House Purchase

[richard2841]

Thinking of buying house around Banchang. I have work permit year visa, working for Thai company. Here with English wife.

How do I go about buying property I have been told

I can buy condo no problems

If I want to buy house I need to set up company I own 49% when I sell I sell the company.

Any advice welcome

[stgrhe]

Thinking of buying house around Banchang. I have work permit year visa, working for Thai company. Here with English wife.

How do I go about buying property I have been told

I can buy condo no problems

If I want to buy house I need to set up company I own 49% when I sell I sell the company.

Any advice welcome

You have some options to select from:

1. Lease a land for thirty years and build you own house on the land. The lease contract should preferably contain a number of conditions that take into account your rights and future changes to the law that might be benefitial for you. You can sell your lease and house at any time but the land owner has also a right to sell the land although you would still maintain your lease right. The lease can be inheritaged if both you and your wife passes away early.

2. "Hire" a land through a usufruct for life and build you own house on the land. You can sell your property at any time but the land owner cannot sell the land as long as you live. A usufruct cannot be inheritaged. This alternative may be better for those who are having a Thai spose.

3. Buy an existing property together with the company that owns it. This may be tempting because the transfer can be smooth and you need not form a company by yourself. However, it is important that the company's finances are carefully examined since it may be in dept or owe taxes etc.

4. Form a new company in your own name. Now with the new law you need only three Thai partners and none of them have to be board members. Hence with a 49% ownership you could control the company. However, there is a catch, unless you run a real company with real business you would be in a grey zone as it was never ment to be possible to form a company for the sole purpose of buying land.

Whatever you decide to do make sure you use an independent law firm for advice and especially make sure you do due diligence both for the land and also for the builder or property developer. That money is well worth the cost.

Good luck,

G.

[longball53098]

The Land office in the Banchang area will not do Usufruct,,,only lease of the land is possible. I have checked this out with 2 different lawyers doing the asking. One of them lives here in Banchang and works with the office all the time on other issues.

[Soutpeel]

Thinking of buying house around Banchang. I have work permit year visa, working for Thai company. Here with English wife.

How do I go about buying property I have been told

I can buy condo no problems

If I want to buy house I need to set up company I own 49% when I sell I sell the company.

Any advice welcome

Mate...see you have added some addtional details you didnt put in your "General Posting"....my advice in your circumstances...Buy a condo, its yours, in your name...wouldnt start d*cking with companies, 30 year leases etc, too many gray areas to deal with....

As stated in my other posting you have been here 6 months...wait a while - 12-18 months, you may or may not feel the same way..

On the companies side of things...the intention in the law was never to use this loop hole for the sole purpose of owning property and in addtion, technically you dont own the property, you own 49% of the company which owns the property, not quite the same thing

[Nip]

My advice for what it is worth is avoid buying a company and putting the house into it. I was advised to do just that when I came here 8 years ago. I got a reputable international solicitor to set up the company and every year she did the paper work, I paid her and she paid the taxes or so I thought? 18 months ago I got wacked for back tax. The Tax Office summoned the missus and myself into their offices and estimated that the company should have been paying 40K Baht a month rent for the house and discovered that the lawyer had not paid a brass farthing in tax for 6 years! We had the back up info to show that we had as we thought been paying tax every year. My wife was advised by the tax inspector that the Tax Office have instructions to target out companies such as ours... The other danger she advised was I could have been prosecuted for failing to pay the taxes and deported... We struck a deal and I folded the company immediately.

[Naam]

The Tax Office summoned the missus and myself into their offices and estimated that the company should have been paying 40K Baht a month rent for the house...

Nip, i would like to compare the rent i pay to my company and for which tax is paid with the assessment of your tax office. would you please tell me the approximately value of your house? please PM me if you don't want to answer publicly. thanks!

p.s. you mean of course the company should have paid tax on 40k monthly rent. am i right?