Further guidance from the Revenue Department on Foreign Sourced Income

Keywords: Mazars, Thailand, Foreign Sourced Income, Tax, Revenue Department, Personal Income Tax 

By virtue of this DI Paw. 162, Thai tax residents will not be required to include their foreign-sourced income earned before 1 January 2024 in their personal income tax returns, even if such income will be brought into Thailand from 1 January 2024 onwards.  

The Revenue Department subsequently published another FAQ on its website discussing scenarios where taxpayers will or will not be required to include income from a foreign source as their assessable income when calculating personal income tax. 

In addition to examples of scenarios in which taxpayers should be exempt from Thai tax on foreign-sourced income, the FAQ also clarifies several points, including: 

• “Remittance of income into Thailand” is defined as any action in bringing the income sourced abroad into Thailand, including wiring money from a bank account, transferring money via e-banking, or physically carrying cash into Thailand. However, the FAQ did not confirm whether spending money in Thailand from an offshore bank account, credit card, or debit card could be considered a remittance of income into Thailand. 
• In cases where a taxpayer transfers capital money out of Thailand to invest in overseas assets and subsequently transfers it back to their bank account in Thailand, the capital money is not considered to be an assessable income subject to personal income tax.  
• Deposit interest incomes earned from saving money in an offshore bank account is considered assessable income subject to personal income tax.  
• Unrealised gains from investments in assets abroad are not taxable. For example:
  • Mr. A is a Thai tax resident (i.e., staying in Thailand for 180 days or more) in 2024. On 15 March 2024, Mr. A buys shares of A Co, a company in Ireland, at the price of THB 1,000 per share, in an amount of 100 shares, resulting in a total investment of THB 100,000. At the end of December 2024, the value of  
    A Co's shares increases to THB 1,100 per share, giving rise to an unrealised gain of THB 10,000 for Mr. A. However, Mr. A has yet to sell the shares, hence the unrealised gain is not considered to be an assessable income under the Revenue Code ("TRC").
  • In 2025, Mr. A stays in Thailand for more than 180 days. On 1 June 2025, Mr. A sells 80 shares of A Co's shares at the price of THB 1,200 per share and earned a realised gain of THB 16,000. The realised gain of THB 16,000 is considered to be a "capital gain", which is assessable income under Section 40(4)(g) of the TRC. The unrealised gain from the rest of the unsold shares is not considered to be an assessable income.  
  • In 2026, Mr. A transfers the capital gain money realised from selling 80 shares in 2025 to his bank account in Thailand. Mr. A must include such capital gain of THB 16,000 as his assessable income in calculating his personal income tax for the year 2026

Our observation 

The Revenue Department appears to be aware of the challenges encountered by taxpayers from the new protocol concerning foreign-sourced income. DI Paw. 162 resolves the difficulties taxpayers may have in distinguishing assessable income and savings incurred in years before 1 January 2024. Taxpayers with foreign-sourced income, which has yet to be realised, should consider realising income or gains before the end of this year so that such foreign-sourced income will not be taxable if remitted into Thailand on or after 1 January 2024. 

Reference: https://www.rd.go.th/fileadmin/user_upload/kormor/newlaw/dn162A.pdf