I remember reading somewhere that the tax the bank deducts on the interest you have earnt in a Thai bank account can be claimed back, all you needed to do was to get a certificate or letter from your Thai bank and and take it to the Tax Department who will then ask you to complete another form and lo and behold a few weeks later a cheque appears in the post with the tax refunded.
Well we went along to the Tax Office this afternoon armed with the completed form from Bangkok Bank my UK passport and yellow house book, we were dealt with by a not very friendly man who immediately said you have to pay tax on your income you bring in from the UK to live on here in Thailand and that they can backdate the tax from when you started to live in Thailand!
I am here on a retirement extension and my only income is from my UK Government pension and a few small investments, I do not get the state pension as yet, as I am only 55.
After the initial talk with this gentleman a young woman came and took us to one side and explained to my Thai wife in great detail about getting a Thai tax number and paying Thai tax, but anyway the upshot of it all is she said just do not try to claim the tax back that was deducted from the interest in the Thai bank account, so fortunately they did not copy any of my details or my passport so we quickly said thank you very much and made a quick exit!
Has anyone else had this experience at Hua Hin Tax Office? from what I remember reading last year claiming the tax back was a painless experience.
I know its not large amounts of money but if I am entitled to it then I would rather it be in my pocket than the revenue departments.
This gentleman also said tax is due on all your money, no mention of a zero rate of tax on the first 100,000 baht of income!!
Maybe I am mistaken about the whole thing but I do remember reading about just how straight forward it is.....
So if anyone else is thinking of going to the tax office beware, it could open up a whole can of unwanted worms all for the sake of several thousand baht.