The Thailand expat forum for Travel, Lifestyle and Fun.

Thormaturge

The dispute comes from a RD ruling in 2003, as I said, that if you remain in Thailand for a further period beyond two years then the purpose of your visit was to teach for more than two years. Read the beginning of Article 21, not just the end.

If the purpose of your visit was to teach for longer than two years then your claim is void.

Most offices were refusing claims up to around a year ago but I have been able to turn some around in that time.

TheEqualizer

If you do not know how long you will be staying, does that mean you should pay tax for the first year or are you exempt? I've been here for almost two years and cannot say for sure that I will stay.

This is my interpretation, if I take away the legal wordings and submit the lamen..

A teacher who visits Thailand for a period not exceeding two years for the purpose of teaching, shall be exempted from tax for a period not exceeding two years from the date of his first visit to teach.

so it applies to me:-

I AM a teacher visiting Thailand for a period (thus far) not exceeding two years. I still am and was a UK resident. Whether I will contine to stay or leave has yet to be determined. I can see that they would want me to backdate taxes and make me pay retrospectively for those years IF I continued to stay. But as you said earlier, it takes only a hop accross the border to have your passport stamped as saying 'DEPARTED THAILAND'. If my passport shows I have left, then I am covered. There is nothing mentioned in the article about having to have left the country for any period of time.

You are right. They cannot win this. The law clearly exempts those who fall under the guide lines.

The only real question for me is do I want the hassle of this case and also the hassle of doing another border run and work permits etc?

My tax looks like it will only be around 23K (thanks to everyone for posting that). Last year for reasons unknown for me I only paid around 2K tax. I'm talking about 25K money in total. When I consider the pricey border run and work permits and visas etc, I doubt I'd save much more than 10K anyway. Seems a lot of hassle for such small money.

Sod it, I'll buy a plasma screen another time!

I wish you the very best of luck with this Mr Lawyer type guy. You are sure to win if the law is enforced by the appropriate countries. I will keep an eye out for any news on your progress.

Thanks everyone.

Thormaturge

Any further information on the Double Taxation Convention can be found in my posts on the Times Educational Supplement (TES) website. I have recently posted important information on this subject on TES.

Thormaturge

No court appearance necessary. The Revenue Department have given in.

This particular client gets his money.

... as do many others.

Happyman

I do the occasional jobs for International/Thai companies and they always deduct tax before they pay me and I have a tax number as well

William

^yes but that is "input" tax. You may find you have a right to reclaim that as "out-put" tax - and would strongly suggest you talk to T about it.

CSFFan

Personally, I disagree very strongly with this statement DD. I think its a crime and insult not only to me as a TEFLer but to the people of Thailand.

If TEFLer's weren't doing their small part to help support those girls by providing money for their education, who would fill the void, so to speak.

Additionally, what would happen to the stock prices of the beer and whiskey companies if we TEFL'ers didn't donate a significant part of our income supporting their products? For fooks sake its the Thai economy we're talking about here!