Work Permit Self Employed

[MartinM111]

Hi all,

 

I have a question regarding work permits for self-employed foreigners in Thailand.

 

I’m married to a Thai national and currently hold a non-immigrant O visa (spouse visa). I don’t need the work permit for proof of income or similar requirements. My main concern is tax compliance, as I plan to stay in Thailand for more than six months.

 

To give some context, earning will come from income online and not on the ground work in Thailand.

 

I want to ensure that my online income is properly declared and taxed in Thailand. So, my question is this:

 

• Is there a way for a foreigner on a non-O visa to obtain a work permit, without setting up a limited company?

 

Specifically, is there a freelance or self-employed route that allows for submitting income and expenses at the end of the year, without the complexities of hiring staff, etc.?

 

Any advice or experiences would be greatly appreciated!

[problemfarang]

work permits are given by  company or likewise registered in thailand. they take permission from the government to hire a foreigner. This permission is given due to the fact that the registered company needs an employee who has special skill or likewise which thai citizen cannot do or not enough to do. So your question's answer is most likely... no

 

im not sure but there might be a way if you change your visa type to long term visa or elite. But i sont know those visas that much. 

[DrJack54]

1 hour ago, MartinM111 said:

My main concern is tax compliance, as I plan to stay in Thailand for more than six months.

Deal with that when/if it happens.

Provided your work does not involve goods and services in Thailand then work under the radar would be my plan..

[NativeBob]

I had online stores on the Internet and had exactly same question: how to legalize my activity if I don't actually work in Thailand and my income was coming from USA, AU and EU. So from greedy lawyer who suggested to buy dormant company and fake thai employees for 50K++ to the friend who told me to stay under radar don't worry. 

I choose "under radar" option. Since 2004 never had an issue

[problemfarang]

2 hours ago, NativeBob said:

I had online stores on the Internet and had exactly same question: how to legalize my activity if I don't actually work in Thailand and my income was coming from USA, AU and EU. So from greedy lawyer who suggested to buy dormant company and fake thai employees for 50K++ to the friend who told me to stay under radar don't worry. 

I choose "under radar" option. Since 2004 never had an issue

 

simple. you cannot. you are not working in thailand as you think. thats the problem with many people like you. with all respect you guys think as same as working in thailand. but no you dont. im sorry i dont mean to be impolite or else but thats the truth. i know its sad but it is what it is. 

 

opening a company is the only solution at the moment. or finding a person who can provide you work permit. such as a friend who has a company which has a permission to hire farangs. 

[problemfarang]

5 hours ago, MartinM111 said:

Hi all,

 

I have a question regarding work permits for self-employed foreigners in Thailand.

 

I’m married to a Thai national and currently hold a non-immigrant O visa (spouse visa). I don’t need the work permit for proof of income or similar requirements. My main concern is tax compliance, as I plan to stay in Thailand for more than six months.

 

To give some context, earning will come from income online and not on the ground work in Thailand.

 

I want to ensure that my online income is properly declared and taxed in Thailand. So, my question is this:

 

• Is there a way for a foreigner on a non-O visa to obtain a work permit, without setting up a limited company?

 

Specifically, is there a freelance or self-employed route that allows for submitting income and expenses at the end of the year, without the complexities of hiring staff, etc.?

 

Any advice or experiences would be greatly appreciated!

 

i would go for the non-o multi in your situation tbh. But bare in mind you may ask to show the money (i think 400K in bank) when applied for the visa in some countries. 

if you can get it which i think you can... all you need to do is leave the country every 90 days and come back in the same day. 

[NativeBob]

55 minutes ago, problemfarang said:

with all respect you guys think as same as working in thailand. but no you dont. im sorry i dont mean to be impolite or else but thats the truth. i know its sad but it is what it is. 

Exactly and very kind of you to make it nice and polite.

Yes, for THEM it doesn't matter you sell "Suppaporn Snake Oil for acne" and "Somnuak powder against psoriasis" or containers of rice. It is export and must be licensed through Thai legal entity. 

However OP states that he does something somewhere in cyberspace. Isn't it different?

Like Indian pharma, crypto trading, freelancing?

Edited Friday at 04:07 PM by NativeBob

[problemfarang]

2 hours ago, NativeBob said:

Exactly and very kind of you to make it nice and polite.

Yes, for THEM it doesn't matter you sell "Suppaporn Snake Oil for acne" and "Somnuak powder against psoriasis" or containers of rice. It is export and must be licensed through Thai legal entity. 

However OP states that he does something somewhere in cyberspace. Isn't it different?

Like Indian pharma, crypto trading, freelancing?

Nope not different

Simply.. can you get a work permit?.. no

End of questions bro

[jacob29]

Short answer is you can't (easily) acquire a work permit, as mentioned by others. Not needed to pay tax though. If you had investment income coming in from abroad, you would pay tax without holding a work permit, it's no problem.

 

Now if you're determined to get a work permit, they can be had at a high price (sponsored work permits), which is in many ways similar to setting up your own company and hiring yourself.. it's just someone else takes care of the details making it slightly more economic.

[Maestro]

As a tax resident in Thailand because he lives in Thailand 180 days or longer in a calendar year, the OP is free to declare his worldwide income in Thailand. He does not need a Thai employer and a Thai work permit to file a tax return in Thailand.

[MangoKorat]

Given the recent addition of new and proposed long term visas for 'digital nomads' etc, this is a problem that the Thai authorities should have dealt with already but will they?

 

I very much doubt they will ever allow a 'self employed' work permit - the floodgates would open.  For the moment, if you are tax resident, as long as you pay tax on any income remitted to Thailand, I don't think you will have a problem.

 

When you sit at your computer dealing with your online income source, technically you are working but the Thai authorities seem happy to leave it as a grey area.  I really can't see you having a problem as long as you keep your tax affairs in order.

 

If the matter worries you, then your only option currently would be to set up a Thai company, obtain a work permit on the back of that and do whatever your online work is, through that company. The problem then though, would be the requirement to have a set number of Thai employees in order to qualify for a work permit. You could use 'ghost employees' but you would need to pay social security for them.

 

Much easier to leave it as a 'grey area' and just pay your taxes.

[SS1]

16 hours ago, NativeBob said:

I had online stores on the Internet and had exactly same question: how to legalize my activity if I don't actually work in Thailand and my income was coming from USA, AU and EU. So from greedy lawyer who suggested to buy dormant company and fake thai employees for 50K++ to the friend who told me to stay under radar don't worry. 

I choose "under radar" option. Since 2004 never had an issue

 

You wouldn't really need to "legalize" your activity in the first place if you simply own online stores abroad that generate your income. Of course, if you are actually working for the said stores, then it would be more of a grey area. But nothing illegal about being a business owner in Thailand and bringing in related passive income. 

[SS1]

There isn't a work permit for self-employed people in Thailand and most likely won't be anytime soon. 

 

The first thing to understand would be whether you are simply receiving online income (passive income) or actively working for the said income. In the first case, you don't need a work permit in the first place. For example, you could own an LTD abroad and receive dividend income which you remit to Thailand. In this case, you could simply declare this in your annual tax return in Thailand (if you wish to pay taxes here). 

 

If you are actually working online and do not wish to fly under the radar (like many do) there are companies that may be able to assist you to work in Thailand legally. For example, Iglu is a company that enables its employees to work remotely for foreign clients from Thailand. 

 

 

[khunPer]

21 hours ago, MartinM111 said:

I want to ensure that my online income is properly declared and taxed in Thailand. So, my question is this:

 

• Is there a way for a foreigner on a non-O visa to obtain a work permit, without setting up a limited company?

You cannot be a self employed foreigner in Thailand.

 

Keep track on all incoming funds from abroad and include them as overseas income in your PND.90 tax return-form for 2024. You need to apply for a tax-ID, if you don't already have one, and when having that, you can fill and remit the tax return-form online.

 

It's often mentioned and recommended to keep online business income transferred to an overseas account – as a non-O-visa is not the correct visa for online work – and only transfer what is needed into Thailand from your own offshore account.

[FritsSikkink]

On 6/28/2024 at 7:09 PM, DrJack54 said:

Deal with that when/if it happens.

Provided your work does not involve goods and services in Thailand then work under the radar would be my plan..

Which would be illegal.

[DrJack54]

9 hours ago, FritsSikkink said:

Which would be illegal.

I'm sure the many digital nomads living in Asia are trembling in their boots.