Self-employed in Thailand while married to Thai woman

[defwill29]

Hi. I am in a relationship with a Thai woman and we are considering to get married.

 

Back home (EU) I am a self-employed text writer and I work from home, and I would plan to continue my business when I move to Thailand to be with my wife.

 

I am just wondering what I am facing if I want to be self-employed in Thailand. I serve non-Thai clients only. In my country, this is extremely easy; you just register as a freelancer, pay a small fee and pay income tax at the end of the year and, if applicable, VAT during the year. But I fear things might not be so simple in Thailand.

[ChaiyaTH]

You just continue freelance from your own name and invoice them from your name with your home countries bank account. As you would normally de-register back home when moving here, you will then no longer be paying VAT. You do not need to setup a business for this in Thailand, if any business, it can be elsewhere than here. 

If you then are going to pay taxes here is another subject, I would avoid here. In terms of having a company in Thailand in general, you would not have VAT either unless you do around 1.8M baht a year (out of my head).

 

If you are talking about achieving to have a work permit, setup a Thai company with a different purpose, the wife can be one and hire another one, you will be able to get a work permit as of being married (2 employees). But there is not a reason to do that, if all you do is, writing.

Edited December 13, 2023 by ChaiyaTH

[ChaiyaTH]

To add, many people seem to think that one needs to be a company, to send an invoice, that is not the case. 

[defwill29]

13 minutes ago, ChaiyaTH said:

You just continue freelance from your own name and invoice them from your name with your home countries bank account. As you would normally de-register back home when moving here, you will then no longer be paying VAT. You do not need to setup a business for this in Thailand, if any business, it can be elsewhere than here. 

If you then are going to pay taxes here is another subject, I would avoid here. In terms of having a company in Thailand in general, you would not have VAT either unless you do around 1.8M baht a year (out of my head).

 

If you are talking about achieving to have a work permit, setup a Thai company with a different purpose, the wife can be one and hire another one, you will be able to get a work permit as of being married (2 employees). But there is not a reason to do that, if all you do is, writing.

 

I am not sure if I am allowed to have a business back home and/or even pay taxes back home if I don't live or work there; my country stipulates that a freelancer must have their business where they live and also pay taxes there. Of course I might be able to keep invoicing from my home country's bank account, but wouldn't that create suspicion or trouble if I receive 60k per year through that account and never pay any taxes? Also, taxes in my country amount to around 33% with my income, so if I can pay less than that by paying in Thailand I would do so.

 

Also, are the Thai authorities not going to ask any questions if I live here and don't have an income? Or if I receive lots of money on my foreign bank account?

 

 

Edited December 13, 2023 by defwill29

[defwill29]

9 minutes ago, ChaiyaTH said:

To add, many people seem to think that one needs to be a company, to send an invoice, that is not the case. 

That is true, however, my country does require me to have a business with the amount of work that I do (more than 1000 hours a year and more than 60k per year income in euro). For lower amounts, setting up a company is not always required indeed.

[ChaiyaTH]

Just now, defwill29 said:

 

I am not sure if I am allowed to have a business back home and/or even pay taxes back home if I don't live or work there; my country stipulates that a freelancer must have their business where they live and also pay taxes there. Of course I might be able to keep invoicing from my home country's bank account, but wouldn't that create suspicion or trouble if I receive 60k per year through that account and never pay any taxes? Also, taxes in my country amount to around 33% with my income, so if I can pay less than that by paying in Thailand I would do so.

 

 

If you know this little so far, to then come here and ask questions, is only gonna do you more bad than good. Do your own proper research first, you clearly haven't so far done the very basics of possibilities yet. There are many, but many things depend on the individual situation, requirements, goals etc etc too. 

[ChaiyaTH]

1 minute ago, defwill29 said:

That is true, however, my country does require me to have a business with the amount of work that I do (more than 1000 hours a year and more than 60k per year income in euro). For lower amounts, setting up a company is not always required indeed.

As written above as well, there are many variations and possibilities, this is why you first have to do your own research more. But in terms of Thailand little to worry about, specially if you can for now keep bringing in seasoned money ( a year old ). The new taxes and rules, too unclear for now to give clear answers on, everyone waits for that.

[Srikcir]

Check the 10-year Long Term Resident visa. It has many benefits to you, future Thai wife and your business if you fit into the required categories.

For more information:   https://ltr.boi.go.th/

Offered by Thailand Board of Investment.

 

[kingstonkid]

On 12/13/2023 at 11:59 AM, defwill29 said:

That is true, however, my country does require me to have a business with the amount of work that I do (more than 1000 hours a year and more than 60k per year income in euros). For lower amounts, setting up a company is not always required indeed.

My understanding is that for you to register your business it has to be in a majority Thai ownership.  For the company to legally employ you you need 2 thai employees who are actually on our payroll and are being paid a legitimate wage.

 

As an aside what will you tell your clients about this?

 

Another option would be to have your business use an address in your country but then you are going to have to pay taxes in your country.

[khunPer]

On 12/13/2023 at 5:36 AM, defwill29 said:

Hi. I am in a relationship with a Thai woman and we are considering to get married.

 

Back home (EU) I am a self-employed text writer and I work from home, and I would plan to continue my business when I move to Thailand to be with my wife.

 

I am just wondering what I am facing if I want to be self-employed in Thailand. I serve non-Thai clients only. In my country, this is extremely easy; you just register as a freelancer, pay a small fee and pay income tax at the end of the year and, if applicable, VAT during the year. But I fear things might not be so simple in Thailand.

To OP:

How do foreigners begin as self employed in your country?

 

The probably need a work permit. There is a new visa for distance workers available, which has already been mentioned in an above reply (I repeat link HERE), but the financial claims are quite high.

 

You didn't mention your home country. Some countries allows a citizen living abroad to still have a domestic registered business, provided there is an address in the country, which could be registered in a friend's or a family member's address. Some countries also allow bank account actions or transfers without domestic taxation, when you stay less than 180 days in your home country and are tax resident abroad.

 

As suggested above, do a bit of homework, so you know your options.

 

You cannot legally as foreigner be self employed in Thailand.

 

You can establish a partnership with your wife – when you get married to your girlfriend – and extend you stay based on marriage. You will be allowed to get a work permit, which can be in the partnership limited. There need to be two Thai employees for a foreign work permit, your wife could be one of them. When providing only customers abroad, there will be not v.a.t. and claim for v.a.t.-registration. Salary will be personal income taxed – it's low, compared to many foreign countries – a  profit left in the partnership limited will be company taxed. You will need an external auditor for annual statement and tax report; there are several threads in the forum where you can find lots of additional information.

 

Another possibility is to continue like a number of digital nomads do, keep your distance work under the radar, and officially live from savings from abroad. You need a foreign bank account for your business, and only transfer your need for personal spending into Thailand. It's not really legal, but nobody seems to care much at the moment about individual digital nomads and remote workers. Note, that you might be income taxed from 2024 of savings transferred from abroad.