Do You Own Land On Samui ?......

[taxexile]

from this months community magazine , koh samui.

"a large number of foriegners have been buying land on koh samui , despite the fact that officially they are not allowed to own it

most non-thais get around this law by opening companies with thai partners that own a 51% share , which means that the land is essentially thai owned.

however, many of these companies never become active , and therefore do not contribute to the economy through taxation.

the thai chamber of commerce is currently investigating this issue and will be closing down all those companies that are not actively trading or paying tax.

this throws some doubt on the status of any land that is owned by these companies , and especially the legality of foriegn ownership.

all foriegn landowners should become aware that this issue will become increasingly apparent in the coming months and should make sure that their companies operate within thai law , are considered operational , and pay annual taxes .

if not , land may be forfeited when the company is closed down."

is that a threat or a promise.

Edited May 9, 2005 by taxexile

[Tornado]

Why dont they wake up and let us own it outright. They realise we own it anyway and with the shareholders signing off and the farang being the director, we kinda own it outright anyway. So why make it so bloody hard and change the goal posts whenever they like.

Thanks for the post Tax, I have just sent the link to all of my clients.

[simey]

This has bee true for a while, and once again it's just a way of making some money. They don't care that te company is there to own the land/house, but simply that the company pays no taxes. My company will 'rent' my house to me, and will pay tax on that income, then everyone is happy. Except me and my extra cost, but such is life.

[thaigene2]

Seems to me his is exactly what I warned of a month ago, wasn't it? Hope I didn't give 'em any ideas..

[thai_norman]

I assumed everybody paid there taxes for the company to own the land, its only like 6,000baht per year or 12,000baht per year thru a accountant, ie minimum taxes for a business that isnt trading, although as soon as they take away the first farang owned house i think thailand will make it big in the newspapers.

[RDN]

Seems to me his is exactly what I warned of a month ago, wasn't it? Hope I didn't give 'em any ideas..

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I hope you did - and here's another one for them: Allow people who have one year visas or extensions and who live here more than 305 days per year (10 months/year) to buy and own 1 rai for their own home.

[The_Moog]

wasting your breath ......

any party allowing foreign land ownership would be a sitting duck and lose the next election. If TRT allowed it, the democrats would love it and mobilise all 'patriotic thais'

This is a democracy. no way thais want farangs owning land outright. its their most fundamental politico-economic belief - a national obsession.

[p_brownstone]

I rather doubt that the "Thai Chamber of Commerce" has authority to close down any Company.

Patrick

Edited May 9, 2005 by p_brownstone

[taxexile]

I rather doubt that the "Thai Chamber of Commerce" has authority to close down any Company.

they probably dont , but i bet they know the phone number of "a man who can "

thats always the problem here , the goalpost moving.

and it would seem as if that article was published as a "warning" for people to get their house in order in more ways than one before the authorities come snooping around .

i suspect that by then it might be even more expensive to sort things out .

[thaigene2]

I rather doubt that the "Thai Chamber of Commerce" has authority to close down any Company.

they probably dont , but i bet they know the phone number of "a man who can "

thats always the problem here , the goalpost moving.

and it would seem as if that article was published as a "warning" for people to get their house in order in more ways than one before the authorities come snooping around .

i suspect that by then it might be even more expensive to sort things out .

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yup..I'd be worried if I were you down there..actually this may be another Thaksin 'trial balloon' just picking Samui for a place to start. Those of you who think you've got it covered with this 'company shares' thing are sitting ducks in my opinion..but hey, it's just my opinion..I agree with this quote 100%. Do not take this lightly. Then again I'm afraid I have no advice for you either. Hope it turns out to be nothing...good luck..seriously.

[Digger]

I assumed everybody paid there taxes for the company to own the land, its only like 6,000baht per year or 12,000baht per year thru a accountant, ie minimum taxes for a business that isnt trading, although as soon as they take away the first farang owned house i think thailand will make it big in the newspapers.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

If I am not mistaken Thai law for companies does not allow non trading companies - hence I suspect a lot of people are going to start getting nervous. Time after time I posted on this forum that the company owning land has to generate an income or have some pretty good reasons why they are not generating an income. Actually tax and accounting/audit for a company is nearer 20-30,000 baht per annum. The easiest way is that you pay rent to the company for living in the house and then pay taxes on that income. Then you have a trading company, making a notional profit and paying taxes on the rental income (15% of rent) + small amount of corporation tax in profit or a retained loss going into the next year.

[thaigene2]

I assumed everybody paid there taxes for the company to own the land, its only like 6,000baht per year or 12,000baht per year thru a accountant, ie minimum taxes for a business that isnt trading, although as soon as they take away the first farang owned house i think thailand will make it big in the newspapers.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

They don't need to actually take away any houses. Just make the 'businesses' pay through the nose. The govt could order a 'minimum tax' for any small companies with even one foreign shareholder where a house is on the books. Then what?? They can cook the law six ways to Sunday to get at the little foreigners who own houses through bogus businesses without pis*ing off the rich ones. It's the little foreigners they don't want here. Do you think all these things like higher visa fees, minimum incomes, etc are all happening at the same time as coincidence??..People need to wake up to this. Rich people don't need to worry about nationality or colour of skin...just colour of their money. The rest of us are now being considered 'undesirable here.' Plan an exit strategy..the current govt is ultra-nationalist and here for at least a few more years. If the economy goes south in a big way, scapegoats will be sought, and guess what? They won't be Thai, Chinese, or Japanese will they?

[expatinasia]

This is neither a new law ("moving the goalposts"), nor is it Koh Samui specific. You are allowed 36 months to have a company, of any nature, to show a profit. After that, the government will shutter the business.

[udon]

I'm looking fwd to comments by Sunbelt & Indo-Siam.

[dr_Pat_Pong]

It has always been illegal for a foreigner to own land through an inactive sham corporation. The goal posts haven't moved at all.

[pedro01]

This is neither a new law ("moving the goalposts"), nor is it Koh Samui specific.  You are allowed 36 months to have a company, of any nature, to show a profit.  After that, the government will shutter the business.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Not true

I have been running a company here for over 4 years - 30 employees & no profit (we do business process outsourcing for our HQ).

Each month we get a cheque from the revenue dept for VAT refund.

No-one has shut us down yet, in fact - we have been advised to go for the new BOI category of BPO so that we can get more benefits.

Why would the govt shut down a business that's spending hundreds of thousands of dollars each year & is keeping 30 people employed ? Utter nonsense.

[udon]

Is it legal to rent land from a Thai for say, 30 years?

[Tornado]

Is it legal to rent land from a Thai for say, 30 years?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes it is mate, there is plenty of rental land in Phuket on offer.

[KronbergTH]

Each month we get a cheque from the revenue dept for VAT refund.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I have never ever heard about a company that can get VAT refund, and every month???!!!. I am sorry, I do not believe, or you have to tell your secret, thanks a lot.