Change in the tax law does target expats living in Thailand and extends reporting obligations

A former chairman of Baker McKenzie, an international law firm with offices in Thailand and a member of the National Reform Council has come out strongly against a recent move by the Revenue Department to change a 38-year regulation applicable to foreigners with overseas income on several grounds including the legality of the order and its broader impact on the Thai economy moving forward.

Top lawyer and former member of the National Reform Council, along with others, calls for a new Revenue Code and for Thailand to compete with World tax havens such as Singapore and Hong Kong. They condemn the current move as a backwards step for the country and its tired economy.

A former Chairman of a prestigious international law firm in Bangkok has warned that a new taxation directive issued by the Revenue Department targeting foreign income sources faces a legal challenge and will create more reporting obligations and confusion.

The order published on September 15 2023, altering a 38-year-old interpretation, is a definite step by the government to widen the tax base, meaning more significant reporting requirements, at the very least for expats living in Thailand. Kitipong Urapeepattanapong, along with other legal experts, including a Supreme Court judge, is calling on the Thai government to overhaul the tax system thoroughly to make it competitive with Hong Kong and Singapore.

Former Chairman of Baker McKenzie in Thailand, Mr Kitipong Urapeepattanapong, warns that the September directive issued by the Revenue Department, rescinding a previous legal interpretation that stood for 38 years, means more reporting for foreign residents and Thai nationals investing abroad as well as confusion. He predicts taxpayers will challenge the new measure in court. Along with other experts and even a former Supreme Court judge, the top legal practitioner cites the move as a retrograde one for the economy.

Full story: Thai Examiner

#Vietnam to update tourist visa regulations

The 14th National Assembly will debate this week some draft laws, including the law amending and supplementing some articles of the law on entry, exit, transit and residence of foreigners in Vietnam, as part of the ongoing eighth session.

Vietnam’s tourism has developed strongly over the recent past and brought about high economic values.

 However, experts in the tourism sector said there still remain bottlenecks, one of which being policies on the entry and exit of foreigners, which need to be settled in order to improve the sector’s competitiveness, thus attracting more international visitors.

Hoang Nhan Chinh, head of the Secretariat of the Vietnam Tourism Advisory Board, said the law on entry, exit, transit and residence of foreigners in Vietnam should be more open.

He cited as an example the stipulation that requires a gap of at least 30 days between two visa-free visits.

Chinh further said that many international visitors, especially those from Western Europe, Northern Europe and Russia, want to stay in Vietnam longer than the maximum visa-free 15 days.

He also emphasized the need for a national website that publishes official information about visa policies, citing a survey by the Vietnam Tourism Advisory which showed that most websites of Vietnamese embassies abroad fail to update latest information on the country’s visa policies.

Such a website should be prescribed clearly in the law on entry, exit, transit and residence of foreigners in Vietnam, he said.

Chinh also pointed to problems in visa granting at Vietnam’s border gates, which still requires visitors to apply for visas at embassies and receive visas at the border gates. He said this has reduced the tourism sector’s competitiveness.

Experts in the tourism sector are concerned about the fact that the visa exemption policy for tourists from major markets like Russia, Japan and the Republic of Korea (RoK) will end on December 31, 2019.

They said the number of visitors from those markets would drop 30-50 percent if the policy is not extended.

Nguyen Thi Thanh Huong, deputy head of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, proposed expanding the list of countries and border gates eligible for e-visas.

 Besides, Vietnam needs to reform visa grant procedures at border gates and review its unilateral visa waiver policy, she said. – Vietnam Plus

Source - BangkokJack