Thai expats are looking forward to some welcome tax news. According to a news report in Bangkok Post, the Thai Revenue Department (TRD) is finalizing legislation to appear in the Royal Gazette about foreign income transferred here. Director-general Pinsai Suraswadi said the new law will exempt from personal taxation resident individuals who bring foreign-sourced income into Thailand, provided that they transfer the cash in the calendar year, or the following successor year, in which it was earned. Under current rules with effect from January 1 2024, foreign-sourced income is subject to personal income tax no matter when transferred after December 31 2023. That ruling by TRD, which applied to Thais or foreigners staying in Thailand six months or more in a calendar year created bombshell publicity amongst the expat community, especially retirees on pensions. The prospective law, which could be made retrospective to January 2025 or even to January 2024, will be an amendment to current legislation and will require the approval only of the Cabinet and the Council of State. TRD reckons that the repatriation of an estimated 2 trillion baht tax-free cash from abroad, mostly from Thai nationals, will stimulate the economy. Expats will remain on tenderhooks until the actual detail is in print. Will it apply to them or only to Thai passport holders (surely both)? Will ambiguous terms such as assessable income or liable income persist? Who precisely will need to register with TRD if they have not done so already? The new law is not expected to expand TRD responsibility for worldwide income of resident tax payers. It is only income actually transferrred to Thailand which is the issue. On a separate matter, the Cabinet has approved a TRD proposal to exempt personal income tax on capital gains from the sale of digital assets or cryptocurrency effective for five years.