Questions?
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Yes. If you spent 180 days or more in Thailand in the year you earned foreign income, and you earned it from 1 January 2024, it is taxed in the year you remit it to Thailand, even if that is years later. Savings, income from before 2024 and income from years when you spent fewer than 180 days in Thailand are not taxed on remittance. The idea of exempting income remitted in the same or the next year is still only a draft. Rules are as of 6 October 2026.
In short
- Two conditions create the tax: you earned the income from 1 January 2024 in a year when you spent 180 days or more in Thailand, and you remitted it to Thailand in the same or a later year. It goes into the return for the year of remittance (Revenue Department infographic, 2024).
- Not taxed: savings and income from before 2024, income from a year with fewer than 180 days, your own capital coming back, and unrealised gains.
- Remittance means a transfer to a Thai bank account, an online transfer or carrying the money in. The exchange rate is the one on the day of remittance (Revenue Department Q&A, January 2024).
- The same-year or next-year exemption is not law, and neither is a tax on worldwide income (ThaiLawOnline, 5 October 2026).
- Tax paid abroad can be credited under a treaty, up to the Thai tax on that income (Revenue Department infographic, 2024).
- The Destination Thailand Visa (DTV) and the Elite, retirement and marriage visas give no tax relief (ThaiLawOnline, September 2026).
When is foreign income taxed in Thailand?
Two conditions must both be met. You earned the income abroad from 1 January 2024, in a year when you spent 180 days or more in Thailand, and you remitted it, wholly or in part, in the same year or a later one. It then goes into your return for the year of remittance (Revenue Department infographic, 2024).
Departmental Instruction Por. 161/2566 of 15 September 2023 changed the old practice, under which foreign income was taxed only if remitted in the year it was earned. From 2024 it no longer matters whether you remit in the year you earned the income (KPMG, 10 October 2023). The Revenue Department gives an example (Q&A, January 2024). In 2024 a person spent 200 days in Thailand and earned rent from a property abroad. In 2025 the person transferred that money to a Thai account, and the income went into the 2025 return.
| When the income was earned | Days in Thailand in that year | When it was remitted | Taxed? |
|---|---|---|---|
| From 1 January 2024 | 180 or more | From 1 January 2024 | Yes |
| From 1 January 2024 | Fewer than 180 | From 1 January 2024 | No |
| Before 1 January 2024 | 180 or more | From 1 January 2024 | No |
| Before 1 January 2024 | Fewer than 180 | From 1 January 2024 | No |
The table follows the Revenue Department's own chart. Days are counted from 1 January to 31 December, in one stretch or several, whatever your nationality: 179 days do not make you a resident, and 180 do. How to count them is in Thailand's 180-day rule: when you become a tax resident.
The rule covers income under paragraphs (1) to (8) of section 40 of the Revenue Code: from employment, rent, interest, dividends, professions and business (Revenue Department Q&A, January 2024). Income from Thai sources is taxable for a foreigner in any case, whether it is paid in Thailand or abroad (Revenue Department infographic, 2024).
What counts as remittance, and what is not taxed?
Remittance is any act that brings the income into Thailand: a transfer to a Thai bank account, an online transfer or carrying it in. The exchange rate on the day of remittance applies, and only the part you remit is taxed. When a sum mixes capital and income, you separate them yourself, on the facts (Revenue Department infographic, 2024).
| What you remit | Taxed? |
|---|---|
| Income from 2024 (rent, dividends, interest, profit on a sale), earned in a year when you were resident | Yes, in the year of remittance |
| The same income, but you spent fewer than 180 days in Thailand in the year you earned it | No |
| Savings and income from before 1 January 2024 | No |
| Savings built up when you lived abroad and were not a Thai resident | No |
| Your own capital that you sent abroad and bring back | No, only interest and other income earned on it |
| Profit on shares that you have not sold | No; realised profit is taxed when you remit it |
| An inheritance, or support from a parent, child or spouse | No: income the Code exempts stays exempt, and for support the Department names a limit of THB 20 million a year |
One question stays open: whether paying or withdrawing cash with a foreign card in Thailand counts as remittance. The Revenue Department materials we read do not say, so ask before you start using a card as a wallet.
Here is an example with made-up numbers. In 2025 you earned THB 1,200,000 in rent abroad (about USD 34,000 or GBP 25,500 at illustrative rates of 35 and 47 baht) and spent 210 days in Thailand. In 2026 you remit THB 400,000 of it. That THB 400,000 goes into your 2026 return together with your Thai income for the year, and the other THB 800,000 is taxed in the year you remit it (Revenue Department infographic, 2024). Rates are progressive, so the amount you remit in a year changes the bill: check with a tax adviser before you transfer.
Your records decide what you can prove. Keep statements for every foreign account as at 31 December 2023, the account histories, records that separate capital from profit, the bank document for every transfer into Thailand and a list of your days in Thailand by year (ThaiLawOnline, 5 October 2026).
What about the same-year exemption and a worldwide-income tax?
It is still a draft. In mid-2025 the Revenue Department proposed exempting income remitted in the year it is earned or the next. Parliament was dissolved on 12 December 2025, an election followed on 8 February 2026, and the draft stalled. As of 5 October 2026 it lacks Cabinet approval and legal effect (ThaiLawOnline, 5 October 2026).
It is not in the Royal Gazette either. The Revenue Department's English news feed carries no announcement of an exemption: the latest item, No. 22/2026 of 15 September 2026, is about Thailand signing an international agreement on exchanging tax information about large multinational groups, the GloBE MCAA (checked 6 October 2026). A draft to tax worldwide income whether or not it is remitted has not been enacted either, and we found no information on its status after the 2026 election.
Which visas and statuses give relief?
The Long-Term Resident (LTR) visa offers tax relief: foreign income is exempt in the Wealthy Global Citizen, Wealthy Pensioner and Work-from-Thailand categories, and highly skilled professionals pay a flat 17% on Thai employment income (BOI, 6 October 2026). The DTV, Elite, retirement and marriage visas give none.
What the DTV does and does not give is in DTV visa in 2026: requirements, documents and where to apply after 31 August.
How do you credit tax paid abroad?
Double tax can be avoided where a treaty applies. A resident credits tax paid abroad against Thai tax for the year of remittance where a treaty allows it, and the credit cannot exceed the Thai tax on that income (Revenue Department infographic, 2024). Thailand has treaties with 59 jurisdictions (PwC, 24 August 2026).
To claim the credit, gather evidence: documents must be in English or Thai, and the Revenue Department recommends a tax payment certificate from the foreign tax authority. Thai income tax is progressive up to 35%, and the first THB 150,000 is not taxed (PwC, 24 August 2026).
UK, US and Australia: treaties and CRS
Thailand has treaties with the UK, the US and Australia (PwC, 24 August 2026). The US treaty has been in force since 15 December 1997 and has a savings clause, so US citizens stay taxable in the US on worldwide income and claim a credit for Thai tax (HLB Thailand, 4 October 2020). Entry-into-force dates for the UK and Australian treaties and their articles on pensions are not confirmed in our sources, so we read the treaty text for your case.
Thailand planned its first exchange of data under the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) for September 2023, and financial institutions report to the Revenue Department by June of the following year (Forvis Mazars, 8 May 2023). Thai tax authorities can receive information on the offshore accounts and income of Thai tax residents. CRS is a checking tool, not a tax: the tax still arises on remittance (Pattaya Mail, 12 January 2026).
What next
Describe your situation in the form on the taxes page, and a lawyer replies within 24 hours. In the consultation we count your days by year, split your money into taxed and untaxed, explain how the rules apply to your transfers, and give you a written summary of the rules in force on that date. How to file is on Filing a Thai tax return as a foreigner.
For how this looks in practice, read the typical situation 180 days and a savings remittance: what was taxed and what was not.
Rules checked as of 6 October 2026.
