Transcript of the above video: 

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing gifts and taxes here in Thailand. So oftentimes, this is referred to as a “gift tax”, or at what threshold does gift tax come into play?

As we have discussed in other videos, transmission of money from one individual to another in most cases is going to be a taxable event. I can think of a few scenarios where that is not per se a taxable event, again like a no-interest loan being paid back, or money being loaned out, again not at interest; you may see a scenario where neither of those things are a taxable event. But it is pretty rare where you are seeing money changing hands, not being a taxable event in and of itself or I should say per se a taxable event. Now gifts are a different story. They may not necessarily be subject to any kind of tax liability but again there are thresholds at which there could be tax depending on the amount of the gift and it is going to depend on the nature of the relationship, at least as it pertains to Thailand. So if you are in Thailand and you give a gift to somebody, then when doing the analysis, it has to be ascertained was this person a family member? If so, by what relation? Also, what is the nature of the gift? Is the gift monetary? If it's monetary, what is the amount of the gift? And again depending on the relationship, depending on the monetary amount, there may or may not be a gift tax applied, and you may or may not have to pay some taxes on that. 

So as a result you are going to have to basically, I know I sound like a broken record, but when it comes to gifts, gift taxes, trying to ameliorate or mitigate overall tax liability through use of a gift, especially as it pertains intra-marriage - so what we call spousal gifts - again it is going to depend on the underlying facts, the underlying nature of the gift, if it's monetary, how much is it? Also the timing of one's physical presence here in Thailand may factor in as well. Are they considered tax resident in Thailand, by spending the requisite amount of time in Thailand to be considered tax resident; that may factor in to the overall analysis of overall tax liability in the context of a gift. 

So the thing to take away from this video is if you are overwhelmed by the issue of gift tax or whether or not giving a gift may mitigate overall tax liability, or if having given or received a gift confers some sort of liability depending on the amount, depending on the nature, depending on the person giving it, if you are sort of overwhelmed by all of these factors, it may not be a terrible idea to contact a legal professional, gain some insight and guidance into how best to proceed.