Service
Double Tax Agreements.
Which country gets to tax it, settled before it is taxed twice.
Who this is for
People who typically come to me about this.
Persona 1
Thai tax residents with UK or overseas income
180+ days a year in Thailand, with pensions, salary or investment income arriving from abroad, unsure whether it is taxed here, there, or both.
Persona 2
Americans filing on both sides
A US filing obligation that never ends, plus a Thai position, and a need for the treaty read so the same income is not taxed twice.
Persona 3
People told the treaty covers it
Assured a double tax agreement protects them, but never shown, in writing, how the relief is actually claimed.
What's involved
How the work actually plays out.
A double tax agreement is the treaty between Thailand and another country that decides which of them may tax a given type of income, and which must give credit for tax already paid. Thailand has agreements with the United Kingdom, the United States and many other countries, and they do not all work the same way.
Relief is rarely automatic. It usually turns on residence, the type of income, where it arises, and how and when it is remitted, and it generally has to be claimed correctly rather than assumed.
The work here is to establish what the relevant agreement says for your circumstances, line it up against the 2024 Thai remittance position, and make sure relief is claimed properly so the same income is not taxed twice. Where specialist filing in either country is needed, that is coordinated, not improvised.
Residence decides which treaty applies
Treaty relief turns on tax residence and the type of income, not on nationality or where the money started. The first task is establishing where you are resident for the year in question, on both sides, because that determines which article of which agreement governs each part of your income.
Thai tax residence, 180 days or more in a calendar year, and the 2024 remittance change are read together with the treaty, not separately.
Relief is claimed, not assumed
A double tax agreement does not apply itself. A credit for foreign tax, an exemption, or a reduced rate usually has to be claimed, with the right evidence, in the right return. Assuming the treaty quietly handles it is the common and expensive mistake.
Common mistakes
Where this most often goes sideways.
Assuming nationality decides it.
Treaty relief follows tax residence and the type of income, not the passport. Reading it off nationality is where the double charge usually starts.
Treating relief as automatic.
Most relief has to be claimed, with evidence, in a specific return. Left unclaimed, the agreement does not help and the income is simply taxed twice.
Reading the treaty without the 2024 remittance rule.
The Thai remittance position and the treaty interact. A conclusion drawn from the agreement alone can be wrong once remittance timing is in view.
How I work on this
The process, in three steps.
01
Establish residence, both sides
A written read of where you are tax resident for the year, the input every treaty article depends on.
02
Map income to the treaty
Each type of income, pension, salary, dividend, gain, matched to the article that governs it and the relief available.
03
Claim it properly
The relief documented and claimed in the right return, coordinated with specialist filing in either country where it is needed.
Fees and what to expect
Plain-English fee transparency.
I am paid through commission on the products arranged and an ongoing fee on the assets managed. Every cost, and what it pays, is set out in writing before you decide.
You may ask what any recommendation pays me, and the figures that apply are agreed in writing in the engagement letter before you proceed.
A first 30-minute consultation costs nothing and obliges you to nothing.
Client assets are held in your own name on FCA-regulated platforms or SEC-licensed brokers, never by me.
Questions
Questions about this.
Begin a conversation.
Thirty minutes, by Zoom or in person at the Bangkok, Hua Hin or Pattaya office. Free, and without obligation. You leave with a clearer view of what is in front of you, whether or not the work proceeds.
Book a meeting
Choose a time that suits you.
Thirty minutes with Richard Knight, ACSI directly. By video, phone, or in person. No obligation.
