Closing A Business

[bracken]

A friend of mine has a cleaning company in Bangkok but has to return to the uk for health reasons. The company is solvent and he doesnt want to sell it he would rather close it completely.His accountant and lawywer are telling him it will cost about 425,000 baht to close the business legally. He would like to do it by the book as he will probably return to Thailand in the future and doesnt want any problems. Does anyone know if this figure is reasonable or anyone he could contact for better advice.

Thanks in advance for any advice

[raro]

sounds reasonable. I just went through the process myself and paid a similar bill

[ivowatson]

maybe there are several ways to close companies, but closing mine cost about 30,000 thb last year.

[Chang_paarp]

maybe there are several ways to close companies, but closing mine cost about 30,000 thb last year.

Are you sure it is closed?

That would not cover the 2 audits required for the closure with most accountants. Then there is the 2 (or3?) shareholder meetings, the adverts in the papers, filing several sets of paperwork to the various government departments, if you are registered for VAT there are more hoops to jump through. Am in the process now and it will be a little cheaper than the OP's quote but not a lot.

[raro]

closing is indeed much more of a headache than opening.

Could work at 30k if the year end balance sheet is used for closing, i.e. you close in the moment you got your accounting period completed.

.....and moved to the more appropriate SME forum

[ivowatson]

maybe there are several ways to close companies, but closing mine cost about 30,000 thb last year.

Are you sure it is closed?

That would not cover the 2 audits required for the closure with most accountants. Then there is the 2 (or3?) shareholder meetings, the adverts in the papers, filing several sets of paperwork to the various government departments, if you are registered for VAT there are more hoops to jump through. Am in the process now and it will be a little cheaper than the OP's quote but not a lot.

Are you sure you are alive? Maybe this is all a dream.

I paid 8000 for one audit, 5000 for paperadverts, not VAT registered, I made the shareholder reports myself and the director signed. Had to pay additional taxes six months later though.

[robblok]

maybe there are several ways to close companies, but closing mine cost about 30,000 thb last year.

Are you sure it is closed?

That would not cover the 2 audits required for the closure with most accountants. Then there is the 2 (or3?) shareholder meetings, the adverts in the papers, filing several sets of paperwork to the various government departments, if you are registered for VAT there are more hoops to jump through. Am in the process now and it will be a little cheaper than the OP's quote but not a lot.

40.000 too to close my business, it was a small business and i made sure that i closed it before the end of the year. It was a thai company that closed it and im an accountant myself so i know enough to see its done well.

I wanted to close it with one of those more expensive companies it would cost more. Btw i always filed my own VAT and the tax on the wages. Its not too hard to do if you know about accounting.

[kon66]

My company i gave for free 0 Baht to an account office.

It was setup in Pataya by lawer office but closing was cheaper in Chonburi.

Most of lawers etc. charging too much in Pataya.

It better avoid those central offices.

Normal price for closing a company is 12000b if it's clean.

In case of Bangkok area is possible find some office who can take over it.

we found this accountant office by using Google and called the first one which was Bingo!!.

You might find someone who can take over your business for free.

Good luck,,,

[raro]

from the perspective of the closing company for sure the best way to give away an asset-free company for free. For the one who takes over, however, a significant risk as you will never know about the skeletons in the basement...

[Sunbelt Asia]

Dear Bracken,

The process for closing a Thai limited company is outlined below.

(1) Hold a Board of Directors' meeting to adopt and approve the proposed liquidation of the company and to fix the dates for two separate General Meetings of the shareholders to consider the issue. Any of the directors or a person authorized by the directors may issue notices calling for such shareholders' meetings, unless required otherwise by the Articles of Association of the company.

(2) Hold the first General Meeting of the shareholders to adopt a special resolution to liquidate and dissolve the company. A liquidator and an auditor shall be appointed by the meeting for such purpose.

(3) Hold the second General Meeting of the shareholders to confirm the special resolution adopted in the first meeting. The second meeting must be held not less than fourteen days and not more than six weeks from the date of the first meeting, unless a longer notice period is required by the Articles of Association of the company.

(4) Place two successive advertisements in a local newspaper announcing the liquidation of the company to alert creditors (if any) so they can make a claim for debts owed to them by the company.

(5) Send to all creditors a letter by registered mail requesting them to file a claim for debts owed to them by the company.

(6) File the relevant application documents together with copies of the special resolutions with the Company and Partnership Registration Office, Commercial Registration Department, Ministry of Commerce, within fourteen days from the date of the second shareholders' meeting.

(7) The appointed auditor must prepare and certify the financial statements (Balance Sheet and Accounts) as of the date of dissolution. The date of such financial statements must be the date of the second shareholders' meeting (i.e., the confirming meeting).

(8) Hold a shareholders' meeting to approve the financial statements for submission to the Ministry of Commerce.

(9) Submit a report of the liquidator every three months to the Ministry of Commerce. This obligation shall continue until completion of the liquidation process.

(10) Once the liquidator has cleared the assets and liabilities and has called on debtors for payment of debts to the company, the liquidator must call a final meeting of the shareholders to approve the final liquidation of the company. The minutes of the meeting shall be submitted to the Ministry of Commerce within fourteen days from the date of the meeting.

(11) Submit application to the Thai Revenue Department for liquidation of the company and return the original Value Added Tax Certificate and original Tax Identification Card in the name of the company.

(12) Once the Revenue Department grants approval, the liquidator shall notify and submit a copy of such approval to the Ministry of Commerce in order to obtain final approval from the Ministry.

(13) The liquidator has the duty to deposit all the company's books of accounts with the Registrar's office, where they shall be kept for ten years counting from the date of final approval of the liquidation. (In practice, the Ministry does not keep the books of accounts. Instead, it asks the liquidator to keep the books and notify the Registrar of such fact by letter.)

The liquidation process takes approximately four months to complete, depending on the number of years the company had been in operation and whether its books were properly maintained and tax returns filed as required by law. During this time the company will be required to submit VAT monthly, even though the entity has ceased trading.

For more information on the company closure process, please contact Sunbelt Asia for a free consultation at your convenience on 02-642-0213.

Best regards,

Legal Advisor

Sunbelt Asia Co. Ltd

www.sunbeltasia.com

[email protected]

[selftaopath]

maybe there are several ways to close companies, but closing mine cost about 30,000 thb last year.

Are you sure it is closed?

That would not cover the 2 audits required for the closure with most accountants. Then there is the 2 (or3?) shareholder meetings, the adverts in the papers, filing several sets of paperwork to the various government departments, if you are registered for VAT there are more hoops to jump through. Am in the process now and it will be a little cheaper than the OP's quote but not a lot.

Are you sure you are alive? Maybe this is all a dream.

I paid 8000 for one audit, 5000 for paperadverts, not VAT registered, I made the shareholder reports myself and the director signed. Had to pay additional taxes six months later though.

Wow. A well known company (sponsor of TV) really has a different policy and cost. GEEZE. I hope to do this like you did if you've got any more suggestions pleaseeeeeeeeeeee :-) let me know.

Thanks,

Keoki