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Are you a British pensioner in Thailand?


Toy Boy

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3 hours ago, Toy Boy said:

That would be Jeremy Corbyn then, ugh!

Well as he is no longer the opposition leader I doubt he would get my vote but I think many would vote for Sir Keir....

I have never voted labour in my life but many who crave pensions index linked for all overseas pensioners should certainly find out if labour is the party that has overseas pensions uprating on their manifesto, if it is then that is a start. 

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Sums up Brexit for me .... pensioners blaming Europe for something the UK Government has done and thinking it's going to change because they voted to leave ...  

People should have known the policy and factored that in , before making the decision to move to a country that doesn't have an arrangement with the U.K. 

 

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2 minutes ago, Stillearly said:

Sums up Brexit for me .... pensioners blaming Europe for something the UK Government has done and thinking it's going to change because they voted to leave ...  

People should have known the policy and factored that in , before making the decision to move to a country that doesn't have an arrangement with the U.K. 

 

Shouldn't have left relying just on the pension which some have done.

The volatile exchange rate also has not helped the situation.

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'Pensioners who have the vote overseas should find out what party advocates index linking their pensions and vote appropriately, 

This policy has been in place, in some countries, for decades. If a party wanted to change it they have had many opportunities..... They dont! 

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2 hours ago, Stillearly said:

Sums up Brexit for me .... pensioners blaming Europe for something the UK Government has done and thinking it's going to change because they voted to leave ...  

People should have known the policy and factored that in , before making the decision to move to a country that doesn't have an arrangement with the U.K. 

 

Spot on.

 

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On 7/27/2020 at 3:29 PM, Proffesor said:

Against what the UK resident Pensioners spend in the UK, need be balanced what they "cost" the U.K.

  • Health Care
  • Social benefits
  • Free Bus Pass
  • Subsidized train travel
  • Winter Heating Allowance
  • Etc. etc.

U.K. Pensioners resident in Thailand get none of that and still don't get an Index Linked State Pension Pension

Has anyone ever calculated how much 1,000 average U.K. resident Pensioners typically cost the State, over and above their State Pension, and then compared that to the cost of Index Linking the Pensions of 1,000 average U.K. Pensioners living in the likes of Thailand ? I would be surprised if there wouldn't be a Nett saving. A saving that would then be increased by not having to have an additional administrative system just to keep track of which Pensioners did not get the "full" pension.

 

Hi Steve,

You will no doubt be surprised to learn that our mutual friend "John/Sweatie"  queried an additional payment he received over an above his usual state and private pensions.

They told him it was his "winter heating allowance". He reminded them that for at least 9/10 months every year he was resident in Thailand. They then asked him if he was actually in the UK giving a particular date in September which John confirmed that he was. They responded by saying that if he was in the UK on that particular date then he was entitled to the winter heating allowance.

He also has the free bus pass.

During one of his holiday visits to Edinburgh he just went along and applied and received the bus pass.I think it covers the Edinburgh trams as well.

On the downside, he thinks his ex-wife (bitch) got him knocked off being registered with the health board.

As he has been paying UK tax for something like 50 years and over 40 years NI contributions ( as have I ) why should he not be entitled to all such benefits?

Well, excepting maybe the winter fuel allowance. 😀

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3 hours ago, Jambo said:

Hi Steve,

You will no doubt be surprised to learn that our mutual friend "John/Sweatie"  queried an additional payment he received over an above his usual state and private pensions.

They told him it was his "winter heating allowance". He reminded them that for at least 9/10 months every year he was resident in Thailand. They then asked him if he was actually in the UK giving a particular date in September which John confirmed that he was. They responded by saying that if he was in the UK on that particular date then he was entitled to the winter heating allowance.

He also has the free bus pass.

During one of his holiday visits to Edinburgh he just went along and applied and received the bus pass.I think it covers the Edinburgh trams as well.

On the downside, he thinks his ex-wife (bitch) got him knocked off being registered with the health board.

As he has been paying UK tax for something like 50 years and over 40 years NI contributions ( as have I ) why should he not be entitled to all such benefits?

Well, excepting maybe the winter fuel allowance. 😀

If you have an address in the UK then you would be entitled to many things and having your pension index linked is one of those things. Just coming back to the UK to update doctors surgeries, dentists, bus companies etc would help maintain your 'residence' even you didn't really live there

Unless you tell the UK government about your long holidays and sign forms to say that you left the UK for tax purposes etc you are likely to be considered for all benefits as a pensioner. Having a bank account in the UK is a must.

I maintained a doctor and NHS when living in Thailand but was a non tax payer but I did travel often to the UK but spent far less than 180 days in the UK which used to be the optimum time needed to remain normally resident in the UK. The surgery did not know I was normally resident overseas as no doubt at that time the different departments did not talk to each other.

If you apply for things offering a UK address you will usually get what a UK resident gets but if you tell them you live overseas it is likely that offers of free passes, NHS access etc will stop. Having the address is important as this will maintain what is needed for the majority of entitlements or benefits.

The NHS will treat any British national in an emergency even if they are not normally resident in the UK.

You have a UK address then you have the ability to have access to all as you would no doubt have a bank account.

Many pensioners have cut ties to the UK and don't travel back home probably for many years or at all so getting an index linked pension or any other freebies is unlikely. This is the case for many in places like Australia.

 

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1 hour ago, Horizondave said:

If you have an address in the UK then you would be entitled to many things and having your pension index linked is one of those things. Just coming back to the UK to update doctors surgeries, dentists, bus companies etc would help maintain your 'residence' even you didn't really live there

Unless you tell the UK government about your long holidays and sign forms to say that you left the UK for tax purposes etc you are likely to be considered for all benefits as a pensioner. Having a bank account in the UK is a must.

I maintained a doctor and NHS when living in Thailand but was a non tax payer but I did travel often to the UK but spent far less than 180 days in the UK which used to be the optimum time needed to remain normally resident in the UK. The surgery did not know I was normally resident overseas as no doubt at that time the different departments did not talk to each other.

If you apply for things offering a UK address you will usually get what a UK resident gets but if you tell them you live overseas it is likely that offers of free passes, NHS access etc will stop. Having the address is important as this will maintain what is needed for the majority of entitlements or benefits.

The NHS will treat any British national in an emergency even if they are not normally resident in the UK.

You have a UK address then you have the ability to have access to all as you would no doubt have a bank account.

Many pensioners have cut ties to the UK and don't travel back home probably for many years or at all so getting an index linked pension or any other freebies is unlikely. This is the case for many in places like Australia.

 

The attitude that I adopted was " If I'm asked a question, I tell the truth. If they make an assumption, I don't correct it. I don't volunteer information".

I was in Thailand when it became time to "claim" my UK Pension, so I claimed on-line, answering the questions asked.

I have no reason to travel back to the U.K. since the contract that I was working on was terminated ( some 5 years ago now ). Financially, it isn't worth me booking a flight back ( leaving aside the Covid difficulties ) just to try to claim the entitlements I would get by purporting to be a UK resident.

Yes, I have an accommodation address and Bank Account in Scotland.

If you had an alternative reason to travel back on a regular basis, such as providing school holiday supervision for a grandchild, and the UK Government made the assumption that the UK was you primary abode, I wouldn't go out of my way to explain the error of their assumption. Nor would I decline an automated payment of the Winter Fuel Allowance if they decided to drop it into my Bank Account.

My concern would be that if I was caught lying when asked a direct question, then I would put my Pension at risk; which would be foolhardy to say the least !

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1 hour ago, Proffesor said:

The attitude that I adopted was " If I'm asked a question, I tell the truth. If they make an assumption, I don't correct it. I don't volunteer information".

 

Reminds me of conversations I used to have with Ben from time to time concerning my relationship with Secrets shareholders. 🤣

He never believed me being a paranoid habitual liar himself and they were all too stupid ( or scared) to ask the right questions.

Sorry, I digress.

You are right to be very wary of lying to the Inland Revenue. I had a lot of direct dealings with the Inland Revenue in Edinburgh in my accountancy days and they were very adept at searching out liars and had the resources to dig deep once they had you in their sights. My mantra to my clients was always "Never stick your head above the parapit." Several who failed to head that advice paid a heavy price. 

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10 hours ago, Proffesor said:

The attitude that I adopted was " If I'm asked a question, I tell the truth. If they make an assumption, I don't correct it. I don't volunteer information".

I was in Thailand when it became time to "claim" my UK Pension, so I claimed on-line, answering the questions asked.

I have no reason to travel back to the U.K. since the contract that I was working on was terminated ( some 5 years ago now ). Financially, it isn't worth me booking a flight back ( leaving aside the Covid difficulties ) just to try to claim the entitlements I would get by purporting to be a UK resident.

Yes, I have an accommodation address and Bank Account in Scotland.

If you had an alternative reason to travel back on a regular basis, such as providing school holiday supervision for a grandchild, and the UK Government made the assumption that the UK was you primary abode, I wouldn't go out of my way to explain the error of their assumption. Nor would I decline an automated payment of the Winter Fuel Allowance if they decided to drop it into my Bank Account.

My concern would be that if I was caught lying when asked a direct question, then I would put my Pension at risk; which would be foolhardy to say the least !

Can't disagree with what you have said.

I used my brothers address for my doctor, dentist etc. Even think my doctor knew I spent most of my time overseas but it wasn't in his interest to lose me.

If you have an address and bank in the UK it is easy to transfer funds from your UK bank without ever needing to set foot in the place.

As you said if you were asked a direct question by the authorities it might be difficult to not tell the truth.

Quite a lot of communication is done by email but many official letters may still fall through the letter box so having somebody trustworthy to open and/or send on would be worthwhile.

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6 hours ago, Horizondave said:

As you said if you were asked a direct question by the authorities it might be difficult to not tell the truth.

 

I will give you an amusing ( for me) example of the pitfalls of telling porkies to the Inland Revenue.

I had six pubs in Edinburgh as clients of mine and half of them were "chancers" to say the least but all became good friends.

One of them got targeted  by the Revenue for a "routine" inspection and knowing some of the strokes he had pulled I feared the worst when we all met for a formal interview with the Revenue"s Inspector and her Assistant who were both females who specialised in monitoring pubs.

The first few questions are always confirming personal details and are meant to put your client at ease before they move in for the kill. The first meaningful question was

" I see your income from gaming machines has dropped by over 50% in the last three years. How do you explain that Mr T..........?

"Well that is down to the Lottery which has killed off the use of gaming machines in pubs." says my client as an opening gambit.

"Yes, I can see how that might be the case. Can you remind me again how many machines you have in the Bar?" asks the nice lady Inspector.

"Just the one these days" says my client after a slight pause and I notice the Inspector's assistant making a note in her pad. I had already gone cold.

"Oh,"  says the Inspector after a somewhat longer pause.

"I seem to remember counting three gaming machines in the bar when I visited for a drink  two evenings ago!" 🥴

Really long pause waiting for the ground to open up.

"Perhaps this might be a convenient moment for us to leave you for a few minutes so that you may confer with your client." says the nice Revenue lady Inspector to me.

I thank her and my client and I look at one another.

" I f***d up, didn't I? " says he.

"About right." says I and she is just getting started.

The cost was paying the estimated amount of unpaid tax one "negotiates" for the previous three years plus an additional penalty equal to the total amount of the unpaid tax.

Then there was my motor engineer/repair shop who seemed to do very few MOT's and books showed very modest profits. First question from the Revenue Inspector was

"Might I ask how much your personalised number plate cost on your new Audi TT S ?" 😀

 

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10 hours ago, Jambo said:

The cost was paying the estimated amount of unpaid tax one "negotiates" for the previous three years plus an additional penalty equal to the total amount of the unpaid tax.

Then there was my motor engineer/repair shop who seemed to do very few MOT's and books showed very modest profits. First question from the Revenue Inspector was

"Might I ask how much your personalised number plate cost on your new Audi TT S ?" 😀

 

Aye, i've a couple of properties in Northern Ireland i rent out. For the first 5 or so years, i never paid any tax on the rental, never really give it any thought TBH.

Then chatting to my Uncle one time he said he was doing his tax return on a rental property. I said to him was he mad, f**k paying tax. So he 'educated' me on what would happen if they got a sniff of one of my places, they'd have a good look, no doubt twig the other property as well. Then they'd set the rent as how much they estimated for the whole time they were rented, and it wouldn't be low, doesn't matter what i said it was, plus the penalties!  He also said if i ever wanted to sell them it might also raise issues, as i live in London, they're in NI, and it might get asked what had they been used for, they were hardly lying empty the whole time?

I went away had a good think, quickly got an accountant who specialized in tax rental, and there was an 'amnesty' on. I explained all, we went back 1 or 2 years, not all, but i made a backdated payment and got things up to date.  The accountant was very 'creative' as well, so got the final bill down a lot. I now pay the yearly tax as soon as i get my previous year's P60.

Sure some get away with it, i know of ones in London who rent out, then if selling just move back in for a few months, do it that way. And everyone's 'creative' with their tax in some way or other, but if you're one of the unlucky ones and get caught, they can fucking hammer you. I pay not much over £600 a year, for peace of mind, i prefer it. And i also use a letting Agent now, so you have to register as a landlord, and that info obviously goes straight to HMRC.

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21 hours ago, Jambo said:

I will give you an amusing ( for me) example of the pitfalls of telling porkies to the Inland Revenue.

Then there was my motor engineer/repair shop who seemed to do very few MOT's and books showed very modest profits. First question from the Revenue Inspector was

"Might I ask how much your personalised number plate cost on your new Audi TT S ?" 😀

 

Then there was my cycle repair man.

He basically repaired cycles from a workshop in premises in Edinburgh which according to his books generated a modest living living. However, he was a retired top Scottish cycle racer and one day I visited him to find him working on a very impressive racing cycle. It turned out he produced made to order racing cycles for a select group of enthusiasts at a retail cost of several thousands each and none of those appeared in his immaculate bookeeping records. 😀

H also got pulled but for a genuine random inspection. If I had to select a client by my choice for one of those it would have been him as he kept immaculate records if maybe devoid of one income stream.

A 9.30 am appointment with the Inspector at their premises and I met him outside at 9.15. He arrived on his cycle in full racing clobber including the lycra shorts which I thought was a bit OTT and the Inspector was bound to think he was taking the piss.

The meeting had been going for about an hour and he had done really well and the inspector ( another but different female) had found nothing to take issue with. They are nothing if not persistant and she was onto "lifestyle" questions designed to find that he had a lifestyle not supported by declared income. She was finding nothing when she started asking about gifts/presents he may have made. He kept answering No/None to all her questions when she asked about gifts of jewellery which he again answered "No" but then said

"Well , there was the earings and matching necklace I gave to my girlfriend for Christmas."

Finally, with a triumphant look on her face the Inspector asked

"And how much did this jewellery cost?"

A pause ...........

"If I remember correctly, three pounds fifty." says he.

Case closed!

I actually drew blood in my mouth biting my cheek to stop myself laughing. He said to me afterwards

"No, I wasn't taking the piss, that was how much they cost." 🤣

 

Sorry,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, off topic.

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On 7/29/2020 at 12:14 PM, Jambo said:

Reminds me of conversations I used to have with Ben from time to time concerning my relationship with Secrets shareholders. 🤣

 

About time you wrote a “fictional” Management guru book ??? 555

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11 hours ago, Pinoydave said:

About time you wrote a “fictional” Management guru book ??? 555

It would have to be written as a work of "fiction" as nobody would believe it as the truth. :default_biggrin:

Well none except:

Former friends

Former shareholders

Former employees

Former miscellaneous "others" he shafted in various ways.

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