Create My Company

[yeti]

Hi,

I've been staying in Thailand for the last 2 years, using tourist visas, and exiting the country every 90 days.

During those 2 years I've been working for a company located in France, with a fixed term contract, working from my rented condo in Thailand and having contacts with the office in France only by phone and internet. I was also paying taxes in France.

Now this company doesn't want (and cannot) renew this contract, but they still need me.

So they told me to create my own company, so that I could bill them every month.

BUT they signed with me a commitment to provide me work for 6 months, and after it can continue (it is supposed to continue), but it can as well stop.

So now I need to create my company here, but don't want to spend too much money doing so, as I may close it in 6 months and look for another job.

I was thinking about creating a Thai Private Co. Ltd., using the name of my gf for 51% of it. Right?

Would it be possible to register the company at my condo address? There are already few offices in the building, so the landlord should be ok.

I will be the only person working for this company, I have no need for 4 thai workers.

I'm thinking about declaring my gf as the managing director and only employee of the company, and I would remain here on tourist visas for the first year at least.

Is it possible? What are the risks?

I understood that providing services to foreign company using internet, the company would not need to pay VAT, is this true?

Any advice would be welcome

Thanks

Edited August 22, 2005 by yeti

[KM_FUBAR]

Hi,

I've been staying in Thailand for the last 2 years, using tourist visas, and exiting the country every 90 days.

During those 2 years I've been working for a company located in France, with a fixed term contract, working from my rented condo in Thailand and having contacts with the office in France only by phone and internet. I was also paying taxes in France.

Now this company doesn't want (and cannot) renew this contract, but they still need me.

So they told me to create my own company, so that I could bill them every month.

BUT they signed with me a commitment to provide me work for 6 months, and after it can continue (it is supposed to continue), but it can as well stop.

So now I need to create my company here, but don't want to spend too much money doing so, as I may close it in 6 months and look for another job.

I was thinking about creating a Thai Private Co. Ltd., using the name of my gf for 51% of it. Right?

Would it be possible to register the company at my condo address? There are already few offices in the building, so the landlord should be ok.

I will be the only person working for this company, I have no need for 4 thai workers.

I'm thinking about declaring my gf as the managing director and only employee of the company, and I would remain here on tourist visas for the first year at least.

Is it possible? What are the risks?

I understood that providing services to foreign company using internet, the company would not need to pay VAT, is this true?

Any advice would be welcome

Thanks

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Get some advice from a good company like indo-siam and look arround the forum as many simmilar treaths have been handled.... however if your work is IT related like developping applications of some sort you could set up your company and apply for a BOI. status so you would have a lot of benefits for TAX for importing of material and for the WP.....

[yeti]

I will meet with a specialised lawyer, but I'd like to know my options before.

I've browsed this forum before posting, but there are still things I would like to understand better...

[~G~]

So now I need to create my company here, but don't want to spend too much money doing so, as I may close it in 6 months and look for another job.

That's a wise consideration, since registering, maintaining and closing a company will cost a lot of money.

I was thinking about creating a Thai Private Co. Ltd., using the name of my gf for 51% of it. Right?

Would it be possible to register the company at my condo address? There are already few offices in the building, so the landlord should be ok.

A company in Thailand requires minimum 7 shareholders. Any company.

If the landlord is OK you can register it in your condo.

I will be the only person working for this company, I have no need for 4 thai workers.

I'm thinking about declaring my gf as the managing director and only employee of the company, and I would remain here on tourist visas for the first year at least.

Is it possible? What are the risks?

Working illegaly with no WP. And the risk that your gf will take off with the company's assets as the MD.

I understood that providing services to foreign company using internet, the company would not need to pay VAT, is this true?

Yes, as far as I know. If you will do not need a WP, actually you do not have to be VAT registered at all (depends on the income level).

Basically it all depends on How Much will you get paid by the foreign company. Whether it is enough to justify all the overhead and extra costs of a company or not.

[h90]

Hi Yeti,

long time not talked to you :-)

6 month hmmmm

Depends on how much money, and on how conservative the company is.

Do you need to make it official? I don't know what you are doing here in Thailand, but what about you tell them you send them your invoices, they transfer the money on your Thai bank account and you make that illegal on you Tourist Visa?

If you make something like webdesign or so, noone will catch you.

Hi,

I've been staying in Thailand for the last 2 years, using tourist visas, and exiting the country every 90 days.

During those 2 years I've been working for a company located in France, with a fixed term contract, working from my rented condo in Thailand and having contacts with the office in France only by phone and internet. I was also paying taxes in France.

Now this company doesn't want (and cannot) renew this contract, but they still need me.

So they told me to create my own company, so that I could bill them every month.

BUT they signed with me a commitment to provide me work for 6 months, and after it can continue (it is supposed to continue), but it can as well stop.

So now I need to create my company here, but don't want to spend too much money doing so, as I may close it in 6 months and look for another job.

I was thinking about creating a Thai Private Co. Ltd., using the name of my gf for 51% of it. Right?

Would it be possible to register the company at my condo address? There are already few offices in the building, so the landlord should be ok.

I will be the only person working for this company, I have no need for 4 thai workers.

I'm thinking about declaring my gf as the managing director and only employee of the company, and I would remain here on tourist visas for the first year at least.

Is it possible? What are the risks?

I understood that providing services to foreign company using internet, the company would not need to pay VAT, is this true?

Any advice would be welcome

Thanks

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[Indo-Siam]

Hi -

I help people start companies in Thailand. See: www.thaistartup.com .

If you are happy with your Immigration situation, then I would suggest an alternative - start an offshore company, with an offshore bank account. Your French client probably does not care where your company is located. So - create a company in the British Virgin Islands - with a bank account in Hong Kong. You can be the sole shareholder, sole director, and sole employee - and you need not make any financial reports to BVI or Hong Kong. You can have an ATM card that allows you to withdraw money here in Thailand from the HK bank account.

The cost to get this all started up is maybe 80% higher than starting a Thai Private Co. Ltd. But - the long-term operational costs are much lower.

If you are interested, contact me for details. I personally have the arrangement I described, for a technology company that I run, that is unrelated to Thailand. And I am affiliated with a Hong Kong company that can handle all the arrangements.

Cheers!

Steve Sykes

Managing Director

Indo-Siam Group

Bangkok

[email protected]

www.thaistartup.com

[girlx]

curious indo-siam, would he need a work permit in thailand if his company is offshore?

[Indo-Siam]

If he is content with coming and going on tourist visa, and his work is incidental to being here as a tourist - i.e. - he is working from home, or an Internet cafe, coresponding in French language - then there is effectively no mechanism here that is going to pick him out from the mass of transiting business travelers.

He cannot get a work permit working for an employer that does not have a registered entity in Thailand.

He will be in the strongest position with respect to Thailand if he creates a Thai Private Co. Ltd., and then employs himself as Managing Director of that company. But he will have an endless "burn rate" here, if he pursues that approach.

My thought is - he is working in the cyberworld. He happens to presently be in Thailand. But his job is not "in Thailand". His job is wherever he happens to be - as long as he can access the internet. In view of keeping his future options more flexible, why not create a business entity - and establish banking arrangements - that provide greatest flexibility - and do so in jurisdictions where the controlling governments do not tax (or even ask for financial reporting) in relation to business activities carried out elsewhere.

He may still want to create a Thai Company - to provide local firm footing - but that is not his only alternative.

Cheers!

Steve

Indo-Siam

[sas_cars]

Very sound advice yet again from Indo-Siam

[cclub75]

Hi,

I've been staying in Thailand for the last 2 years, using tourist visas, and exiting the country every 90 days.

During those 2 years I've been working for a company located in France, with a fixed term contract, working from my rented condo in Thailand and having contacts with the office in France only by phone and internet. I was also paying taxes in France.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Have you consider a LLC in Delaware (USA) ?

Cost less than a thai company, less hassle, no report, etc. Minimum fee. And OFFSHORE.

Your french customer will invoice your LLC, and if you don't do business within the USA, then your LLC will not pay taxes.

Of course, you have to take the risk of working from your condo in Thailand, without a work permit. But if I understand your message, you have been taking this risk for 2 years already...

;-)

I assume that your french company can't pay anymore the huge social costs, by paying you a regular salary. So yes indeed, an invoice onto another company makes sense. They will save a lot of money.

Regarding your question about VAT for a service bought outside France, in or outside EU, this is more tricky. EU has worked on this subject, you may find some infos on the Web.

Edited August 23, 2005 by cclub75

[yeti]

Indo-Siam, I may follow your advice, and contact you soon. I've been working here for 2 yrs without work permit, and I guess there is no way I can be discovered (unless Thailand immigration checks this forum, can access IPs, and find me ).

Exiting every 90 days forces me to travel and discover other countries, and that's nice (my job is not really time consuming...).

I was also PMed another solution that I need to investigate.

h90, nice to have news. Well this company is quite conservative, the french entity receiving money from the european entity in order to pay me. Lots of accountancy involved.

And they are very regularly controlled by the french Internal Revenue, not agreeing on the way they declare imported goods...

Thanks a lot to everybody, lots of useful infos there (as usual )

[h90]

yeti: I have here a company and thought already if I can be helpfull somehow, but I can not I think. I am myself here on a "take care my wife visa".

And by mistake I was working for my company for 6 month without work permit

But with Thai Wife you get a 1 year visa, without problems.....

Indo-Siam, I may follow your advice, and contact you soon. I've been working here for 2 yrs without work permit, and I guess there is no way I can be discovered (unless Thailand immigration checks this forum, can access IPs, and find me ).

Exiting every 90 days forces me to travel and discover other countries, and that's nice (my job is not really time consuming...).

I was also PMed another solution that I need to investigate.

h90, nice to have news. Well this company is quite conservative, the french entity receiving money from the european entity in order to pay me. Lots of accountancy involved.

And they are very regularly controlled by the french Internal Revenue, not agreeing on the way they declare imported goods...

Thanks a lot to everybody, lots of useful infos there (as usual )

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[capco1]

If you're already paying taxes in France why not open the business in France using a virtual office with a post office box for a physical address? Seems it would be a lot cheaper and pretty easy to do.

[LivinLOS]

In this modern age it is pretty easy to do as described above.. Delaware, BVI's, Seychelles, etc its all much of a muchness..

I have used OCRA for high end important watertight stuff (highly reccomended superb service with high quality information packs and literature but prices to match) to bargain bucket shops..

I like Seychelles LTD's personally as they have a low annual running costs (mine is 600 or so GBP with annual filings and mail redirects in London and Seychelles) and you can either battle the bank account creation yourself (not as easy post 9/11) or get the agent to handle it..

Total set up should be no more than 2k GBP with 600 - 1k annual maintenance.. Thats with online banking accounts in any currency and a platinum visa card linked to it.. the visa card need not even be in your name so you can simply spend on 'expenses' without claiming salary (if your in Europe) or fix your salary at whetever satisfies your taxman that you earn enough to live the lifestyle he can see..

Back in Europe have the entity own vehicles and homes etc also means you cant be sued as you have no assets (cant get parking tickets or speeding fines either !!).. Been doing things this way for 10 years or so and its not only cheap its actually eaiser than any other option IMHO due to lack of filing accounting concerns..

[phastmike]

Can't you work as a freelancer in France? Something like using personal receipts (issued by the government) that you fill out and give for someone that pays for your services? If so, you just need to buy those receipts in France (you are already registered there).