checking - as you should too. The agency promoting this Visa is the Thai Board of Investment, a Government body. Ignore 'thaiembassy.com', whoever that is.
You referred to the Thai Elite Visa. That is not the same program. Wrong info. Search for Thai LTR Visa.

Finally, regarding tax in Thailand on the LTR Visa - search for Thai royal decree No. 743 (21st May 2022).

tdrinker

There's nothing wrong with living in Thailand if it offers you the lifestyle you want. I just believe the first thing to consider is lifestyle (including security and health), and tax is secondary. Not just tax but cost of living, as tax is a component of this. They're connected as one location may offer a slightly better lifestyle at a much higher cost.

I understand where you're coming from regarding having paid tax whilst obtaining limited benefits. I've also paid tax with no voting rights, paid high rates of social tax with no healthcare, pension or welfare benefits and felt this was unfair.