The Revenue Department is in the process of updating a regulation to enforce tax obligations on individuals receiving overseas income, even if they do not repatriate that income into the country.
Kulaya Tantitemit, the department’s director-general, explained that the existing tax legislation mandates that individuals residing in Thailand for more than 180 days annually must pay taxes to Thailand if they earn income from foreign sources. When this income is remitted into the country, it becomes subject to personal income tax payments to the department.
Nevertheless, the Revenue Department is revising the law to adopt the concept of global income, under which taxation is determined by an individual’s residency, irrespective of the income’s origin—whether domestic or foreign.
Ms. Kulaya mentioned that the department intends to broaden the tax base by mandating platforms earning 1 billion baht or more to disclose their income sources. This information will be used to verify their tax compliance.
Previously, the department updated the requirements for tax residency, stipulating that individuals residing in Thailand for at least 180 days annually and having foreign income must pay personal income tax if that income is remitted into the country within the same year it was acquired.
However, this regulation has been revised, effective from 2024, so that taxes must be paid on foreign income regardless of when it is transferred into Thailand.
