Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing taxes in connection with Thai Immigration proceedings. Again we are back to normal format here. As you can see, I am able to stand up but I am a little hoarse, still kind of getting over some of this; it seems to be kind of hanging on a little longer than I would otherwise like but I am at least able to make these videos way I would like to. That said, much appreciated, the well wishes folks gave to me via comments and via emails, much appreciated. The show must go on.

So again, talking tax records, talking immigration, I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from the Pattaya mail, that is pattayamail.com, the article is titled: Summary of Thai visas available: January 2024. I am going to quote a small excerpt here. As usual, I urge those who are watching this video, go check out this and any other article we cite to go get some further insight. Quoting directly: "Fears that your Immigration record will be dragged into the still confusing Thai Revenue Taxation of foreign accessible income also appear false." Okay. 

Yet again this is something, it is highly nuanced and I really, people can say whatever they want, do whatever they want, that's not my point but I find it a bit disconcerting that there are folks out there that continue to comment - and I am not talking about this article specifically - but I have seen a lot of other stuff out there, I thought this article was a good one to cite and then kind of riff off of but I have seen a lot of people talking, just wildly speculating, talking about this stuff and they are talking completely out of school, in my opinion. They really just need to find something else to talk about because both Tax and Immigration are narrow but extremely deep bodies of law in any jurisdiction and those who don't have a deep knowledge, can really do a lot of harm by running around talking willy nilly about how this stuff all works. 

In the present moment I don't think it is incorrect to state no, taxes don't have anything to do with most matters pertaining to Immigration. Now let's be clear, those who are in Thailand on Business Visas or maintaining a Work Permit yeah, you are dealing with taxes. Most of my clients that are in that situation are sitting there going "what is it with these people that think our taxes aren't part of the Immigration process? It is always part of my Immigration process." Yeah, in those circumstances they are. 

The point I am trying to make with regard to this video though is, yeah as I said in prior videos, with taxes you are always looking one year backward. So in calendar year 2024, one would be filing tax returns for tax year 2023. So again in 2024 as I have said in other videos, it's probably not going to be an issue, this overall tax issue as it associates specifically with like Retirement Visas or even Marriage Visas that have no Work Permit component. Folks that are staying here in Thailand on those types of status, yeah it is probably not going to impact you in 2024, but it is not correct to state that it's a foregone conclusion that it never will do so. In fact I have a pretty good feeling that starting in 2025, we probably will start seeing taxes become a component perhaps even in a Retirement Visa context. I know this is not something people particularly want to hear; I am also not saying that is a foregone conclusion either. That said, knowing what I know about the Immigration process, knowing what I know about how taxes work in Thailand, I can say that it is not outside the realm of possibility to foresee a possible scenario wherein that would occur. Now again, that is not to say this is a foregone conclusion and I also as I have said many, many times the vast majority of people are not going to be greatly impacted by this. So when I say people I mean specifically retirees; it seems to be the retirees are the most concerned about this and I get it, I do get it. So again, I think the vast majority of retirees are probably never even going to think of this as an issue. I think worst case scenario as I have discussed before, it may result in an extra couple of forms associated with renewal of retirement status and again won't have any major impact on retirees in any appreciable way. 

That stated, again I don't know the future and I don't know for certain and I can't predict either Thai Tax Policy in the future nor Thai Immigration Policy in the future. So the thing to take away from this video is to have in the back of the mind that it is possible down the road yes, we may see some changes with regard to tax rules and how that impacts Immigration. Is it something that will bother you today? Probably not. Is it even something that's likely to impact you in this calendar year of 2024? I kind of suspect not although I can see a few like sort of fringe scenarios on the outer rim of probability where maybe that might happen, but again we just can't foresee it. So the thing I would say is stay tuned because we will certainly keep you updated on this channel as the situation evolves.