Tax heaven Thailand | Living in Thailand almost without taxes

Holders of a Thailand elite visa are already given preferential treatment at the airport. You will be taken in a mini-mobile to the VIP counter of the immigration. Then you wait in the lounge for the airport staff to collect your luggage and you are taken in a luxury limousine to your flat in Bangkok.

These amenities are part of the Thai service package for wealthy foreigners who settle in the Southeast Asian country with special visas, the elite visa. For many of them, this also includes another advantage: almost complete tax exemption.

Tropical beaches and relatively low cost of living have long made Thailand a popular destination for immigrants. Less well known is that resorts can also become tax heavens and people with large capital investments can benefit from this. In view of the lack of tourists due to the coronavirus pandemic, the country’s authorities now want to advertise more for wealthy immigrants and plan to offer new discounts to particularly wealthy people.

Paradise Thailand almost without taxes Pattaya Properties 24

Many are moving their tax residence to Thailand and then using local tax laws
Tax paradise – Holiday paradises – Living in Thailand

The Thailand Elite Visa can be bought for an amount of almost 14.000 Euro and can then be lived in Thailand for 5 years. The visa can then be extended (against a further payment) as desired. There are also variants for whole families.

Investment income or rental income earned abroad is only taxed to a very small extent or possibly not at all in Thailand.

This regulation makes Thailand a tax haven, but is often overlooked: German tax consultants in Thailand say that many people consider Thailand a dream holiday destination, but most people don’t know that living in Thailand also offers many tax advantages.

Wealthy people spared by the tax office

Tax heaven Thailand : The most important advantage: Taxes are only levied on the part of the income earned outside Thailand. However, this only applies if the money is sent to Thailand in the same year in which the money was earned. On the contrary, the income earned in previous years can be brought to Thailand completely tax-free. This means that those who have had enough savings in recent years to make ends meet without having to resort to their current income are exempt from tax.

According to the double taxation agreement between the two countries, Germany generally no longer has any tax law in this situation, explains a tax consultant. Withholding tax only applies to this constellation if the German company distributes dividends to German shareholders. A move to Thailand can therefore save a lot of money: “In view of these advantages, anyone who has the opportunity to live on passive foreign income should consider Thailand as their place of residence.

In addition, Thailand also offers a lot of luxury for this clientele: from first-class five-star hotels to five-star hospitals with brilliant technical equipment and first-class doctors with international experience. And …. There are no waiting times for appointments like in Germany, for example.

So far, the Thai authorities have refrained from actively promoting tax advantages for wealthy foreigners – presumably in order to avoid triggering debates about justice. However, those responsible have made it clear that they want to step up their efforts to attract wealthy private immigrants: The Thai Tourism Development Authority has already announced new privileges for foreigners. For example, foreigners who invest at least 1 million US dollars in Thai real estate are to receive a work permit in addition to long-term residence. Otherwise it is not so easy to get a work permit in Thailand.

Due to the corona crisis, business with Eltevisas in Thailand has continued to increase. Foreign private individuals who wanted to spend most of their time in the country used to use tourist visas, which they renewed by regularly entering and leaving the country. However, this is currently not possible due to the largely closed borders. As a result, according to the authorities, the Thailand Elite Programme has been implemented, which actually allows the acquisition of multi-annual visas. The number of monthly applications has almost doubled in the last two months with over 500 applications.

The Thai authorities hope that wealthy foreigners will be able to contribute to economic recovery through consumption in Thailand. Since the tourism industry, which is important for Thailand, collapsed in the corona crisis, the country has been in the middle of a major economic crisis. Economists expect GDP to fall by around 8% this year.

Tax heaven Thailand 2020

Questions ? Please contact us