The Thai Revenue Department is planning to apply the new rule to any individual who resides in Thailand for up to 180 days a year, and whose foreign income from work or assets will be subject to tax. subject to personal income tax, according to Section 48 of the Code.
According to information reported by Bangkok Post on September 19, 2023, the new regulations will take effect from January 1, 2024, allowing authorities to tax individuals' foreign income. in 2025.
According to legal experts, this policy is specifically for 3 groups of subjects:
- Residents of Thailand, who are trading on foreign stock markets through foreign brokers;
- Cryptocurrency traders;
- Thai people have accounts abroad.
Under previous regulations, income earned abroad was only taxed if the money was remitted back to Thailand in the same year. But with the new rules, individuals are required to declare all income earned abroad, even if it is not used in the local economy.
An official from the Ministry of Finance explained the new regulations:
"The principle of tax is that you pay tax on income you earn abroad, no matter how you earn it and no matter what year it is earned."
The strict measures of Thai authorities aim to prevent those who take advantage of loopholes in the management apparatus to "evade" tax obligations, when they only transfer overseas income to Thailand. Lan after 365 days.
However, the new regulations also raise the question: "Is this the most effective way to generate revenue for Thailand?". Financial experts are concerned that the new policy could "alienate" private banks and financial institutions because of the increasingly strict legal environment in the "land of the Golden Temple".
Thailand seems to have anticipated the risks for investors when participating in the cryptocurrency market, so in January 2023, Thailand's Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) required businesses to Businesses operating in the field of cryptocurrency must provide information to establish an effective management system to better protect user assets.
But until now, the fraud situation in the "land of golden temples" has not shown any more optimistic signs. The most obvious example is that on August 21, 2023, Thailand's Ministry of Society and Digital Economy MDES was forced to take legal action when asking the local court to shut down Facebook (Meta).
One month later, Thai police also arrested 5 people who orchestrated a cryptocurrency investment fraud scheme through a platform called BCH Global Ltd, causing 3,280 people to become victims and total losses of up to 2.7 billion baht (equivalent to 76 million USD).
