Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing Retirement Visas here in Thailand and specifically the topic of tax has come back to the foreground. We talked about it going back a couple, 3 weeks ago and it seemed to kind of just be dormant out there in the ether of the internet. Then this past week there has been a lot of discussion of it in sort of expat forums and in expat publications and so I thought of making this video to just kind of talk this one through. I am not really going to cite anything but look one, as we discussed in other videos, be very careful and take with a grain of salt any information that comes from folks that just don't have a really deep connection to or understanding of the Thai Tax System. So this isn't an American tax issue; this isn't an international tax issue; this isn't a UK tax da da da. It is a Thai rule so you need to understand how the Thai system works in order to, that should be your touchstone. I am not claiming to be an expert on tax. We do have an accounting division here. As we have discussed in many other videos, the accountants in our office assist many of our corporate clients especially with regard to ongoing accounting work associated with just living and working in Thailand, maintaining a small business here so we have got accountants on hand and we have been dealing with tax here for years. I actually remember the US Tax Court but understand this is fundamentally a Thai issue.

So the question arising is will tax documentation eventually become part of Retirement Visa applications? or I should say applications for Retirement Visa Extension. So I am talking specifically about extension here. As we have discussed in other videos, Visas that are sought at Embassies and Consulates abroad, the rules pertaining to them are covered by the rules, well I should say they operate under the auspices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, so they have their own rules for dealing with things like the Retirement Visa for example, generally speaking an O-A Retirement Visa is going to be issued abroad. I am not talking about issuances abroad here. I am talking about will for example the need to file a Thai Tax return become part of the Visa Extension process here in Thailand? Now to be clear, I don't know, I don't have an answer for that. Now I can speculate that I think based on some of the trends we have seen in the last couple of months, the change to the rule regarding the timing of bringing in money to Thailand and how that is being changed come January 1, 2024, yes I could see a scenario where tax documentation becomes an integral part of the application package for Visa Extension here in Thailand in retiree status, that is a possibility. Let me state this again: it is possible. I am not saying it is going to happen; I am not even saying worry too much about it because as a practical matter, it is probably not going to be anything we are going to need to deal with until 2025 at the earliest. 

So again, do I think it is possible that we could see tax documentation as part of the application package for Retirement Visa Extension? Yes I think it is possible. Do I think it is imminently going to happen? Not particularly. When do I think it could happen? I suspect if it was going to happen, I think it would probably happen some time in or around 2025. That being said, we will keep you updated on this channel as the situation evolves.