Transcript of the above video: 

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing the ambiguity associated with Taxation and the Treaties associated therewith here in the Kingdom of Thailand. I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from the Pattaya Mail, that is pattayamail.com, the article is titled: Foreigners and their overseas income: what next? Quoting directly: "There is also ambiguity about the precise status double taxation," (I think they meant precise status "of") double taxation treaties. A retiree, for example, might argue - and indeed prove - he or she has paid taxes on pensions in the home country. But the Revenue," (I think they mean the Revenue Department - I don't know why they keep calling it "The Revenue" but okay), "but the Revenue could argue that the retiree could use those payments as a tax credit in Thailand rather than conceding a total immunity."

You are getting into high weeds with this legal theory. And quite honestly, I see the point they are trying to make in here and it is something of a salient point but it's kind of an exercise in wheel spinning if you will. Also I don't want to be too difficult on this but there is an element of this, it may not be a terrible idea to stay in one's own lane insofar as look, I make these videos; again I am a Tax Attorney in the United States, I deal with Thai Tax Lawyers here in our office as well as accountants, I see the ramifications I talk to folks; I look at it from a Comparative Law standpoint but if you notice I don't go around making these conclusions and I don't try to concoct, what we used to call, we used to call them gunners in Law School. They were always asking questions and they would throw out these really complex fact patterns to, I don't know why they would do it, were they trying to look smart in front of the professor? were they trying to confound the professor? whatever. I remember one Law School Professor finally just broke down on one of them and said "well how many angels can dance on the head of a pin?" Again, the point I am trying to make here, I'm not trying to be disparaging because I get that people are worked up about this, they're worried about it and it needs to be analyzed but getting into concessions regarding immunity from taxation or foreign tax credits, things of this nature, that is some deeply complex stuff. I mean you are really sorting out black pepper from fly poop at the end of the day when you get really down to it because it is complex and really that almost would be a question I wouldn't even want to get in to trying to figure out the analysis on because I am not really qualified to do it. I would have to defer to one of the Thai folks here in our office to be able to provide insight on that. That said bringing this stuff up and kind of a willy-nilly manner is not the best idea in my opinion. 

Quoting further: "Everyone agrees that the revised rules about foreign income are designed to catch Thais and foreigners making profits from untaxed overseas businesses and foreign exchange in cryptocurrency trading." Well I don't necessarily agree that that's entirely what's going on here. Actually, I think a lot of this has to do with foreign corporations, specifically branch offices. That being said, and I also don't agree with the notion that we have to go after untaxed businesses etc. This whole notion of harmonization and the OECD, I think this is all just nonsense and really I am starting to get to the point where I am believing stuff that I'm reading online about a concerted effort in the international upper echelons of power if you will that they are just trying to tax everybody and squeeze every dime out of all of us plebs that they possibly can which if that is the case, I'm not at all interested in that. Quoting further: "The big problem needless to say could be small fish being caught in the net alongside big ones." Yes sure, that is always the case when you see new legislation pass in any context. 

Now that being said, again as I have said in many other videos, 80% of folks I doubt this will have any kind of impact on them at all. I have said in other videos as well, we may come to a point where perhaps part of Immigration processing for Visa Extensions is presentation of a tax return which by the way Business Visa holders and those with Work Permits they are pretty used to that. We have had to deal with that forever. I have never had a year that went by here in Thailand that I didn't get a Visa Extension that didn't involve my Tax return. That said, retirees have always been something of a different breed and I don't think it's a foregone conclusion that we would see tax returns, Thai Tax returns specifically, associated with foreign retirees here in Thailand but I am also not ruling it out.

So the thing to take away from this video is yes, there remains some ambiguity because we are only in the first year of this new regime and we don't deal with filings on something like that until you get into the next calendar year, so we won't actually see how the rubber hits the road on this thing really until 2025.