American Company Curious On Setup Bkk Contractor Office And Rules?

[designgraphik90]

I have a company in America, but we are looking to have a contractor-like office here in Bangkok. All clients, income, sales are done in America, we have NO Thai clients or business here, thus no income would ever be made in Thailand, only money sent over to pay the employes. I am curious in this type of situation, does Thailand require you setup the company-office with them, and if so, are there large fees or taxes (even if zero income) to do something of this type? Any help would be much appreciated, cheers.

[bkkblueeyes]

I have a company in America, but we are looking to have a contractor-like office here in Bangkok. All clients, income, sales are done in America, we have NO Thai clients or business here, thus no income would ever be made in Thailand, only money sent over to pay the employes. I am curious in this type of situation, does Thailand require you setup the company-office with them, and if so, are there large fees or taxes (even if zero income) to do something of this type? Any help would be much appreciated, cheers.

I don’t know the FULL anser to this but.

The best I could think would be to get in contact with a Thai who already who has skill in your field and offer him some Contract deal and its up to him on who he wants to employ.

It could be just a simple home office.

Then he would either have to register the company and follow the rules or keep it silent.

Its completely up to him as you will be sending over the cash to Support.

This is a good method of saving a few bucks here and there,

But its not a good method if you are looking to make a long term Visa for your self and possibly getting a 30 year lease on land.

I do this already with my fathers company in Sydney. Hire a few people here and there to get work done on website and such.

Know a good Malaysian contractor to do some work as well.

Its nothing full time just when there is a few weeks of work to be done.

It’s a pretty easy gig to set up.

[designgraphik90]

Yeah the Visa isn't a issue as my wife is Thai and I am currently on a Marriage visa here. So I am not worried about working visas (no income in thailand business market), just looking to manage a small team here, pay them via bank transfers and have a small office for them to work in, al computer-internet related work. Just curious if setting up a company has to be done, if so they gonna take me on a tax ride?

[bkkblueeyes]

Yeah the Visa isn't a issue as my wife is Thai and I am currently on a Marriage visa here. So I am not worried about working visas (no income in thailand business market), just looking to manage a small team here, pay them via bank transfers and have a small office for them to work in, al computer-internet related work. Just curious if setting up a company has to be done, if so they gonna take me on a tax ride?

Alright I will P.M you

[autonomous_unit]

The real question, I think, is whether you want the limited liability structure for managing the employees and operations. Also, whether you intend to actually "manage" them yourself while in Thailand (not clear from your posts). If the latter, you need a work permit and a company would be the easiest way. If you will truly be hands-off and just want to outsource, then of course you could leave it up to a Thai to provide the outsourcing services however they see fit, whether sole-proprietorship, partnership, or corporation.

It doesn't cost that much to incorporate and run a small Thai company with legitimate Thai employees. The ongoing costs would be some mixture of VAT on the service payments from abroad (if applicable), income tax on employee salaries, social security tax, and accounting and auditing fees for the company. Not to mention other operating costs like facilities, utilities, etc. which ought to be similar regardless of the company structure.

You can capitalize a small company and operate it with close to zero net profits, for example by paying dividends back to the shareholders or by employing the shareholders as directors etc. You just need to have a set of company objectives which are consistent with the way you will operate.

[designgraphik90]

The real question, I think, is whether you want the limited liability structure for managing the employees and operations. Also, whether you intend to actually "manage" them yourself while in Thailand (not clear from your posts).

-Yes, well lI will be working in the office also. I will be managing, basically directing the team. But again, my paycheck is in america, no money is ever a Thai income, so in reality I am not working for anyone here, I am working for my company in America. This still requires a work permit, seems strange to me? I am not working for a Thai company..

It doesn't cost that much to incorporate and run a small Thai company with legitimate Thai employees. The ongoing costs would be some mixture of VAT on the service payments from abroad (if applicable), income tax on employee salaries, social security tax, and accounting and auditing fees for the company.

-Yeah I am curious on this, because I would like to take care of the taxes for my workers. But also, I am curious if this even worth it, verus letting them know they are contractors, and they take care of this themselves.

You can capitalize a small company and operate it with close to zero net profits.

Considering I have no business here, there will be no profits, just all outgoing to pay for workers and office overhead. So would there still be taxes to be paid, if no income is being made? I think I see what your saying though on income, such as sending money over to company for pay, counts as income, but then its all 100% expensed because it all goes right back out to the workers?

In the end, is it really worth setting up? does it have to be done? or should I just be a contractor based setup, they pay their own taxes, insurance, basically they contracting for american company who is contacting them from overseas?

[autonomous_unit]

-Yes, well lI will be working in the office also. I will be managing, basically directing the team. But again, my paycheck is in america, no money is ever a Thai income, so in reality I am not working for anyone here, I am working for my company in America. This still requires a work permit, seems strange to me? I am not working for a Thai company..

This seems a clear cut case where a work permit is required by law. It does not matter who you "work for" or how the payment is processed but "where you work". Unlike some of the telecommuter scenarios where people advise just letting it slide and not drawing attention, I think actually going into an office and managing Thai staff would put you at undue risk. Anyone (e.g. someone who decides they don't like you) could notify the authorities and have you arrested, fined, deported, etc. People are caught doing this in construction, bars, restaurants, and offices every year, if you can believe statistics and news items posted here in the past.

Unfortunately, I don't know of any way for you to get a work permit to work here for a foreign (US based) employer. That is why I suggested that incorporation is a reasonable route. Form a company to do this outsourcing, make yourself an employee with work permit, and send contract fees each month from the US company to the Thai company to pay your salary as well as the other employees you would manage. It is up to you whether you keep being an employee of the US company as well (for other worldwide work you do and/or benefits package), but legally you need a work permit to cover the work activities you perform while in Thailand such as managing this office. This work permit would require a legitimate Thai company structure and position for you to undertake this work with "reasonable" compensation by local standards.

You probably need to talk to someone like Sunbelt for legal advice about your specific business area, both to gauge exact startup costs and to understand any specific rules which might apply in your case. The details are important to satisfy all the various rules for the labor department etc.

If I read correctly, you are here via a non-O marriage visa. You can make your wife a 51% shareholder in the company to satisfy the Thai majority control requirements for a regular Thai company, or go the Amity-treaty route perhaps... I did the former as I have zero concerns entrusting the business to her (in fact, I wouldn't be able to manage the day to day operations without her as my Thai language skills are very poor). You would still need some other shareholders besides the two of you, but they could each hold "1 share" which could be as small as you like, e.g. 1%, 0.1%!

In the end, is it really worth setting up? does it have to be done? or should I just be a contractor based setup, they pay their own taxes, insurance, basically they contracting for american company who is contacting them from overseas?

I think it is necessary if you want to be present in and manage the office yourself without serious legal risks. If you were content to be a non-acting, absent shareholder and let someone else be paid to manage things, then you would have many more options as far as how the workers are employed.