With all the hoopla and anxiety over the possibility that farang on long term stays in Thailand would be subject to Thai income tax, here we are into February. Has anyone noticed that so far there hasn't been one word from the Thai government about us having to pay Thai income tax?
My guess is if Thailand intends to tax us, after the first of the year we would have heard at least something about it by now.
I've been saying all along that I don't think we will be taxed and I still don't think we will be taxed. I think (and hope) all the publicity and fear was "Much Ado About Nothing".
Thai income tax
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Gaybutton
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Re: Thai income tax
When you have a bunch of people sitting in a room talking who haven't the foggiest clue what they're talking about - they usually end up talking about what they haven't got a clue of just long enough to confuse the hell out of everyone else around them - before ultimately realizing that they still haven't the foggiest clue what's going on and decide that "Silence" is the best policy. Done in perfect Thai fashion.
I guess the new PM will have to scrounge somewhere else to come up with the billions of baht needed to support his promise to fling 10,000 baht to every Thai adult in the Kingdom. Here we go again. No one sitting in the room had the foggiest clue where they would get this money before making this promise...(opps, expanding taxes won't work so let's not talk about that any more)...going into debt and raising the taxes won't work...the poor people are too smart for that. Well, what's left to do. Oh, I know...let's just forget about it and be "Silent" and hope that 70 million Thai citizens will just forget.
I guess the new PM will have to scrounge somewhere else to come up with the billions of baht needed to support his promise to fling 10,000 baht to every Thai adult in the Kingdom. Here we go again. No one sitting in the room had the foggiest clue where they would get this money before making this promise...(opps, expanding taxes won't work so let's not talk about that any more)...going into debt and raising the taxes won't work...the poor people are too smart for that. Well, what's left to do. Oh, I know...let's just forget about it and be "Silent" and hope that 70 million Thai citizens will just forget.
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Gaybutton
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Re: Thai income tax
If more money is needed, why not do the good old fashioned American method - just print it . . .
Giving every Thai adult 10,000 baht would be a very nice windfall, especially for the poor, but is it really going to change or improve anyone's life?
I imagine for a great number of people receiving it, there isn't much of a chance it will go into the bank and help pay down some of the household debt or otherwise be used constructively. I have a feeling that for many, instead, once they've got the money in hand the reaction is more likely to be
"It's Party Time!!!"
Re: Thai income tax
Rather than trying to raise more money in taxes, how about cutting wasteful public expenditure ?
In South Pattaya, today I see them digging up the road again, this time smashing up some almost new drainage box. So new, it looks like there never has been any water flowing through it.
Meanwhile, every year there seems to be some work on beach road. This time, they're replacing the paving on the pavement. For once, they're cementing the paving tiles down, but quality matters so little that they don't even have fencing to keep people off until the cement has set. I suspect the layer of concrete underneath this is also ridiculously thin, looking at the adjacent area.
I guess doing a shoddy job is important, if they want to be paid to do the job again in about 3 years.
Not to mention the vast waste on oversized railway stations, some of which barely see any passengers.
In South Pattaya, today I see them digging up the road again, this time smashing up some almost new drainage box. So new, it looks like there never has been any water flowing through it.
Meanwhile, every year there seems to be some work on beach road. This time, they're replacing the paving on the pavement. For once, they're cementing the paving tiles down, but quality matters so little that they don't even have fencing to keep people off until the cement has set. I suspect the layer of concrete underneath this is also ridiculously thin, looking at the adjacent area.
I guess doing a shoddy job is important, if they want to be paid to do the job again in about 3 years.
Not to mention the vast waste on oversized railway stations, some of which barely see any passengers.