Shutting Co Ltd Down, Or Idle; Any Difference?

[MacChine]

I cannot afford to be in business anymore, the yearly audit at,... "15,000 + " is the final straw

but have a company I might be able to sell. I am seeking info on differences in shutting Co. Ltd down, vs. simply putting it in idle so as to possibly sell. Mainly I wish to NOT spend money.

Also the accountant tells me if I simply stop activity , the accounting etc , I may face deportation and blacklisting, any truth to this ?

I may just leave , how long would l it take for the govt to catch up with the fact I have stopped activity?

Anyone else feel like they are a chunk of lamb living in a shark cage?

[taxin]

If your yearly fees is just 15,000 you shouldn't (or dont) have a company !

Shut it down, dont just leave it "idle". Your accountant is right but I wouldn't go as far as saying you would be deported. If anything it would be the other way round, if you just walk away and leave the company hoping that it simply goes away you are wrong, stick around and the authorities will catch up with you and you might never be able to leave the country, the slightest tax bill can snowball into something pretty big, the compounding interest on fines here is scary !

If you intend to leave the kingdom never to return then walk away, if you intend to stick around then shut it down correctly. Bear in mind that closing a company is more difficult than opening one !

Unless your company has assets its worth nothing, its a liability and you wont be able to sell it.

[tombkk]

I agree with taxin. If you leave it idle, it will still exist, i.e. you have to file the tax reports and do the audit. If you don't do the audit, the managing director is violating the law.

So, if you don't want to pay for the audit, you'll have to close the company down properly. Kindly note that this will also cost you money, and typically takes longer than opening a company.

If you want to sell the company, you should have a selling point: Why should anybody buy your company, which may have hidden liabilities, rather than opening a new one?

[Seizhin]

I actually had a local boss once who shared me his experience about this.

He decided to "idle."

We know it's not a proper practise, but considering how difficult it is to close a Co., LTD. (check on your account for the pass years, etc.) and the cost, he opted not to do anything, until now, for about 20 years.

According to what he told me, he didnt make much profit, with a little loss, thus his decision.

Anyways, he's a local so it doesnt matter much to him, but if you're a foreigners, best to do it according to the law.

[Sunbelt Asia]

It is better to close the company down and make sure it is done properly so that no future problem could arise. The cost for closing down a company is approximately 50-60,000 Baht depending on the annual audit. If you decide to close today, apart from the 2012 year end audit you will also have to complete the 2013 (January) audit as well.

But should you keep the company idle and await for someone to buy you out or simply just take over your share, relieving you from the responsibility of being a director and a shareholder then it would depend on how quickly you could transfer the company. If you look for a buyer you will still need to file the annual and semi-annual audits.

I’m assuming that your company is also equipped with VAT, which means that the company has a monthly responsibility of filing, even though it is completely idle Failure to file the VATwill also incur late submission fees.

These days, information is linked between the Revenue Department, the Department of Business Development and Police.

Usually, they try to contact you to settle the any outstanding penalty payments. If you refuse to pay then you could be blacklisted or more importantly, you may find you can't leave the country if you are a director of a company that owes taxes. We have represented a client that had this happen; they were flagged at the airport when trying to leave.

It might be in your best interest to dissolve this company permanently, then you would not have to worry about leaving or returning to Thailand.

The cost of dissolving a company is approximately 50-60,000 Baht, and would take approximately 3-6 months to complete (depending on the liquidation process – if any).

[sunbeltlegal][/sunbeltlegal]

[Seizhin]

It is better to close the company down and make sure it is done properly so that no future problem could arise. The cost for closing down a company is approximately 50-60,000 Baht depending on the annual audit. If you decide to close today, apart from the 2012 year end audit you will also have to complete the 2013 (January) audit as well.

But should you keep the company idle and await for someone to buy you out or simply just take over your share, relieving you from the responsibility of being a director and a shareholder then it would depend on how quickly you could transfer the company. If you look for a buyer you will still need to file the annual and semi-annual audits.

I’m assuming that your company is also equipped with VAT, which means that the company has a monthly responsibility of filing, even though it is completely idle Failure to file the VATwill also incur late submission fees.

These days, information is linked between the Revenue Department, the Department of Business Development and Police.

Usually, they try to contact you to settle the any outstanding penalty payments. If you refuse to pay then you could be blacklisted or more importantly, you may find you can't leave the country if you are a director of a company that owes taxes. We have represented a client that had this happen; they were flagged at the airport when trying to leave.

It might be in your best interest to dissolve this company permanently, then you would not have to worry about leaving or returning to Thailand.

The cost of dissolving a company is approximately 50-60,000 Baht, and would take approximately 3-6 months to complete (depending on the liquidation process – if any).

[sunbeltlegal][/sunbeltlegal]

Thanks for the great info.

Though I'm curious, do it cost this much to close a company in other countries?

[Sunbelt Asia]

It would depend on which country of course. Some countries will be much more expensive, others not as much. It would depend on the laws of the individual country as to what is required to shut a company down.

[sunbeltlegal][/sunbeltlegal]

[sunray69]

The cost for closing down a company is approximately 50-60,000 Baht depending on the annual audit.

The normal price for closing an LTD company properly is about 25.000 THB, I have gone through this process once with my Thai accountant... Of course Sunbelt is charging gold for this service... Consult your Thai book keeper or have Sunbelt to give you a better fee, double price is simply unacceptable.