Thailand’s Revenue Department is planning to impose personal income tax on the foreign revenues, including those made from crypto trading, of any person who resides in Thailand for more than 180 days.
According to the Sept. 19 report from the Bangkok Post, the new rule will take effect on Jan. 1, 2024, with the first tax forms, including those for overseas income, to be delivered in 2025.
Under the previous regulation, only foreign income remitted to Thailand in the year of earning was taxed. The new rule closes this loophole and will oblige an individual to declare any income earned overseas, even if it wasn’t going to be used in the local economy. A Finance Ministry official explained this logic to journalists:
“The principle of tax is that you must pay tax on income you earn from abroad no matter how you earn it and regardless of the tax year in which the money is earned.”
According to other Bangkok Post sources, the policy specifically targets residents trading in foreign stock markets through foreign brokerages, cryptocurrency traders and Thais with offshore accounts.
In July, Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission obliged digital asset service providers to offer adequate warnings highlighting the risks associated with cryptocurrency trading. It has also prohibited any forms of crypto lending services.
However, the trend for tight scrutiny over the crypto industry might change with the recent election of the new prime minister. Real estate tycoon Srettha Thavisin, elected to lead the Thai parliament, participated in a $225-million raise for a crypto-friendly investment management firm, XSpring Capital, and even issued its own token through XSpring in 2022.
Collect this article as an NFT to preserve this moment in history and show your support for independent journalism in the crypto space.
A hostile environment era deportation policy for criminals is being expanded by the Labour government as it continues its migration crackdown.
The government wants to go further in extraditing foreign offenders before they have a chance to appeal by including more countries in the existing scheme.
Offenders that have a human right appeal rejected will get offshored, and further appeals will then get heard from abroad.
It follows the government announcing on Saturday that it wants to deport criminals as soon as they are sentenced.
The “deport now, appeal later” policy was first introduced when Baroness Theresa May was home secretary in 2014 as part of the Conservative government’s hostile environment policy to try and reduce migration.
It saw hundreds of people returned to a handful of countries like Kenya and Jamaica under Section 94B of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002, added in via amendment.
In 2017, a Supreme Court effectively stopped the policy from being used after it was challenged on the grounds that appealing from abroad was not compliant with human rights.
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However, in 2023, then home secretary Suella Braverman announced she was restarting the policy after providing more facilities abroad for people to lodge their appeals.
Now, the current government says it is expanding the partnership from eight countries to 23.
Previously, offenders were being returned to Finland, Nigeria, Estonia, Albania, Belize, Mauritius, Tanzania and Kosovo for remote hearings.
Angola, Australia, Botswana, Brunei, Bulgaria, Canada, Guyana, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Latvia, Lebanon, Malaysia, Uganda and Zambia are the countries being added – with the government wanting to include more.
Image: Theresa May’s hostile environment policy proved controversial. Pic: PA
The Home Office claims this is the “the government’s latest tool in its comprehensive approach to scaling up our ability to remove foreign criminals”, touting 5,200 removals of foreign offenders since July 2024 – an increase of 14% compared with the year before.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “Those who commit crimes in our country cannot be allowed to manipulate the system, which is why we are restoring control and sending a clear message that our laws must be respected and will be enforced.”
Foreign Secretary David Lammy said: “We are leading diplomatic efforts to increase the number of countries where foreign criminals can be swiftly returned, and if they want to appeal, they can do so safely from their home country.
“Under this scheme, we’re investing in international partnerships that uphold our security and make our streets safer.”
Both ministers opposed the hostile environment policy when in opposition.
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In 2015, Sir Keir Starmer had questioned whether such a policy was workable – saying in-person appeals were the norm for 200 years and had been a “highly effective way of resolving differences”.
He also raised concerns about the impact on children if parents were deported and then returned after a successful appeal.
In today’s announcement, the prime minister’s administration said it wanted to prevent people from “gaming the system” and clamp down on people staying in the UK for “months or years” while appeals are heard.
TRM Labs says the Embargo ransomware group has moved over $34 million in ransom-linked crypto since April, targeting US hospitals and critical infrastructure.