Expat Tax: Frequently Asked Questions

If you do not have any assessable income (Thai income or overseas income that is remitted to Thailand) then you don’t need a Tax ID number. Your spouse can use your passport number on her tax return.

You are not required to have a Thai tax ID number or file if you have no income (your wife can file as a joint married with a spouse with no income)

Yes you will need a Thai Tax ID Number (TIN). You can get this from your local revenue department. If you do need help with this, we do have a service to aquire the TINs.

Learn more about applying for a Tax Identification Number (TIN) in Thailand here. 

Thailand only recognises married couples for tax allowances and deductions.

My interpretation is that you do not remit any pension funds from Switzerland. If you do not remit or transfer foreign-sourced income into Thailand, then you do not need to file a tax return.

It depends on the source of the savings. Cash In the bank from pre-2024 can be remitted to Thailand and isnt assessable income.

If you are the only one with income, then file jointly, and use your wifes allowance. This will give you an extra 60,000 THB of allowances.

Based on your information here are the answers:nIf less than 220k of foreign sourced income you don’t need to file.nIf the money is from savings from before 1st January 24 then this is not a foreign sourced income but savings, so doesn’t need to be filed. Foreign sourced income are assets like pension income, capital gains, property rental income etc.. Make sure you keep good records that prove that this money is not a taxable income source.

If the source of the funds is your personal pension, then by remitting the funds to your wifes Thai account, it doesn’t cause a tax implication for your wife, but still for you who remitted the funds.

Your tax return would need to include both the transfers to your Thai account and to your wife’s Thai account. You cannot simply pass the 300k on to your wife’s personal income tax.

It depends on where the money is from. If it is income, for example, from investments, a pension or property rental, it is potentially taxable. If it is from savings from pre2024, it is not classified as a taxable asset and is not taxable. Depending on they jurisdiction for where your assets are based, there may be relief under a Double Tax Agreement using tax credits.

Only if it is a gift with no benefit for yourself and you never to benefit from this money. Otherwise it’s a gift with reservation of benefit and its not a gift. I don’t recommend this strategy if you will benefit.

We recommend that you gift the assets overseas and draw up a gift document with a lawyer in the juridiction you gift the asset. Then get this notarised, and translated into Thai and kept on file. Also you cannot benefit from the gift at anytime in the future.

If you are benefitting from the money transferred in then this is still remittance. If you are not benefitting then this is a gift.

Learn more about Gifts and Taxation in Thailand

If one spouse has no income, you may file jointly and claim a 60,000 THB allowance for the non-earning spouse. If both have incomes, you must file separately.

You can use the property to qualify for the property investment requirement, but as it is in joint-ownership between you and your wife, half of the purchase price can be used towards the investment requirement for the LTR as the property is considered to be shared 50:50 between the applicant and spouse.

Any property needs to be in the applicant’s name to qualify as an investment under the requirements of the LTR. Therefore, the condo in your wife’s name cannot be used.