Do I have to file at home while living in Thailand?
For most people the answer turns on whether the ties that made them resident have actually ended. For a US citizen or green-card holder it does not: the return is due in Thailand exactly as it would be at home. Everything else on the file follows from which of those you are.
Is there a treaty between my country and Thailand?
Treaty networks change with each protocol and each multilateral-instrument position, so we confirm the treaty in force for your specific year with the issuing authority rather than relying on a published summary. Where there is none, unilateral relief and domestic law do the work instead.
I own property in Thailand. Where is the rent taxed?
In Thailand, because that is where the property sits. The complication is the base: gross-rent withholding takes no account of mortgage interest, tax or repairs, so a leveraged property can face tax on turnover. An election onto net profit, where it exists, is what fixes that — and it has its own timing.
Is money I transfer into Thailand taxable there?
It can be, and this is the feature of Thailand that most often surprises people. The system has historically looked at foreign income brought into the country, so the question is not only what you earned but when it arose and when it was remitted. Guidance on this has changed, which means the year matters twice over: the year the income arose and the year you moved it. Two people with identical incomes and different transfer patterns can end up in different positions. Before moving a lump sum, establish which rules applied to the year the money was earned and which apply to the year you intend to bring it in.
Do I pay Thai tax on my Canadian pension if I live in Thailand?
It depends on whether you are resident in Thailand for the year, whether the pension is brought into the country, and what the treaty between the two states says about that kind of pension. Some pensions are dealt with specifically by treaty and some are not, and a government service pension is often treated differently from a private one. Canada also has its own view: a pension paid to a non-resident is generally subject to withholding at source, and whether that is your final liability or an amount to be reconciled depends on the elections available to you. The answer is a document exercise. What kind of pension, paid by whom, under which article.
Am I Thai tax resident on a long stay visa?
A visa decides whether you may stay; it does not decide where you are taxed. Thai residence turns on presence, so the count of days you are physically in the country during the calendar year is the governing fact, whatever the visa says. Long-stay visa holders often assume the two questions are the same and keep no record of their trips out. Keep one. Entry and exit stamps, boarding passes and card transactions make a contemporaneous record, and a record made at the time is worth considerably more than a reconstruction made when somebody finally asks for it.
Does my Thailand condo have to be reported at home?
If you are still resident at home, probably. Canada requires residents to report specified foreign property once their holdings pass the reporting threshold, and a foreign rental property is the classic case; the United States asks separate questions about foreign accounts and, in some circumstances, about an entity holding the property. A condominium bought in a personal name and used by the family sits differently from one held through a company, and people frequently forget the company exists. Rental income is reported at home as well, with credit for Thai tax on the same rent. Start from how the title is actually held.
Should I bring savings into Thailand before or after moving there?
The timing genuinely matters here, which is unusual. Because the Thai analysis has looked at income brought into the country, the year in which a transfer lands can change its treatment, and because the guidance has moved, so can the year in which the income first arose. That makes a large transfer a decision to take deliberately rather than when the exchange rate looks friendly. Separating capital accumulated before you became resident from income arising afterwards is the practical work, and it is far easier with statements dated before the move than by argument from memory later.
I sold my condo in Thailand, which country taxes the gain?
Both may have a claim, and the order in which they exercise it is what the work is about. Thailand generally taxes what happens to property inside the country, with tax collected at the point of transfer. Your home country taxes the gain as well if you are resident there when you sell, giving credit for the Thai tax on the same gain. Whether you were resident on the date of sale is therefore often worth more than any planning done afterwards. Keep the purchase documents, the transfer taxes paid and any improvement costs, because the cost side of the calculation is where most of the value is lost.
Do US citizens abroad have to report foreign bank accounts?
Yes, and under two separate regimes with different thresholds and different filing homes — one report to FinCEN covering foreign financial accounts, and one to the IRS with the return covering a broader class of foreign assets. Both are keyed to balances rather than income, so an account earning nothing can still require reporting, and each carries penalties of its own. See filing both.
Does the foreign earned income exclusion cover capital gains, dividends or a pension?
No. It covers earned income — pay for services performed abroad — and nothing else. Investment income, rental income, capital gains, pensions and social security all stay fully taxable, relieved if at all by the foreign tax credit or a treaty article. This is the single most common misreading of it: people exclude a salary, assume the rest followed, and discover the gap when the investment income is assessed. See exclusion against credit.
