A person who resides in Thailand for up to 180 days per year and receives foreign income from employment or assets will be subject to personal income tax under Section 48 of the Internal Revenue Code. This rule was announced by the Thai Tax Department on September 18.
This has three specific targets: residents trading foreign stock markets through foreign brokerages, cryptocurrency traders and Thais who exploited a loophole that allowed them to bring foreign income into the country tax-free after holding it in an offshore account for more than a calendar year.
“The principle of taxation is that you must pay tax on income you receive from abroad, regardless of how you earn it and regardless of the tax year in which the money is earned,” a Treasury source said , who wished to remain anonymous.
The previous rule allowed residents with foreign income to be taxed only if the money was remitted to Thailand in the same year in which it was earned. The tougher measure is intended to close the door on deferring the remittance of foreign earnings to another year.
The new rule, which will come into effect on January 1, 2024, will allow authorities to tax individuals’ foreign income in 2025.