Escape to Thailand Update October 18 2024

Great update. Thank you!

Although I’ve been using Wise for many years, I’ve never gotten a Wise debit card as I did not see any advantage of using their card. Just to see if there have been any changes to their card, I just went to the Wise website to check, but did not see the card offered. I then did a search in their “Help Center” which took me to a page that stated; “Temporarily pausing issuing new cards in the US”. “If you already have a Wise card, or you’re not located in the US, you're not impacted by this change”. So it looks like (for now) that if you’re Wise account is based in the U.S., and you don’t already have a Wise card, you won’t be able to get a card at this time.

Also, just a reminder to those that are signed up with Wise using a U.S. address, Wise is still currently offering 4.44% APY if you have a U.S. based Wise account and you opt into their interest account feature. (3.32% APY on GBP and 2.01% APY on EUR). These type of accounts are “Passthrough” FDIC insured in the U.S. up to $250,0000. However, they do state on their website; “There are no fees for opting into, or using this feature. We do however take a portion of the interest earned to cover our operating expenses”. Which kinda sounds like a fee to me. Exactly how much that “portion” is I could not find out. Just another option that some members may choose to use.

It will be interesting to see how long it will take for Thailand to get the “new” tax laws figured out and ‘nailed down’. At this time, even different tax services in Thailand are giving out different information. I called one of the large tax services here in Thailand and got some interesting info from them. One thing they told me was that, along with U.S. Social Security, any pension from the U.S. will not be taxed in Thailand, so I won’t have worry about paying tax to Thailand on my U.S. Social Security and State Pension. However,  what was really interesting to me was that they told me that, due to the U.S./Thailand tax agreement, I could eliminate my current tax obligations in the U.S. They said that by using Thailand as my tax base each year, rather than the U.S., I would then be subject to paying taxes in Thailand based on Thailand rules & regulations. Since Thailand does not tax pensions or Social Security, by using this method, I would not be obligated to pay the U.S. Federal tax on my SS and my pension that I am currently paying. A great savings each year.

This was the first time I’ve ever heard of this tax strategy. I’ll have to do more research, and speak with other Thailand tax services and see their take on this. It does sound too good to be true, so…..