filing taxes from Thailand

[t0oL1]

Thinking seriously about retiring SOON to TH.

Having a tough time figuring out what I should do before I leave about filing the next years taxes. W-2 forms need to be mailed to me for filing.

Change of address filing at the local USA post office before I leave? Won't have a address until after I arrive and get situated there...

How much could I trust the Thai postal to forward mail? Guess there should be a way to electronically get a W-2 from Social Security and attach to documents for electronic filing. Do you have an accountant there in Thailand?

 

[kokopelli3]

You should be able to get all relevant info (W-2s) via electronic mail from Social Security, Pensions, etc,etc. You can tax return electronically. It would be best to maintain a Postal Address in USA  with someone you can trust if possilbe. There are mail forwarding services available in USA who can receive your mail and electronically forward any relevant mail to you and can even mail packages to you if required. You should do this prior to leaving for Thailand.

[vinapu]

On 12/2/2023 at 11:59 AM, kokopelli3 said:

You should be able to get all relevant info (W-2s) via electronic mail from Social Security, Pensions, etc,etc. You can tax return electronically....

Are you sure? Just asking. I'm not American and my country doesn't allow to file electronically returns for non-resident's, returns with foreign address's and returns from computer foreign IP is detected. So it may change from country to country and also from year to year. 

[kokopelli3]

Yes, I'm sure.  I maintain a postal address in USA as do many of my friends and no problems.

[t0oL1]

One YouTuber from USA says he uses a remailer service to forward his mail to Thailand. In case I had received income/W-2 I hadn't planned on (unemployment, summons, etc)

[kokopelli3]

I have a friend who also uses a re-mailer service. This service scans his unopened mail and sends him a list of what he received. He then can ask that specific mail be opened and contents emailed to him or if necessary they will forward the mail to him. One drawback is his voting address will be in the State where the re-mailer is located. As I understand, you must setup the account with the remailer before you exit the USA.

[t0oL1]

wow thanks. I was imagining $1 charge + international postage for whatever junk mail I receive. My volume of mail just from vacations when I return is incredible with all the junk advertising. 

Still don't trust Thai postal to deliver anything important...

[kokopelli3]

Here is a discussion on mail forwarding on AesanNow forum. Not sure if you can access it or not. Has some informative comments.

https://aseannow.com/topic/1313831-mail-forwarding-services-for-americans/#google_vignette