Forming Company To Buy House

[johnnyk]

I'm thinking of buying a house and I'm convinced the way to do it is via a company.

My understanding is that a 39% falang ownership structure attracts less attention than a 49% one.

How much attention is the Thai tax man giving to these sorts of companies?

OK, if I form a company to buy the house, can I use this company to do other business, educational services for example?

Is the price I pay for the house (e.g. 2.5 million) the paid-up capital of the company?

Thank to anyone who can point the way.

[astral]

I'm thinking of buying a house and I'm convinced the way to do it is via a company.

My understanding is that a 39% falang ownership structure attracts less attention than a 49% one.

How much attention is the Thai tax man giving to these sorts of companies?

OK, if I form a company to buy the house, can I use this company to do other business, educational services for example?

Is the price I pay for the house (e.g. 2.5 million) the paid-up capital of the company?

Thank to anyone who can point the way.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The company is the safest way to buy land and a house.

In my case the company was formed with 39% initially.

After the house was bought it was upgraded to 49%.

If the house is your only business, then you will need a lease agreement to rent the house from the company and tax will be payable on the nominal rental.

If you can do other business as well this is beneficial as it helps the tax man

to understand that the company is not just a vehicle to buy land.

The tax and lawyer fees on my company come to around 20K a year.

[Morden]

I'm thinking of buying a house and I'm convinced the way to do it is via a company.

My understanding is that a 39% falang ownership structure attracts less attention than a 49% one.

How much attention is the Thai tax man giving to these sorts of companies?

OK, if I form a company to buy the house, can I use this company to do other business, educational services for example?

Is the price I pay for the house (e.g. 2.5 million) the paid-up capital of the company?

Thank to anyone who can point the way.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

My strong advise to you, JK, is to be very, very careful about using a company for this purpose.

Farang can own a house and so I assume that you are thinking about the rules of ownership for land. As far as I can establish, farang can own up to 1 rai through a partly owned Thai company. That company must first invest a huge amount of money (30m Baht? - I don't remember but you can easily check) in Thai government approved investments for a minimum of 5 years. The company should be a genuine trading company. The advice given to me was that, if you are caught manipulating the regulations in order to own land, you could be forced to sell it. If you fail to sell it within 12 months of being told to do so, it may be confiscated.

You will have plenty of people, including developers and land agents, telling you it's OK. It's up to you. Do you want to take the risk?

[Richard Hall]

In my opionion there is only one legal and sensible way if you do not run an active company or are willing/able to make that very huge investment to acquire 1 rai exclusively for personal residential purposes:

Lease the land for 30 years (with option of another 30 years extension) and then build the house in your own private name. Trying to fool and/or mess with the law will eventually result sooner or later in some unpleasant payback.

What's ownership of a house if it is not in accordance with the law since how can one ever call for legal justice in case of a possible dispute if one has neglected the very same rules before.

Just a thought.

Cheers,

Richard

[astral]

As far as I can establish, farang can own up to 1 rai through a partly owned Thai company. That company must first invest a huge amount of money (30m Baht? - I don't remember but you can easily check) in Thai government approved investments for a minimum of 5 years. The company should be a genuine trading company. The advice given to me was that, if you are caught manipulating the regulations in order to own land, you could be forced to sell it. If you fail to sell it within 12 months of being told to do so, it may be confiscated.

You will have plenty of people, including developers and land agents, telling you it's OK. It's up to you. Do you want to take the risk?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

This is using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

Set up a Thai owned company where you hold 49% of the shares, but you are

the only director who can sign for changes. Your lawyer will advise.

(PM me if you want a name of a reliable laywer in the Pattaya area.)

The company does not need a large capital, 1 million baht will be sufficient.

If you need more then it can come as a director's loan.

Additional activities for the company add to the legitimacy, as inactive companies

will be closed by the company's office.

There are many expats who own their houses in this way,

and have done so to many years.