Transcript of the above video: 

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing Business Visas and Work Permits and can you have a taxable event without either of these? 

Now this analysis is kind of more from an older kind of analysis of the issue of taxes here in Thailand, but unfortunately much like a stalagmite, things in Thailand tend to accrete. Now accretion does not necessarily mean a bunch of tax stamp-pimps and a bunch of charlatans and nonsense talkers as well as a bunch of bureaucrats running around doing some sort of interpretive dance and saying and drawing these, in my opinion, erroneous sometimes conclusions regarding tax, tax liability and duties regarding filing. Again, that's a very different thing from codified laws we have discussed in other videos. So my opinion is whatever interpretive dance, and whatever nonsense is spewed by the stamp-pimps out there, I don't care about that, I care about codified law okay? So that's the first thing to take away from this video okay, is again I am not of the opinion that just because we have done an interpretive dance, we have somehow created an affirmative duty without codification, legal affirmative duty, I don't see where that's occurred. 

That being said, my thinking on this comes down to taxable events. As I have discussed in other videos, you need to have a taxable event in order for tax liability to possibly be assessed and applied, okay? That's the first thing you need to understand. That said, in the past especially and especially before roughly last year, the presumption always was you effectively needed a Work Permit in order to have income and if you look at Basel 2 especially, Thailand kind of structured its Retirement Visa system as well as work authorization and banking systems, kind of around that framework. Now this is kind of in a state of flux and we have yet to see exactly how this is going to play out so we'll keep you updated on that as this evolves. 

But for purposes of the analysis of this, in the past it was almost exclusive that you needed a Business Visa and Work Permit in order to work in Thailand, therefore generate income, therefore create a taxable event, therefore require a tax ID and tax filing. And generally speaking, when I would talk to people, I would say that, but then some people would ask, "well can there be a taxable event in Thailand without a Work Permit?" Well in point in fact yes, there can be taxable events in Thailand. Somebody can be physically present in Thailand and there be a taxable event without two things occurring. Without need of the 180 day - sort of the necessary tax residence, which I will get into in another video - but more importantly to the point in this video is without a Work Permit how can you have a taxable event? Well what if you won the lottery. You're in Thailand, you're on a Retirement Visa, maybe you went and bought a lottery ticket, and boom, you win. Well strictly speaking, that can be a tactical event if you win the jackpot or something okay. They need to assess you at that point, decide if you're liable. You don't have a Work Permit but again that's an example of a taxable event that could happen here. Other windfalls could happen here in Thailand that could result in possible tax liability on the individual. An individual that is here for 180 days, has a windfall abroad and transfers the money here into Thailand. May or may not, again depending on circumstances, may or may not, but probably does have some level of liability here into Thailand. Again, it depends on circumstances. Those who do have sort of an offshore windfall not a bad idea to contact a legal professional, gain some insight and guidance into how best to proceed. But that being said, the thing to take away from this video is again tax advisory, tax analysis is not this childish application or I should say announcement of decrees if you will on how all Thai Tax Law is going to work. It can work that way, but it doesn't work that way in an interpretive way and it certainly doesn't work that way when you've got foreign interloping tax stamp-pimps out there illegally basically proffering their own conclusions, again illegally. But the point I'm trying to make again here, is there are a million different ways to look at these scenarios and they don't all fit into cookie cutter legal analysis and that is the thing to take away from this video.