Thai Tax Residency and the 2024 Foreign-Income Rule When You Move Abroad (2026)
Key takeaways
- The 180-day test decides everything. Reside in Thailand for 180 days or more in a calendar year and you are a tax resident; the days need not be consecutive.
- Residents are taxed on Thai income plus remitted foreign income; non-residents are taxed only on Thai-source income.
- Order Por. 161/2566 (effective 1 Jan 2024) removed the timing loophole: foreign income you remit while a resident is assessable in the remittance year, whenever it was earned.
- Income earned before 1 January 2024 is grandfathered under Order Por. 162/2566 and stays exempt even if remitted later.
- Becoming non-resident in your departure year can make later remittances of foreign income fall outside the Thai net — timing your move matters.
- Certain departing foreigners need a tax clearance certificate within 15 days before leaving.
- Thailand’s personal income tax is progressive, 0% to 35%, and it has a wide double-tax-treaty network to prevent the same income being taxed twice.
How Thai tax residency is decided: the 180-day rule
Thai tax residency turns on presence, not on your visa, work permit or nationality. Under Section 41 of the Revenue Code, an individual who is present in Thailand for one or more periods totalling 180 days or more in a calendar (tax) year is a resident of Thailand for that year. The count is cumulative across the year (1 January to 31 December), so short trips add up. Fall below 180 days and you are a non-resident for that year. The official statement of the residence test and the taxpayer’s obligations is set out by the Revenue Department (Personal Income Tax).
Because the test resets every calendar year, the year you emigrate is pivotal: if you leave early enough that you spend fewer than 180 days in Thailand that year, you are a non-resident for the whole of that tax year.
Thai-source vs foreign-source income
Thailand taxes two categories differently. Thai-source income — from employment, business or property in Thailand — is taxable whether you are resident or not, and whether or not the money is paid inside Thailand. Foreign-source income — earned from work, business or assets abroad — is only within the Thai net if two conditions are met: you are a Thai tax resident in the year concerned, and the income is brought (remitted) into Thailand. This structure is described by the Revenue Department. Foreign income that a resident keeps entirely offshore is not assessable in Thailand.
The 2024 change: Order Por. 161/2566 and Por. 162/2566
For decades, the Revenue Department’s long-standing interpretation (traced to a 1987 ruling) exempted foreign income that a resident brought in during a later tax year than the one in which it was earned. In practice, many residents simply waited until the following year and remitted tax-free.
Departmental Instruction No. Por. 161/2566, issued in September 2023 and effective 1 January 2024, ended that reading. Foreign-source income that a Thai tax resident remits into Thailand is now assessable personal income in the tax year it is remitted, irrespective of the year it was earned. A follow-up instruction, No. Por. 162/2566, added an important transitional carve-out: the new interpretation does not apply to foreign-source income earned before 1 January 2024, which remains exempt even if remitted afterwards. The official texts sit in the Revenue Department’s rulings library, and the change is summarised by professional advisers such as Forvis Mazars and KPMG.
The practical effect for anyone leaving Thailand: if you are still a resident when you repatriate savings, a bonus or investment proceeds earned from 2024 onwards, that remittance is potentially taxable — so the sequence of “remit” versus “cease to be resident” is now central to planning.
The 2025 relaxation proposal — still only a draft
In 2025 the Revenue Department floated an amendment that would exempt foreign income remitted in the same calendar year it is earned, or in the following year, to encourage residents to bring money home. It was expected to be relevant from the 2026 filing season. However, as of 2026 it has not been enacted: it requires Cabinet approval, Council of State review and publication in the Royal Gazette, and the legislative timetable stalled around the 2026 election cycle. Until it is gazetted, the Por. 161/2566 rule remains the law in force. The status is tracked by advisers including Forvis Mazars and Nishimura & Asahi. Do not plan around a rule that is not yet in force.
How becoming a non-resident changes your position
Once you move abroad permanently and spend fewer than 180 days in Thailand in a calendar year, you are a Thai non-resident for that year. From then on:
- You are taxed only on Thai-source income (for example rent from a Thai condo, or Thai employment income), not on foreign income you remit.
- Thai payers commonly apply withholding tax on Thai-source payments to non-residents (for instance on rent, dividends or certain service fees), which may be your final Thai liability.
- Foreign pensions, foreign salary or investment gains you later send into a Thai account are outside the Thai net for a year in which you are non-resident.
This is why the timing of the departure year matters: staying under 180 days in the year you finally leave can shelter end-of-year remittances that would have been taxable had you remained resident. Your new country of residence will normally tax your worldwide income instead, and Thailand’s double taxation agreements exist to stop the same income being taxed twice.
Tax clearance certificate for departing foreigners
Under Sections 4 quater to 4 octo of the Revenue Code, some foreigners must obtain a tax clearance certificate before leaving Thailand. It is required principally where the foreigner is liable to pay tax or is responsible for filing/paying tax for a Thai company or partnership, or earned income as a public performer in Thailand. The application must be filed within 15 days before departure, on the prescribed form, at the Revenue Department (Bangkok) or the Provincial Governor’s office. Foreigners merely transiting, or present for no more than 90 days in the tax year without assessable income, are exempt. Leaving without a required certificate can trigger a surcharge and penalties. See the Revenue Department — Tax Clearance Certificate page. Most ordinary employees who have had tax withheld are not caught, but confirm your position before you fly.
Filing, rates and final steps before you leave
Thai personal income tax is progressive from 0% to 35%, and residents file an annual return (form PND 90/91) for the previous calendar year, typically by end of March (with an extended deadline for online filing). If you leave part-way through a year in which you were resident, you should still settle that year’s Thai liability and file. Practical steps: keep evidence of when foreign income was earned (to use the pre-2024 grandfathering and treaty reliefs), record the dates of every remittance, check whether you need a tax clearance certificate, and reconcile your final Thai return. The authoritative rules and forms are published by the Revenue Department.
How Flyto can help
Flyto moves households from Thailand to Europe and worldwide, door-to-door — packing, export documentation, shipping and customs — so you can concentrate on your residency and tax timing. We are not tax advisers, but we help you plan the move date, which interacts directly with the 180-day test; get a quote.
Frequently asked questions
Am I a Thai tax resident if I lived here 179 days?
No. Residency requires 180 days or more in the calendar year, so 179 days makes you a non-resident for that year, taxed only on Thai-source income, per the Revenue Department.
If I earned foreign savings before 2024 and remit them now, are they taxed?
No. Order Por. 162/2566 grandfathers foreign-source income earned before 1 January 2024, which stays exempt even when remitted later, as explained by KPMG.
Did the 2025 proposal to relax the remittance rule become law?
No. As of 2026 it remains a draft awaiting Cabinet approval, Council of State review and Royal Gazette publication; the Por. 161/2566 rule still applies, per Forvis Mazars.
Once I move abroad, will Thailand tax my foreign pension?
Not for a year in which you are a non-resident (under 180 days). Non-residents are taxed only on Thai-source income, per the Revenue Department.
Do I need a tax clearance certificate to leave?
Only certain foreigners do — chiefly those with a tax liability, those responsible for a company’s Thai tax, or public performers — and they must apply within 15 days before departure, per the Revenue Department.
Will I be taxed twice — in Thailand and in my new country?
Thailand’s network of double taxation agreements is designed to prevent that, generally through credits or exemptions; see the Revenue Department’s treaty list.
Sources
- Revenue Department — Personal Income Tax (residence and source rules)
- Revenue Department — Tax Clearance Certificate
- Revenue Department — Revenue Code, General Provisions
- Revenue Department — Double Taxation Agreements
- Forvis Mazars — Guidance on Por. 161/2566 and Por. 162/2566
- KPMG — Further guidelines on foreign-sourced income brought into Thailand
- Forvis Mazars — Proposed easing of tax on foreign-sourced income
- Nishimura & Asahi — Proposed exemption for foreign-sourced income remittances