Thailand has a treaty, no totalization agreement, and a residence rule that catches people out.
Thai personal income tax is progressive to 35% and there is a US income tax treaty, so the foreign tax credit is available and worth comparing against the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion. There is no totalization agreement, so US self-employment tax applies in full.
Tax snapshot — Thailand
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Sources: IRS Publication 54; IRS Publication 514; US–Thailand income tax treaty; Section 41 of the Thai Revenue Code and the Revenue Department instructions effective 1 January 2024 on remitted foreign-sourced income; Rev. Proc. 2025-32; 31 CFR 1010.350. Checked 22 September 2026.
What that means on your return
Thailand taxes residents on assessable income brought into the country, and the treatment of foreign-sourced income remitted to Thailand changed in recent years. If you are living on remittances from outside, the Thai side of your position deserves a local adviser — I prepare the US side.
Remote workers and consultants are the largest group I see here, and they are the group with the worst surprise: the exclusion removes the income tax, and 15.3% SECA remains on every dollar of net self-employment income because there is no totalization agreement.
A great many Americans in Thailand hold accounts they have stopped thinking about. The FBAR threshold is $10,000 across all foreign accounts at any point in the year, and a dormant account at a high mid-year balance still counts.
Since 1 January 2024 the Thai position turns on remittance: foreign-sourced income brought into Thailand by a Thai tax resident is assessable in the year it is remitted, whenever it was earned. A draft relief that would exempt income remitted in the year it is earned or the year after has been under consideration, but it is a draft rather than law — take the Thai side from a local adviser.
That changes the US return only through the credit. Thai tax actually paid is what supports a foreign tax credit, so a year with little remitted is a year with little to credit, and income earned in one US year can be taxed by Thailand in a later one.
If you are in Thailand as a…
Questions I get about Thailand
I run an online business from Thailand. What do I actually owe the US?
Income tax is usually removed by the exclusion or reduced by the credit. Self-employment tax is not: with no totalization agreement, 15.3% SECA applies to net self-employment income. That is the figure most people here have not budgeted for.
Does the treaty mean I only pay tax in one country?
No. It relieves double taxation, mostly through the credit mechanism, rather than assigning you to one country. You still file a US return every year.
How does the Thai remittance rule affect my US return?
Not directly — the US taxes worldwide income however money moves. It changes the credit: Thai tax actually paid is what supports one, so a year with little remitted leaves little to credit, and it can put Thai and US tax on the same income in different years.
Do I have to report a Thai account I never use?
If your foreign accounts together touched $10,000 at any point in the year, yes. The threshold is the combined maximum at any moment rather than the year-end balance, and a dormant account still counts toward it.
Should I claim the exclusion or the foreign tax credit in Thailand?
It turns on your effective local rate. Where local tax is high the credit usually beats the exclusion and leaves your income counted for IRA purposes; where it is low the exclusion usually wins. Revoking the exclusion binds you for five years without IRS consent, so it is decided deliberately — that comparison is what the position review is for.
When is my return due?
15 June, under the automatic extension for filers living abroad. Form 4868 moves it to 15 October, and I file the extension free.
Do I have to file an FBAR for my Thai bank account?
If your foreign accounts together passed $10,000 at any point in the year, yes. You can file it free through FinCEN's own system. The non-willful penalty for not filing is $16,536.
I have not filed for several years. What now?
The Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures: three returns, six FBARs and Form 14653 certifying non-willfulness. Penalties are waived. Note that the IRS terminated the separate Delinquent FBAR Submission Procedures around 1 July 2026.
Filing from Thailand this year?
Fifteen minutes with the Enrolled Agent who will prepare and sign it. Complete return, $599.
An IRS Enrolled Agent working only on US tax for Americans living abroad. I prepare and sign every return myself — 14 years in practice, 11 of them as an Enrolled Agent.