Advice on setting up company

[SyriusB]

Can anyone recommend an accountant or competent Thai person who can set up and maintain a company for a one man operation? I'm a natural health consultant.

I'm based in Koh Phangan and wonder whether it's wise to hire an accountant in Bangkok or Pattaya. Looking to set up as cheaply as possible, while feeling confident in the accountant's abilities. Thanks.

[BestB]

setting up company is easy and fairly cheap. new company is 35000 baht,or you can buy shelf company from an accountant ranged 15000-25000.

 

But company would need thai share holders and not all accountants are willing to do that or have the staff to put as shareholders.

 

monthly accounting fees also range from as little as 2000 per month to 20 000 per month depending on the volume of work

 

If its 1 man, from memory you can do 1 million registered capital company, which would be cheaper but then you would not be able to work legally as to work legally, must be 2 million registered capital and 4 employees (paid social security) to obtain work permit.

 

To proceed, first you need to determine if you have thai shareholders or need accountant to find them, if need shareholders, you would need a bigger firm with more staff and naturally higher monthly fees

[FritsSikkink]

You don't get a work permit for a 1 man operation.

[Salerno]

OP may be American and looking at setting up under the Treaty of Amity.

[BestB]

Just now, Salerno said:

OP may be American and looking at setting up under the Treaty of Amity.

Only sounds good in theory, in reality bigger headache than one might think.

 

For starters if thats the case he/she would need to obtain business license, which is not available for all industries and can take from 1 week to years to receive.

 

Its basically only workable for large multinational company or something very specialized.

 

Obtaining business license is also not cheap

[timendres]

On 8/24/2019 at 9:10 PM, BestB said:

Only sounds good in theory, in reality bigger headache than one might think.

 

For starters if thats the case he/she would need to obtain business license, which is not available for all industries and can take from 1 week to years to receive.

 

Its basically only workable for large multinational company or something very specialized.

 

Obtaining business license is also not cheap

I set up a company under the Amity treaty and own 99.8% of my company (0.2% due to requirement for three shareholders - the other two shareholders are also USA citizens). It required a little extra work and expense, but not difficult at all and not very time consuming. The company is in the business of software development.

[BestB]

1 minute ago, timendres said:

I set up a company under the Amity treaty and own 99.8% of my company (0.2% due to requirement for three shareholders - the other two shareholders are also USA citizens). It required a little extra work and expense, but not difficult at all and not very time consuming. The company is in the business of software development.

How long did it take you to get business license and how much did it cost ?

[timendres]

I purchased an existing SME that was already registered with the DBD and had a 4M THB cap. Acquiring the ownership, and creating the Amity structure, was completed in less then two months, and the total cost was less than $2K USD (approx 60,000 THB). I cannot remember off hand how much of that was spent for the Amity Treaty portion of the deal.

[BestB]

29 minutes ago, timendres said:

I purchased an existing SME that was already registered with the DBD and had a 4M THB cap. Acquiring the ownership, and creating the Amity structure, was completed in less then two months, and the total cost was less than $2K USD (approx 60,000 THB). I cannot remember off hand how much of that was spent for the Amity Treaty portion of the deal.

Yup not hard at all???? in comparison to buying existing company 15000 baht and takes 1 day????Or even new company 35000 and takes 2-3 days 

[timendres]

35 minutes ago, BestB said:

Yup not hard at all???? in comparison to buying existing company 15000 baht and takes 1 day????Or even new company 35000 and takes 2-3 days 

Correct. I really depends on whether or not the Amity ownership is important to you. For what the OP is describing, it is unlikely to be worth the extra cost and effort.

[BestB]

8 minutes ago, timendres said:

Correct. I really depends on whether or not the Amity ownership is important to you. For what the OP is describing, it is unlikely to be worth the extra cost and effort.

For what OP described he/she has zero chance getting business license approved ????

[khunPer]

On 8/24/2019 at 3:04 PM, SyriusB said:

Can anyone recommend an accountant or competent Thai person who can set up and maintain a company for a one man operation? I'm a natural health consultant.

I'm based in Koh Phangan and wonder whether it's wise to hire an accountant in Bangkok or Pattaya. Looking to set up as cheaply as possible, while feeling confident in the accountant's abilities.

You can easily find a more local law firm to set up a company, if not at Koh Phangan, then at neighboring Koh Samui where I used this one, but do check others, there are many.

 

Set up costs for a new company limited is around 30,000 baht to 40,000 baht.

 

You'll also need a local accountant and auditor to make your annual tax statements, and choose one physically close to you for convenience in delivering documents, and signing statements. Furthermore, you can use your accountant whenever you need Thai language "meting reports", and official up-to-date prints of company registration.

 

Annual accounting cost, including audited tax report, is in the range from about 30,000 baht and up, depending on number of documents.

 

You cannot set-up a company for a "one man operation". You'll need a work permit to do anything further than being a director, i.e. a board member limited to physical work only for attending board meetings and signing annual tax reports, and like documents.

 

To obtain one work permit for a foreigner, you need a shareholder capital of 2 million baht, and 4 Thai employees.

 

To open a company limited you need minimum 3 shareholders, and 51 % of the shares shall be owned by either Thai national(s), or Thai juristic person(s); i.e. a foreigner can maximum own 49 % of his/hers company, but might have some company voting control by using preferred shares. However, if you are US citizen, you can own the majority, and even establish an "American sole proprietorship", read more here about the "US Treaty of Amity Registration".

 

I know other natural health consultants that operate via a spa resort, or like, and in that way get an employment agreement, and thereby work permit. That might be a better solution for a "one man operation". There are numerous spa resorts aiming at "healthy natural lifestyle" on both Koh Phangan and Koh Samui.

????

[davidst01]

if you go to all the effort with this B.S try to avoid registering for VAT. That is one nightmare of a requirement from what Ive heard from several sources