Letting company go dormant OR deleting it all

[EbhB]

So, after putting a LOT of work + cash into setting up a local company with a 1 year visa & work permit last December, I now have to CUT the costs for real...

 

As the previous "golden" status of having a non-B with a WP now has no real value nor security for staying here long time, I will be looking at going down the agent route for a year or two at least.

 

How hard is it to let the company itself "go dormant"? Can & will the different agencies and departments kick up trouble, or is it doable without expensive lawyers and potential trouble?

 

Would it even be better to just file for bankruptcy? This is NOT something I would like to do at all, especially since I owe the company approximately 1.5 million. But its also an option, of course.

 

All of this has the virus as a root cause, and I will of course set up minutes of meetings detailing that. One of my workers has actually done this before, hopefully he can help out...

 

As of now the bank account is almost empty, and there are absolutely no liabilities except perhaps paying salaries for the required period after firing the workers. I could also get a deal with them that backdates that event, they are close contacts.

 

Hopefully letting it go dormant for 1-2 years is doable, and then I might even revive it when my revenue streams are up again!

[mark5335]

Best to abandon it (meaning cease the usual govt filings etc and ignore the correspondence)) unless you're willing to pay for the closure/de-registration process (which I'm informed for a relatively simple company would be approx 25K). No point in seeking liquidation as there are no assets and you're the main/sole creditor?

[EbhB]

Just going AWOL would be my instinctual choice, yes... Let it cool down ????

 

No risk other than maybe some government figures missing reports I guess?

 

Are there any ways doing it this way could put me at risk with immigration?

 

Could I even just keep my work permit for the duration of the amnesty?

[Kerryd]

My lawyer has told me that to close a company it will cost about 46,000 if there are no assets. That includes a "company update", "meeting report", final "balance sheet" and then the actual closure.

Extra costs involved if there are assets that need to be disposed of or other considerations (outstanding debts/salaries/taxes/etc).

No idea what would happen if you just "abandoned" it. Might want to ask your lawyer about that. Could save you some money and aggravation in the future. Failure to file the annual balance sheet could have consequences. 

[JusticeGB]

My "accountant/lawyer" resigned me as a director  made some Thai person take my shares and moved the registered address to Nakon Nowhere. He said that after about 4 years of no accounts the company would become dormant and be struck off. 

[EbhB]

Eeeexactly... Thanks! Do you remember what that cost you?

[Falcon]

If your intending staying in Thailand, I wouldn’t just abandon the company as, just like everywhere else in the world, there’s many things and people that you can get away with but taxes, yearly filing, etc. are not one of them. The tax people will come after you if you don’t file yearly in a still running company and, especially in these diffficult times where everyone wants money, the tax people will be especially vigilant in non tax payers/those that don’t file tax returns yearly. If you were going to leave the country of course, it would be the easiest thing to do but if not... to close a registered company, normal costs are around 45-60k, a rediculous amount to have to pay to close a company I know but there is little to be done on the cost. If deciding on this route, I’d be careful to use a ‘real’ lawyer, very difficult to find in Thailand I know!! but I have seen many people go down this route and pay and believe that their company has been closed down and non operational only to find that the ‘lawyer‘ simply pocketed the money and did nothing. Simplest thing in your position, apart from you owing your company 1,500,000 baht, would be to offer the company to someone who wants to take it over and register and run it as their own. Problem with that is the money you owe, you’d have to somehow get it written off somehow, that’d be the most difficult thing to sort out.

[EbhB]

42 minutes ago, Falcon said:

If your intending staying in Thailand, I wouldn’t just abandon the company as, just like everywhere else in the world, there’s many things and people that you can get away with but taxes, yearly filing, etc. are not one of them. The tax people will come after you if you don’t file yearly in a still running company and, especially in these diffficult times where everyone wants money, the tax people will be especially vigilant in non tax payers/those that don’t file tax returns yearly. If you were going to leave the country of course, it would be the easiest thing to do but if not... to close a registered company, normal costs are around 45-60k, a rediculous amount to have to pay to close a company I know but there is little to be done on the cost. If deciding on this route, I’d be careful to use a ‘real’ lawyer, very difficult to find in Thailand I know!! but I have seen many people go down this route and pay and believe that their company has been closed down and non operational only to find that the ‘lawyer‘ simply pocketed the money and did nothing. Simplest thing in your position, apart from you owing your company 1,500,000 baht, would be to offer the company to someone who wants to take it over and register and run it as their own. Problem with that is the money you owe, you’d have to somehow get it written off somehow, that’d be the most difficult thing to sort out.

I've got a "real" lawyer, when it comes to everything from registering it to getting the work permit they have been great.

 

Not so much with supporting me through this... 

I would not just do nothing, but wonder if filing the first years number and then cooling it down could work. Will ask for a quote on closing it altogether, but also I cannot just keep throwing any amount on it all that they expect me to do in the current situation.

 

One alternative seems to be to stop paying any salaries but still just file a monthly report that comes to zero for all figures for a year or two. Next years report should then be dead easy, and from then on I can decide what to do later. Might ask them for a specific quote on that...

[natway09]

Did the Company actually trade ? ie: Have income from real sales or only your input?

Who is holding the 51% Thai shareholding ?

Took me nearly 11 years to finally get closure after sale of the business to another.

I wanted to finalize to avoid possibility of someone knocking on the MD's door,,,, me

[EbhB]

There was revenue, but NOT anything local here. I all came from abroad from my other company that the virus killed.

 

So there will be no other people than government employees, and their incompetence is something you can always count on!

 

My wife holds the other 51%. Don't even ask me about marriage papers, that nightmare is even worse. But I'll get that done somehow later.

 

There is another director that I did business with back in Europe, so if I resign & let her write an letter accepting the resignation the company will be left with one other, active director that is NOT me. Could well be the best way of protecting myself, especially if I somehow get my shares transferred to someone!