Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are talking about tax planning but it is kind of one of these where unfortunately since tax planning or the issue of taxes come to the forefront, and it has been all whipped up in the media apparatus if you will here in Thailand, especially by these foreign charlatans who claim to be able to talk and plan and advise regarding Thai Tax Matters and are completely illegal, and if you engage with them in a professional capacity, arguably you could be considered being engaging in criminal conspiracy because they have no authority, or qualification, or certification to be doing what they claim to be able to do. But let's leave that aside for a moment.

What we are talking about here is there has been all kinds of consternation spun up in the foreign community pertaining to tax. One thing I have noticed is recently that has kind of gotten the scent if you will that has gotten into the nostrils of the expat community seems to be the issue of gifts, or spousal gifting etc., and the exemptions to taxes associated with gifts. Well sometimes in my mind, tax planning or an over focus, paying too much attention to the issue of tax, can really get some people in trouble. 

I thought of this after I read a recent article and I am using that same article to make another video contemporaneously with this one for “Foreigners Behaving Badly” but I started thinking about it and I was looking at the numbers here, and I started to conjecture that this looks like somebody who might have been worried about tax issues and may have made some moves they might not otherwise have made if they wouldn't have been so concentrated on tax issues. Now let me be clear, this is purely conjecture from the fact pattern in this article; it's a level of speculation I should say. It's not clearly parsed out, it is not clearly delineated that tax was the primary driver behind this person's decisions, but I can kind of see from the fact pattern what and maybe I am reading a little bit too much between the lines, but I don't think so, as to what was going on here. I kind of have an idea what is going on here from sort of reading just the facts, the bare facts of the case. That said, again I am adding my own speculation so this is something of an exercise in conjecture, it should be viewed as such. But I think it teases out if you will a teaching point here regarding why it is really important not to get overly concerned about tax. So let me jump in here. 

I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from the Bangkok Post, bangkokpost.com, the article is titled: Dutchman arrested for stealing ATM in Khon Kaen. Now as I said in another video I made, “Foreigners Behaving Badly” video, we get into the actual theft and everything and I do a little bit more humorous sort of commentary on that. That said, let me drill down into this. Quoting directly: "According to Pol. Col. Pakpoom, the Dutchman has lived in Thailand for 6 years. He gave 10 million Baht to his 37-year-old Thai wife who then opened an eatery on Pracha Samran Road in Muang District. Before the theft, he had a financial dispute with his wife and told her he would meet a friend in Nong Khai Province. Quote: "The wife had nothing to do with the incident. The vehicle used in the case belongs to a relative and its use was shared within the family. The foreign man used it in the crime," Pol. Col. Pakpoom said. Police were investigating whether the Dutchman had any accomplices." 

So going back here to this fact pattern. He gave 10 million baht to his 37-year-old Thai wife. For those who are unaware, there are gift tax exemptions where you can gift to a spouse and thereby get around any issues - not get around, but you are exempt if you will - from issues associated with tax assessability and liability here in Thailand. Now spousal gifts can even be higher than 10 million, again depending on the facts of a given case. But what you will read a lot about unfortunately on the internet which it is not the best tool for perfect information is gift tax and 10 million baht, that's a threshold often mentioned associated with gift tax. So the minute I saw he gave 10 million baht to his 37-year-old Thai wife and then again, "before the theft he had a financial dispute with his wife", well it sounds to me like it is possible he was moving money into the country - again this is conjecture - he was wanting to move money into the country and took it upon himself to avail himself if you will of the tax exemption rules associated with spousal gifts. But remember, spousal gifts are gifts. So it is in a sense at arm’s length transaction in terms of the property title or the title to the funds. And then you can get into a big analysis of the unitary nature of the marital estate etc., but at the end of the day, if for example he transferred this to his Thai wife's account and that account is purely in her name, if she doesn't want to hand back that money, you are going to have a hard time getting it back. A wiser man than myself, once said in my family - I will leave them nameless - a wiser man than myself once said, "son, your money is our money, and her money is her money." That has always stood me in good stead with understanding my standing in place within my own marital finances. 

That said, when I was reading through the fact pattern of this, this looks like a situation where a little bit too much knowledge of tax and frankly somebody that probably just availed themselves of information - possibly, possibly I should say - on the internet about transferring money and tax implications rather than talking to a professional and ascertaining what their options are. Spousal gifting is one thing. There are other ways to mitigate tax liability; there are many other ways in fact. That being said, it is one of the ways, and when I was reading through the facts of this I just had to wonder, did this person do this because of all the concern that in my mind has been unnecessarily generated on the internet associated with tax matters, then he went through sort of the rigmarole or the steps or the hoops of moving these funds around, only to find that it didn't really have the outcome that he wanted and then he felt that he was in a desperate situation and proceeded to, again allegedly, run off with this ATM; hard to say. 

Again, there is a level of speculation involved in that analysis, but I think it provides some good data points if you will to folks regarding tax matters here in Thailand and how getting too overwrought about them and not seeking professional advice can actually put you into a position where you are doing some pretty desperate things.