In September 2023, the Thai Revenue Department issued a rule (i.e., Departmental Instruction No. Paw. 161/2566) that changed the rule on collecting personal income tax on foreign-sourced income remitted into Thailand. That rule (the “Rule”) states “Starting from 2024 onwards, if a person who derived foreign-sourced income (1) stayed in Thailand for at least 180 days in the calendar year that he/she received that income, and (2) remitted that income into Thailand, that income would be taxable in the year that it was remitted into the country even if it was received in an earlier year”. For more information about the Rule, please click: Download the article

Now, we are criticising the legitimacy of the Rule as follows:

A. The Rule is NOT a law. It is merely an interpretation of the law, which the tax authorities would rely on. In other words, it is open for taxpayers to DISAGREE with it or even NOT abide by it. If a taxpayer does not follow the Rule, it DOES NOT mean that he/she has done anything illegal.

​B. Given that the Rule is NOT a law; therefore, if there is any instruction of the Rule that is against the principle of the primary law, that instruction would be considered VOID. In other words, the principle under the primary law would override that instruction under the Rule.

C. According to Section 56 of the Thai Revenue Code (which is the primary law), a person shall declare his/her assessable income that he/she received IN THE PRECEDING TAX YEAR by filing the applicable tax return form. For example, within March 2026, a taxpayer must declare his/her assessable income that he/she received in 2025 ONLY. In other words, when that taxpayer files his/her income tax return for the tax year 2025, by interpreting that Section 56 of the Revenue Code, he/she must declare his/her taxable income that he/she received in 2025 ONLY (i.e., NOT including the income that he/she received in the earlier years, e.g. 2024, 2023, etc.).

D. For us, the wording “PRECEDING TAX YEAR” under Section 56 of the Revenue Code would ONLY mean the “PREVIOUS” tax year. Otherwise, it would ABSOLUTELY MAKE NO SENSE if someone was required to pay tax on income that he/she earned 20 years ago for instance.

E. However under the Rule for example, if someone who had lived in Thailand for at least 180 days in 2024 received foreign-sourced income in that year and remitted that income into Thailand in 2026, he/she would have to declare that income (as his/her taxable income for the tax year 2026) and pay income tax on it. Therefore, it is our opinion that this is CLEARLY AGAINST the principle of Section 56 of the Thai Revenue Code, which is the primary law.

F. Therefore, if a dispute arose between the taxpayer and tax authorities as a result of that taxpayer not following the instruction under the Rule, and if the issue became a case, it is our view that the taxpayer would win the lawsuit.

Irrespective of the legitimacy of the Rule, it is questionable for us how well the Rule would be enforceable in practice. For instance, how could Thai tax authorities be aware that someone transferred funds into his/her Thai bank account from abroad since the banks DO NOT disclose the account information of taxpayers to the tax authorities unless certain conditions are met.

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​We, N-Able Group, are a real proficient expert in Thai personal income tax matters, especially for the issues that concerns FOREIGNERS. If you have any further questions or need detailed advice on the new practice of the Thai tax authorities on collecting personal income tax on foreign-sourced income, please do not hesitate to contact us through the following channels: ​

​Email address: [email protected] ​

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​We can provide practical solutions to this issue to you.