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Person Income Tax (PIT) is directly levied on
the income of a person in Thailand. In general, a person liable
to PIT has to compute his tax liability, file tax return and pay
tax, if any, accordingly on a calendar year basis.
Taxpayers are classified into "resident" and "non-resident".
"Resident" means any person residing in Thailand for a period or
periods aggregating more than 180 days in any tax (calendar)
year. A resident of Thailand is liable to pay tax on income from
sources in Thailand on a cash basis, regardless where the money
is paid, as well as on the portion of income from foreign
sources that is brought into Thailand. A non-resident is,
however, subject to tax only on income from sources in Thailand.
Income chargeable to the PIT is called "assessable income". The
term covers income both in cash and in kind. Therefore, any
benefits provided by an employer or other persons, such as a
rent-free house or the amount of tax paid by the employer on
behalf of the employee, are also treated as assessable income of
the employee for the purpose of PIT.
Certain deductions and allowances are allowed in the calculation
of the taxable income. Taxpayers shall make deductions from
assessable income before the allowances are granted. The simple
formula for calculation would be
(TAXABLE INCOME = assessable income - deductions - allowances)
Income from employment enjoys a deduction of 40%, not exceeding
60,000 THB. For a single tax payer Personal Allowance is
permissible up to 30,000 THB. Other allowances would include
Spouse allowance, Child allowance, Parents allowance, Old age
allowance, Education allowance, Life Insurance Premium, Approved
Provident Fund contribution, Home Mortgage interest and
charitable contribution.
From the year 2004 onwards, monthly income up to 100,000 THB has
been exempted from taxation. However, from 100,001 upwards with
every slab of 50,000 the tax rate multiplies as 10, 20 & 30 per
cent.
In spite of all the well-laid dictates, tax in Thailand
continues to be a very cloudy issue. While schools should tax
you according to the tax regulations, more than a few in fact do
not.
It seems that most schools have a bit of a fiddle going so that
both the teacher and the school benefits. Basically, they do not
declare exactly how much they are making and how much they are
paying which reduces both their and your tax burden. This whole
situation is complicated by the fact that there are many
teachers work illegally without a legal permit. However,
supposedly nobody has been heard to be adversely affected by
their school diddling tax.
You can get a tax number from the Tax Department by going
filling out a form in Thai with no English. Therefore, its
recommended to seek for some local assistance. You necessarily
need a passport and your work permit. While it is nice to think
that one is paying less tax than they should be, you never know
when this may come back to haunt you. In this case, it is
probably in your best interests to put pressure on the school to
make sure everything with your pay is above board.
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