Tax, pensions and inheritance for Brits in Thailand

You are Thai tax resident for a calendar year if you spend 180 days or more in Thailand in that year. The days do not need to be consecutive.

Income from Thai sources, such as rent from a Phuket property, is taxable in Thailand whether you are resident or not. Thai personal income tax runs on a sliding scale from 0% to 35%.

You can be tax resident in both countries in the same year. The UK uses its own statutory residence test, and leaving Thailand's 180-day count says nothing about your UK position.

This is the change most British residents need to understand.

The rule since 1 January 2024. Under Revenue Department Order Por. 161/2566, a Thai tax resident's foreign income is taxable in Thailand when it is brought into the country, in whatever year it was earned. Before 2024, money brought in a later year than it was earned generally escaped Thai tax.

Money earned before 2024. Order Por. 162/2566 keeps the old treatment for income earned before 1 January 2024. You need to be able to prove it, for example with statements showing balances at 31 December 2023. Keep them.

A proposed exemption is not yet law. A draft amendment would exempt foreign income brought in during the year it was earned or the following year. As of 19 October 2026 it had not been enacted or published in the Royal Gazette. Plan on the current rule until it is.

LTR holders are different. Under Royal Decree No. 743, holders of the Long-Term Resident visa in the wealthy global citizen, wealthy pensioner and work-from-Thailand categories are exempt from Thai tax on foreign income. See the visas guide.

The UK and Thailand signed a double taxation convention that entered into force on 20 November 1981. It is still in force. In broad terms, it stops the same income being taxed twice by giving one country the right to tax it, or by letting tax paid in the UK count as a credit against Thai tax (Article 23).

Two points matter for British pensioners:

• Government service pensions (civil service, armed forces, local authority) are taxable only in the UK under Article 19, unless you are a Thai national and resident. Whether a particular public-sector scheme counts as a government pension is a question for your adviser.
• There is no specific article for private pensions. The convention has no general pensions article and no "other income" article. Advisers generally treat UK State and private pensions as taxable in the UK and, if brought into Thailand by a Thai resident, also in Thailand, with UK tax credited.

Article 6 also limits UK relief on income that Thailand taxes only when remitted, to the amount actually remitted. This interacts with the 2024 change, so take advice before claiming treaty relief.

• Tell HMRC. Use form P85 if you are not filing a Self Assessment return, or report your departure on your return.
• UK income stays taxable in the UK. Rent from a UK property is taxed in the UK whether you live there or not.
• Check your National Insurance record. Since 6 April 2026 you cannot pay voluntary Class 2 contributions for periods abroad, and new Class 3 applications need 10 years of UK residence or contributions.
• Pension lump sums. Taking tax-free cash before or after you move can produce very different results in Thailand. Decide with your adviser before you go.

Buying and selling are taxed at the Land Office on transfer day. Owning is taxed lightly each year. Who pays what on transfer is negotiable and should be written into the contract; the buying guide explains the usual split.

Thai inheritance tax applies only to large estates. Heirs pay on the value they receive above ฿100,000,000 from each person who dies: 5% for parents and children, 10% for others, and nothing for a spouse.

Wills. Thai authorities are not likely to recognise a UK will unless a Thai court has approved the executor. Many British owners make a Thai will covering Thai assets, drafted so that it does not revoke their UK will.

What can pass to a foreign heir. A freehold condo can be inherited by a foreigner, subject to the building's foreign quota and the FET rules. Foreigners cannot own land, so foreign heirs generally cannot keep inherited land. Leases pass to heirs only if the lease allows it. The freehold and leasehold guide covers this.

Domicile no longer decides it. From 6 April 2025, UK inheritance tax on worldwide assets depends on long-term residence. You are a long-term UK resident if you have been UK tax resident for at least 10 of the previous 20 tax years.

It follows you after you leave. A long-term resident who leaves stays within UK inheritance tax on worldwide assets for between three and ten years, depending on how long they lived in the UK. Someone resident for 13 years or fewer has a three-year tail; 20 years gives ten. After ten consecutive years abroad, the test resets.

UK assets are always in scope. A UK house or UK investments remain subject to UK inheritance tax, however long you have lived in Thailand.

Pensions are coming in. From 6 April 2027, most unused pension funds and pension death benefits are due to fall within UK inheritance tax. Death-in-service benefits are excluded.

If you already left the UK before April 2025, transitional rules may apply. This is an area for specialist advice.

• Will I be tax resident in the UK, Thailand or both in my first year?
• How should I structure and document my savings so pre-2024 money is identifiable?
• How will my State, workplace and private pensions be taxed, and in which order should I draw them?
• Does my public-sector pension count as a government pension under the treaty?
• Should I take my pension lump sum before I move?
• Do I qualify for the LTR, and is its foreign income exemption worth the cost?
• How long will my UK inheritance tax tail last, and what happens to my pensions from 2027?
• Do I need a Thai will, and how do I keep it consistent with my UK will?