Eneukman

Thanks, Bazle. The one point that was confusing me on the Revenue's web-site was their reference to being "temporarily" non-resident, but nothing about being permanently non-resident. Having just acquired broadband, I've downloaded one of their booklets which gives the missing explanation - "You are "temporarily" non-resident if you have been neither resident nor ordinarily resident in the UK for fewer than 5 complete tax years." The stock that has a £6,000 gain (probably going down fast ) is due to go "xd" at the end of the month so I think I'll hold off selling it until then to ens

That did occur to me but I think I'll stay clear of them until I get time to study them and fully understand the consequences of them. Too easy to lose money otherwise. One guy in the condo here is really into gold in a big way and reckons that the price is going to keep going up for some time to come. Alan

OK Bazle, I think I understand now. I can sell everything I owned BEFORE I left the UK at any time and make a substantial gain and so long as I don't return to the UK within 5 complete tax years, I won't be liable to CGT. If I do return within that period, I'll be in deep shit as I will almost certainly have a massive liability - taxed at 40%!!!! Anything I bought AFTER leaving the UK can be sold at any time without having to worry about CGT unless I still own the shares on my return to the UK (hopefully never. ) If the above is correct, I'm extremely relaxed about everythin

I seem to recall reading that someone was asked to produce his International licence by the Police. I would get one. They're inexpensive to obtain and the RAC will send it to you by return post. You only need a Thai licence if you're planning on living here for any length of time. Alan

elef, please don't make matters even more confusing than they are already. I don't think Thailand has an equivalent to Capital Gains Tax - says he hopefully. Alan

Not sure whether such an investment vehicle exists in the UK. If it does, I somehow think that the government will have ensured that any gains made will be liable to tax! Alan

If I'm reading this correctly, Bob that means that the shares I bought in October 2005 (2 months after I left the UK) will be wholly exempt from CGT so long as I don't return to the UK to live. That will reduce my potential gain if Alliance & Leicester are taken over to somewhere between £3,000 & £4,000, which is covered by my annual exemption. I did sell some shares in the last tax year after I left the UK but that was to reduce my holding in a company in which I have far too many shares. It also used up last year's annual exemption. I am more aware than most people here of

Not sure what a PUT option is. In the UK, there is an annual exmption (currently, I think £8,800). Capital Gains Tax is payable on your TOTAL net gains for any one tax year. Therefore to calculate my liability, which naturally I am anxious to avoid, I need to total all the gains made in a tax year and then deduct any losses made. After that, if I still have a gain, I can then deduct the annual allowance. What is left is then added to your total gross income and then taxed at either 20% or if the gain takes you into the higher rate bracket at 40%. In addition, I think I can carry forward fr

Thanks for that, Bazle. I'm sure I'd seen a reference to 4 years but I'll check the Revenue's web-site again in the next couple of days. I did sell a number of investments but a large part of the proceeds from these were remitted to my Bangkok Bank account so the purchases were new acquisitions. The shares I bought were also totally different from those that I sold. If the shares I bought after leaving the UK are exempt from CGT, that will make some investment decisions a lot easier Being a true Scot, I hate paying tax when I don't have to. I take my advice from Investors C

The same principle works in the UK. My problem is that if I am liable to Capital Gains Tax on investments I bought AFTER leaving the UK and a certain company is taken over I will have a gain well in excess of £17,000 (and probably closer to £19,000) on that holding alone. I've also seen a reccomendation to sell a holding in another company which is presently showing a gain of £6,000. I can offset that by selling one holding at a loss of £8,000 giving a net gain, after allowing for my annual Capital Gains allowance of some £8,000/£9,000. On the other hand, if I am not liable for Capital Ga

elef, I understand the point you make, but under UK law, it is possible to be domiciled in one country and resident in another. I am resident in Thailand (for income tax purposes) but am still domiciled in Scotland for Inheritance Tax purposes. There is also a not-resident but domiciled option for income tax purposes, which I don't think applies to me as none of the interest I earn outwith the UK is remitted there. Acquing a new domicile is very difficult and I need to absent from the UK for at least 3 full tax years. I must also not own a property in the UK in which I can live o

Question for all you tax experts:D I left the UK in August of last year, told the Revenue and completed the appropriate form to say I now wanted to be treated as being non-resident. I have a number of stock exchange investments and am aware that I remain liable for any Capital Gains Tax that may arise from the sale of those I held BEFORE I left the UK until 4 complete tax years have elapsed. There is a further proviso that would come into effect if I returned to the UK but as I have no intention of doing that, I can ignore that. My question is - What is the Capital Gains Tax po

My landlord has just installed a phone line and broadband in my condo (View Talay 2A) (I paid for the modem). It is MEANT to be a 512/256 connection but that is a joke. The best speed I've been able to get is about 213 kbs and a few moments ago it was 19 (NINETEEN) kbs. The average seems to be about 150 to 200. Alan

If you qualify for a retirement visa - i.e. age, money in the bank etc you can now convert a tourist visa to a retirement visa. As I understand the position, you have first to convert the tourist visa to a non-immigrant O visa. That can then be extended for 1 year (from the date you last entered Thailand). Alan

I make the time difference 6 hours 50 minutes. Maybe Pete can have a look at this once he has dealt with the priorities of getting the rest of the board back up and running. Alan

I've just been in to see the agent for my landlord to tell him that I want to renew my lease for another year. I have a number of reasons for continuing to rent rather than buying, the main one being that I don't know for definite where I want to settle down in the long term. It may be Pattaya but it could equally be Korat, Buriram, Surin, Udon Thani, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai or any number of places in between. Renting also gives me the advantage that when something goes wrong - which it does a bit too often for my liking - all I need do is phone the agent and they send someone out to

For a standard 1 hour oil massage, I invariably give a 100 baht tip. Alan

I think if you're planning to retire anywhere you should make some attempt at learning to speak the language. I can assure you that Thai is not easy- with the strange alphabet and all the different tones. The most important point is to not to get into the habit of going to bars every night. Alan

Can't say I've ever seen that particularly bug. What I do get plagued with from time to time are what I think are newly hatched ants or something similar. The "egg" (if that is what it is) appears from nowhere - and the next thing I know is that there are a million of the little buggers crawling all over the floor. If I see them, I sweep them all up and evcit them over my balcony. : One day was particularly bad as I came across 4 sets of the newly hatched vermin. Alan

Agree with Gabor. I spend about an hour several days a week in the pool at View Talay 2A. It can get a bit busy at times though not so much in the low season. I'm not sure about the length but reckon it has to be 30m to 35m or thereby. Alan

Checked the forex rate a few minutes ago and it's now 71.35 to the £. Alan

I can't comment on the position with the US but if you're from the UK, it is possible to be domiciled there (strictly speaking you're domiciled in either, England & Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland but that only becomes a major issue after you die) but resident elsewhere. For example, for income tax and capital gains tax purposes, I am resident in Thailand but am still domiciled in Scotland. There are actually different types of non-residency for income tax but I don't know enough about the differences to even begin to discuss them here. Domicile from a UK point of view is a ve

I've been here 10 months and have been keeping, from time to time detailed tracks of my expenditure. First, Nelly - £2,000 per month after tax will be more than sufficient to allow you a comfortable life style. I try to keep my "routine" expenditure to an average of 80,000 baht per month and so far I'm slightly inside that. Of this, my rent is by far the largest single item at 20,000 baht per month. You could pay a lot less or you could easily end up paying a lot more. This does NOT include side trips to Vietnam, escaping from Pattaya for the duration of SOngkran, one-off purcha

I've just given 60 days notice to transfer funds to my Thai bank account so I'm hoping the rate keeps going towards 73 to the £. Of course, knowing my luck, it will start moving in the opposite direction a few daus before my transfer goes ahead! Alan