Thread: Two tax questions

1) I am not married but I do have a son who lives with me. He is a Thai national with his house registration as my address and he takes my surname. I am listed as the father on his birth certificate. Can I claim the 15,000 tax allowance for a child without being married? If so, what evidence and procedures are necessary.

(2) I own a condo and the title deed is with Bangkok bank because I have an overdraft (SME loan) with them. The limit is around 1.5 million but I'm usually overdawn less than a million. So I pay about 5,000 interest a month.

The purpose of the loan was officially to make improvements to my condo (though I am sure the bank knows it was really bridge financing to make the purchase). It specifically was NOT for the purchase of real estate as that would not have been allowed.

Anyway I'd like to know if I can claim the tax allowance for interest paid on constructions?

I think you should speak with a qualified Thai lawyer who has the current legal information on this.

I do think some posters here can give you some decent and up-to-date advice, but going to a good lawyer would be safer.

Well the child allowance is 15,000 THB per child per annum.
The interest allowance is 10,000 THB per annum.

Asumming this allowance is set againts the tax I earn in the 30% band, the maximum I can save is 7,500 THB per year. Hardly worth going to a good lawyer for is it?

I can of course ask my HR department to check it out (and they already seem to think I should get the child allowance). However they have a habit of simply phoning the revenue department to ask and then just accepting whatever nonsense the junior official tells them. I though there must be someone on the boards who has tried to claim this in the past.

Alternatively I can just try to claim it and see what happens...

Currently the revenue department is chasing me because I underpaid my taxes last year. I've had to sign documents confessing to paying 1 (one) THB less than I should have, due to our accountants rounding tax payments to the nearest baht!

Originally Posted by CDB2

1) I am not married but I do have a son who lives with me. He is a Thai national with his house registration as my address and he takes my surname. I am listed as the father on his birth certificate. Can I claim the 15,000 tax allowance for a child without being married? If so, what evidence and procedures are necessary.

(2) I own a condo and the title deed is with Bangkok bank because I have an overdraft (SME loan) with them. The limit is around 1.5 million but I'm usually overdawn less than a million. So I pay about 5,000 interest a month.

The purpose of the loan was officially to make improvements to my condo (though I am sure the bank knows it was really bridge financing to make the purchase). It specifically was NOT for the purchase of real estate as that would not have been allowed.

Anyway I'd like to know if I can claim the tax allowance for interest paid on constructions?

First off, I would suggest you speak with an accountant. In need, I can put you in contact with a freelance English-speaking accountant.

That said, I cannot see why (1) should not be a problem. My reading of this regulation appears to make no distinction on whether the child has to be Thai or farang (i.e. 2 farangs living in Thailand with children should also be entitled to this entitlement - provided, of course, that they are paying tax). As I recall, to be entitled to this: (a) you need to submit a copy of the child's birth certificate [with you named as the father]; and (b) no other person with an entitlement to claim a tax deduction, such as the boy's mother, is doing such.

Insofar as (2) is concerned, I feel you may be on very thin grounds on this one. My reasons for stating this are two-fold: (a) all farang property purchases in Thailand, for tax purposes, need to be fully funded; and (b) Thai law does not look behind the veil of a contract to see the true intentions of the party, but rather takes the facts as they are written. In your case the loan was not for a property purchase; thus, you would not be able to claim the tax deduction entitlement (this may be slightly different if the purchase was in the name of a company and you have the overdraft in the name of the company]. Also, to the best of my knowledge, a home improvement loan does not entitle you to a tax deduction - in much the same way, neither does a car HP agreement.

So, provided you have the boy's birth certificate, I would say (1) was a "yes"; but (2) was a "no".