Desk 2 · two destinations
Thailand vs Malaysia on a Canadian passport
Verified 2026-08How facts workSourcesNationality is fixed. Cells are filed on each dest tax hub. Overlays are separate pair URLs.
Passport hub: From Canada · home × land: CA × Thailand · CA × Malaysia.
Filed cells
Tax, stay and earn lenses from dest hubs — not invented fees. Purpose framing: Work · remote · retire — which rows matter
| Lens | Thailand | Malaysia |
|---|---|---|
| Tax-residence day test | 180 daysSource Thailand Revenue Code §41 para 3 (rd.go.th/english/37749.html) Checked Aug 2026 · Band low · Status fresh Method: figures past 2× SLA hide. See /method · /status · /changelog. | 182 daysSource ITA 1967 s.7(1)(a); HASiL Public Ruling 11/2017 §6.1 — resident if in Malaysia in the basis year for a period or periods amounting in all to 182 days or more Checked Aug 2026 · Band low · Status fresh Method: figures past 2× SLA hide. See /method · /status · /changelog. |
| Foreign / worldwide income | yesSource Thailand Revenue Code §41 para 2 (bringing foreign assessable income into Thailand) Checked Aug 2026 · Band med · Status fresh Method: figures past 2× SLA hide. See /method · /status · /changelog. | 2022-01-01Source Hasil Guidelines on Tax Treatment of Income Received from Abroad (amendment June 2024) §1.1 / §5.1.1 — from 1 January 2022 foreign income received in Malaysia by a resident is generally subject to tax (Finance Act 2021 amendment to Sch. 6 para 28) Checked Aug 2026 · Band med · Status fresh Method: figures past 2× SLA hide. See /method · /status · /changelog. |
| Top personal rate | 35%Source RD Guide to PIT Return 2024 (ภ.ง.ด.91) — official PDF rate table; matches thailand.go.th RD briefing (Revenue Code Amendment Act No. 44 B.E. 2560 schedule from tax year 2017). Note: rd.go.th/english/6045 still shows the pre-amendment 4m/35% top band and is not used for these cells. Checked Aug 2026 · Band low · Status fresh Method: figures past 2× SLA hide. See /method · /status · /changelog. | 30%Source HASiL Kadar Cukai — resident Schedule 1 top band: chargeable income exceeding RM2,000,000 taxed at 30% on every subsequent ringgit. HASiL publishes no Year of Assessment 2026 column at check date, so this is the latest enacted ladder on the primary page. Checked Aug 2026 · Band med · Status fresh Method: figures past 2× SLA hide. See /method · /status · /changelog. |
| Long-stay instrument (filed) | 180 daysSource Royal Thai Embassy Budapest DTV page — stay up to 180 days per entry Checked Aug 2026 · Band high · Status fresh Method: figures past 2× SLA hide. See /method · /status · /changelog. | 90 daysSource MOTAC MM2H Terms Platinum/Gold/Silver — be present / staying in Malaysia for 90 days (cumulative) in one year; for ages 25–49 the days can be fulfilled by the principal or dependents Checked Aug 2026 · Band med · Status fresh Method: figures past 2× SLA hide. See /method · /status · /changelog. |
| Local earn gate (filed) | yesSource Royal Thai Embassy Budapest DTV page — tourist-class DTV; no Thai work permit; no work for Thai entities/clients Checked Aug 2026 · Band med · Status fresh Method: figures past 2× SLA hide. See /method · /status · /changelog. | 20000 MYRSource ESD (Immigration Department of Malaysia) announcement 'Revised Employment Pass Salary Policy Effective 1 June 2026', 15 Jan 2026, citing MOHA press release 14 Jan 2026 and Cabinet approval 17 Oct 2025 — Category I revised minimum basic monthly salary RM20,000 and above (previously RM10,000); Employment Pass duration up to 10 years Checked Aug 2026 · Band high · Status fresh Method: figures past 2× SLA hide. See /method · /status · /changelog. |
| Treaty (CA) | yesSource Thai RD intro canada — Convention signed 11 April 1984; instruments exchanged 16 July 1985 Checked Aug 2026 · Band low · Status fresh Method: figures past 2× SLA hide. See /method · /status · /changelog. | yesSource Canada Department of Finance official tax-treaty list — Malaysia Treaty signed 15-Oct-76, S.C. 1980-81-82-83 c.44 Part VII, entry into force 18-Dec-80 Checked Aug 2026 · Band low · Status fresh Method: figures past 2× SLA hide. See /method · /status · /changelog. |
| Employment short-stay | 183 daysSource Canada–Thailand Convention Art 15(2)(a) — not exceeding in the aggregate 183 days in the calendar year concerned Checked Aug 2026 · Band low · Status fresh Method: figures past 2× SLA hide. See /method · /status · /changelog. | 183 daysSource CA–MY DTA Art XV Dependent Personal Services (Canada Finance); short-stay also offers a CAD 2,000 / MYR 4,000 alternative limb — short-stay day ceiling Checked Aug 2026 · Band low · Status fresh Method: figures past 2× SLA hide. See /method · /status · /changelog. |
| Relief (double tax) | ordinary tax creditSource Canada–Thailand Convention Art 22 — Canada credits Thai tax; Thailand credits Canadian tax, subject to domestic limits Checked Aug 2026 · Band low · Status fresh Method: figures past 2× SLA hide. See /method · /status · /changelog. | ordinary tax creditSource CA–MY DTA Art XV Dependent Personal Services (Canada Finance); short-stay also offers a CAD 2,000 / MYR 4,000 alternative limb — Article XXIII ordinary credit Checked Aug 2026 · Band low · Status fresh Method: figures past 2× SLA hide. See /method · /status · /changelog. |
| Art 4 | Cascadepermanent home → centre of vital interests → habitual abode → nationality → mutual agreementSource Canada–Thailand Convention Art 4(2), Finance Canada text (cross-checked Thai RD Art 4) Checked Aug 2026 · Band low · Status fresh Method: figures past 2× SLA hide. See /method · /status · /changelog. | Cascadepermanent home → centre of vital interests → habitual abode → nationality → mutual agreementSource CA–MY Agreement Art IV(2) (Finance Canada / treaty-accord text) — permanent home → centre of vital interests → habitual abode → nationality → competent-authority mutual agreement Checked Aug 2026 · Band low · Status fresh Method: figures past 2× SLA hide. See /method · /status · /changelog. |
| SSA / totalization | noSource CRA countries-with-agreement table (Open Government CSV July 2024) does not list Thailand Checked Aug 2026 · Band low · Status fresh Method: figures past 2× SLA hide. See /method · /status · /changelog. | noSource CRA countries-with-agreement table (Open Government CSV July 2024) does not list Malaysia Checked Aug 2026 · Band low · Status fresh Method: figures past 2× SLA hide. See /method · /status · /changelog. |
| Treaty pensions | — | yesSource CA–MY Agreement Art XVIII — pensions/annuities may be taxed in the residence State; source State may also tax, but periodic pension payments capped at the lesser of 15% of gross or the tax that would apply if the recipient were resident in the source State (unlike residence-only pension articles in UK/SG/AU–MY) Checked Aug 2026 · Band med · Status fresh Method: figures past 2× SLA hide. See /method · /status · /changelog. |
| Foreign-income hinge | yesSource Stack with Thailand Revenue Code §41 remittance basis (/thailand/tax) Checked Aug 2026 · Band med · Status fresh Method: figures past 2× SLA hide. See /method · /status · /changelog. | 2026-12-31Source Hasil FSI Guideline (June 2024) §5.2.2.1; Income Tax (Exemption) (No. 5) Order 2022 [P.U.(A) 234/2022] — resident individual foreign income (other than partnership business in Malaysia) received in Malaysia from 1 Jan 2022 until 31 Dec 2026 exempt if subjected to tax of a similar character in the country of origin (guideline conditions) — window closes within months of this check; re-read the order before relying on it for a 2027 plan. Checked Aug 2026 · Band high · Status fresh Method: figures past 2× SLA hide. See /method · /status · /changelog. |
| Home-side traps | yesSource ca_vn_tax — departure tax, OAS/GIS traps reuse across destinations Checked Aug 2026 · Band low · Status fresh Method: figures past 2× SLA hide. See /method · /status · /changelog. | yesSource Canada domestic rules reuse (ca_vn_tax): departure tax / deemed disposition, OAS/GIS residency geography, residential ties — destination DTA does not delete them Checked Aug 2026 · Band low · Status fresh Method: figures past 2× SLA hide. See /method · /status · /changelog. |
Thailand
Through a CA lens
Earn doors we publish
Malaysia
Through a CA lens
Earn doors we publish