Thailand’s Revenue Department intends to levy personal income tax on foreign earnings, including those from cryptocurrency trading, for people who have been residents for more than 180 days, according to Cointelegraph. The first tax forms, including those for foreign income, will be given in 2025. The new regulation will go into force on January 1, 2024.
Until recently, only foreign income sent to Thailand in the year it was earned was subject to tax. By requiring people to report all foreign income, even if it is not spent locally, the new legislation plugs this loophole. The change’s justification, according to a representative of the Finance Ministry, is that people must pay tax on income obtained overseas regardless of how it was acquired or the tax year in which it was received.
The regulation focuses on people who use overseas brokerages to trade stocks on foreign stock exchanges, cryptocurrency dealers, and Thai citizens who have accounts offshore. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of Thailand mandated in July that companies that provide services for digital assets include proper warnings outlining the dangers of trading cryptocurrencies and outlawed all types of crypto-lending services. The recent election of the new prime minister, real estate tycoon Srettha Thavisin, who took part in a $225 million raise for a crypto-friendly investment management firm XSpring Capital and issued its own token through XSpring in 2022, may, however, change the trend for close scrutiny of the cryptocurrency industry.
