What Counts as a Remittance Under Thailand's 2024 Tax Rule

Reviewed by Greg Berryman, 7 September 2026

The tax overview page covers the headline rule: foreign income earned from 1 January 2024 is taxable if you remit it while a Thai tax resident. This page covers where people actually trip on it, what counts as a remittance, how to protect pre-2024 savings, and how visible any of this is to the Revenue Department.

When foreign income is taxable

Three questions decide it. Each one has an answer that stops you, shown in the dark box underneath it. If the other answer applies to you, carry on down to the next question.

1
Was the income earned before 1 January 2024?
IF YES
Exempt, whenever you remit it
Pre-2024 savings stay exempt. Keep a statement showing your 2023 balance.
IF NO, KEEP GOING
↓
2
Were you a Thai tax resident in the year you earned it?
IF NO
Not assessable
Remitting it later while resident does not catch it.
IF YES, KEEP GOING
↓
3
Are you a Thai tax resident in the year you bring it in?
IF NO
Not assessable this year
Under 180 days in Thailand that calendar year and it is not caught.
IF YES
↓
Assessable for Thai tax
Progressive rates apply to net income, after deductions and allowances. Thailand has a double tax agreement with all five countries covered here, so income already taxed at home is generally not taxed twice, but relief has to be claimed rather than applied automatically.

The rest of this page covers what actually counts as bringing money in, how to keep the pre-2024 exemption defensible, and why enforcement is catching up.

Every way of bringing money in counts

"Remittance" isn't just a bank wire. The Revenue Department treats all of the following as bringing foreign income into Thailand:

  • A bank transfer into a Thai account
  • An ATM withdrawal in Thailand on a foreign card
  • A foreign credit or debit card charged for purchases inside Thailand
  • Cash carried in and spent or deposited
  • Crypto converted to baht and brought in

The ATM and card cases catch people out most often. Withdraw from a foreign account every week to cover living costs, and each withdrawal is its own remittance event, taxable if it's post-2024 income and you're a tax resident that year.

The pre-2024 exemption only holds if you can prove it

Money you'd already earned before 1 January 2024 stays exempt when remitted, no matter when. But that protection depends on being able to show which money is which.

  • Get a bank statement showing your balance as of 31 December 2023, if you don't already have one on file.
  • Keep pre-2024 savings in an account you don't top up with new income. Mixing the two removes the clean line between them.
  • Thailand hasn't issued an official rule for tracing mixed accounts. In practice, tax practitioners apply a first-in-first-out approach, treating the oldest money as spent first, since it's the most defensible position available, not because it's written into law.

Why enforcement is catching up, even if it doesn't feel urgent yet

Thailand's Common Reporting Standard framework took effect in March 2023, and automatic exchange of financial account information with other participating jurisdictions began that September. Thai banks now collect a tax residency self-certification when you open an account, and report account holder information to the Revenue Department, which shares it internationally under the same standard.

The first filing cycle under the new rules saw light active enforcement. That's a timing gap, not a permanent one. The infrastructure for the Revenue Department to see foreign account activity is already built and running.

A cleaner way to manage this in practice

Routine use of a foreign card in Thailand creates a steady stream of individually ambiguous remittance events, each one a separate thing to track and justify. A simpler approach: remit a documented, already-assessed transfer into a Thai account periodically, and spend from that account day to day. One clear transaction beats fifty small ones with mixed provenance.

Buying property adds another layer

Since 29 December 2025, wiring USD 200,000 or more into Thailand for a property purchase requires a sale and purchase agreement and source-of-funds documentation at settlement. There's no exemption for real estate. If a condo is part of the plan, the remittance for it needs the same pre/post-2024 clarity as any other transfer, and the FET form your bank issues becomes a dated record either way.

Double taxation isn't automatic relief

Thailand has a double tax agreement with each of the five countries this site covers, confirmed against Thailand's Board of Investment treaty list. If income's already been taxed at home, a DTA is generally how you avoid paying twice in Thailand, but relief isn't automatic. It typically needs to be claimed, and the mechanics differ by country. Each nationality has its own page: Australia, New Zealand, the US, the UK, and Canada.

Not tax advice

The pre/post-2024 line, mixed-account tracing, and remittance timing all depend on your specific records and accounts. A Thai tax professional who can see your actual statements will give you a more reliable answer than anything general written here.

Not sure which city fits, or whether the numbers work at all? Take the free assessment.

Sources

This page is built on published Thai tax guidance and current rules, not personal experience. Here's where each claim came from: