I am on a retirement visa here in Thailand at 57 years of age; I am a US citizen living on money brought to Thailand many years before 2024. In the future, I will need to access my 401k. Hopefully, I will also access social security around the same time. I believe I will need to pay additional tax in Thailand for my social security in the future, but as far as my 401k and paying any additional tax,

Here is the US-Thai Double Taxation agreement. It sets out how certain assets are taxed and the articles in the DTA take precedent over local domestic Thai tax rules. We will host a webinar specifically on the US DTA next month, which I will invite you to join, as many people have had similar questions.

Social Security is mentioned in the DTA and is not taxable in Thailand. Here is the extract from the DTA from article 20 part 2 which mentions that social security shall be taxable only in the USA.

Article 20 (2) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 1, social security benefits and other similar public pensions paid by a Contracting State to a resident of the other Contracting State or a citizen of the United States shall be taxable only in the first- mentioned State.

For 401k’s there is no such article in the DTA. This means that if you remit your 401k into Thailand, then it is an assessable income in Thailand if you are a Thai tax resident.

Learn more about Double Tax Agreements for expats in Thailand by watching our video here. 

You can find out more about Thailand’s tax rates, allowances and deductions here or if you prefer to listen to a short podcast here