Exportig Small Stuff

[Rossi]

I would like to sell small stuff from Thailand to Europe, Australia and US. All items can be sent as Postal Packages by Air Mail. The only thing I found until now regarding that is the following:

Export of Postal Items

Export of postal items to foreign countries can be conducted at the post office nationwide in accordance with the regulations of the Communications Authority of Thailand without being inspected by the Customs officers under the following conditions:

1. Such items are not prohibited for export.

2. Such items are not subject to export license(s).

3. Such items are not subject to export duty or government fee(s).

4. Such items, regardless of the number of packings, are collectively valued at no more than 10,000 baht for each export or valued of no more than 5,000 baht for precious stones, jewelry, gold and white gold jewelry.

5. Such items are not subject to duty drawback or duty compensation.

6. Such items do not require a re -importation certificate.

1) The first Problem is, that I can nowhere find lists in the internet telling me, which items are prohibited, are subject to export license(s) or export duty or government fee(s). Can you help me with some links?

2) I would like to open an offshore company because the taxes are lower. Can I carry on my business in Thailand (purchasing and sending) without having a local company and a work permit? There will be no income in Thailand, as all the money will be paid into an offshore account. Trading will be done via Internet. As mentioned there will be no container business, only postal packages with low value.

Thanks for your help

ROSSI

[shedman]

I would like to sell small stuff from Thailand to Europe, Australia and US. All items can be sent as Postal Packages by Air Mail. The only thing I found until now regarding that is the following:

Export of Postal Items

Export of postal items to foreign countries can be conducted at the post office nationwide in accordance with the regulations of the Communications Authority of Thailand without being inspected by the Customs officers under the following conditions:

1. Such items are not prohibited for export.

2. Such items are not subject to export license(s). 

3. Such items are not subject to export duty or government fee(s). 

4. Such items, regardless of the number of packings, are collectively valued at no more than 10,000 baht for each export or valued of no more than 5,000 baht for precious stones, jewelry, gold and white gold jewelry. 

5. Such items are not subject to duty drawback or duty compensation.

6. Such items do not require a re -importation certificate.

1) The first Problem is, that I can nowhere find lists in the internet telling me, which items are prohibited, are subject to export license(s) or export duty or government fee(s). Can you help me with some links?

2) I would like to open an offshore company because the taxes are lower. Can I carry on my business in Thailand (purchasing and sending) without having a local company and a work permit? There will be no income in Thailand, as all the money will be paid into an offshore account. Trading will be done via Internet. As mentioned there will be no container business, only postal packages with low value.

Thanks for your help

ROSSI

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hello Rossi, which country were you using for the offshore account? Singapore

We are also setting up in Thailand so it would be just of interest to me :-)

As I understand it the general tax ruling in most countries is that whereever the work is being performed is the country wher the taxes are incurred and should be paid (this is for internet transactions anyway).

[Rossi]

Not sure yet which country is the best for an offshore company.

Nobody here who can give me some advice on the subject?

[~G~]

1) The first Problem is, that I can nowhere find lists in the internet telling me, which items are prohibited, are subject to export license(s) or export duty or government fee(s). Can you help me with some links?~

This is pretty rare, for items Thailand has a special economical interest in, such as rice, or culturaly sensive, such as Buddha images.

2) I would like to open an offshore company because the taxes are lower. Can I carry on my business in Thailand (purchasing and sending) without having a local company and a work permit? There will be no income in Thailand, as all the money will be paid into an offshore account. Trading will be done via Internet. As mentioned there will be no container business, only postal packages with low value.

This is not easy to answer. If you are looking for someone that will say this is 100% legal, than, no, technically it isn't. It is work and therefore requires a work permit. If you want to know whether it's risky to do, then probably not.

[clokwise]

I would like to sell small stuff from Thailand to Europe, Australia and US. All items can be sent as Postal 1) The first Problem is, that I can nowhere find lists in the internet telling me, which items are prohibited, are subject to export license(s) or export duty or government fee(s). Can you help me with some links?

My wife has her own business here and she ships packages int'l several times a week via EMS. She's not a registered business in Thailand, and she has never once been asked to provide evidence of what was inside the parcels. In fact they never even ask her to fill out that green customs label, which has never been a problem on the receiving end either.

She accepts money via our personal accounts in Sydney, the US, Hong Kong, plus paypal once in a blue moon. She is not a registered business in any of those coutries either.

There may be actual rules and regulations, but so far she has yet to encounter any.

[Rossi]

Thanks for the replies.

I know that practically there is not a high risk to run into trouble, because I'm doing this business already for a couple of months without any problems and know from friends who do this already for years! Nevertheless I would like to know the theoretical way and costs to go legal. Therefore I need to know first what exactly is legal. And there is the problem. I don't want some dumb officers telling me shit about regulations which are not existing. I want to know them myself!!! If I legally don't need to declare my packages that I send (which would mean that I don't need a export license), than I could imagine that I don't need a work permit, right? And as every business in the world has to declare profits, I can choose to do this in a tax-heaven and still beeing legally staying in Thailand. Even in my home country Germany there would be no problem as long as there is a double taxation agreement between the country I declare tax and Germany. Maybe now you understand my request better?

If this does not work, what would be the minimum requirement to do this business here in Thailand? I don't intend to employ an accoutant, rent an office, file tax monthly,... as this would cause more costs than my profit is :-) A foreign company (sitting offshore) would need a business in Thailand to purchase here?Can't really imagine that. Actually I'm just bringing the goods from the seller to the post office....

[~G~]

If I legally don't need to declare my packages that I send (which would mean that I don't need a export license), than I could imagine that I don't need a work permit, right? ~

Yes, you could imagine that, but it will not be in line with the law... A Noodle vendor on the street does not need any special license, does it mean a farang can sell noodles on the street? no!

If this does not work, what would be the minimum requirement to do this business here in Thailand? I don't intend to employ an accoutant, rent an office, file tax monthly,... as this would cause more costs than my profit is :-) A foreign company (sitting offshore) would need a business in Thailand to purchase here?

You could open a representative office, which is a "lighter" legal body than a company, but you will need to show that the main company offshore does exist.

[astral]

Here is a link for Offshore companies .