Legal Services & Resources 

Tax issues have been on the minds of many expat retirees over the past months whereby most retirees will not be impacted by any changes in the system for which 2026 will most likely be the same.

The new Government is planning to restructure the Excise Tax System in order to increase taxes whereby it appears that a carbon tax will be added which in fact has proved to not work in other jurisdictions.

The Customs Department in Thailand is studying use of the "Made in Thailand" label especially as it pertains to imported goods that pass a process in Thailand and then are re-exported, especially to the US.

The US-Iran war in the Middle East is having an effect on energy prices in Thailand whereby the Thai Government is looking at various measures to alleviate the issue.

The issue of OECD has come to the foreground again in Thailand whereby it appears that Thailand is planning to implement more tax measures to align with OECD standards, which does not bode well for Thailand.

Although the three main objectives discussed between Thai officials and the US Chamber of Commerce were a net good for the mutual relationship, the issue of Reciprocal Trade Tax will not benefit the US or the US consumer.

Reports have been circulating that the Thai Government was planning to increase VAT from 7 to 10 %, which has now been denied, even though at first, VAT was set as 10% and then temporarily reduced to 7%.

The issue of tax on foreign income remitted into Thailand is of concern to most expats, especially those who use WISE which is undergoing some changes which may have an impact on some people.

It appears that Thailand has agreed to exchange financial data and transactions with tax authorities in other jurisdictions seemingly to prevent the concealment of income sources, which is actually not their business.