Help On Limited Partnerships Needed

[rockytimeshere]

Hi,

Can anyone help with the following please.

If me and my Thai wife want to form a Limited Partnership, with her as the manager, can we:

Purchase land and me obtain WP ok ?

How do we qualify as a 'Thai' rather than 'alien' organisation, because she pays in more of the 1m Baht capital than me ? How is that checked ?

Does immigration require 4 employees when giving a long-term extension to stay ?

And please I understand the parts about her controlling it all, my name not on bank account etc, I don't need the helpful warnings about that side of it.

Cheers for any help,

Edited June 4, 2006 by rockytimeshere

[Sunbelt Asia]

Purchase land and me obtain WP ok ?

All depends on the region of Thailand and the Land office and the business objective. Odds are high if she has your same last name, you will not be able to buy land thru a limited partnership.

She will have to show how she got the funds to invest in the land.

Obtaining the work permit is ok. Must have cash in the bank for a Limited partnership.

How do we qualify as a 'Thai' rather than 'alien' organisation, because she pays in more of the 1m Baht capital than me ? How is that checked ?

It's how your partnership was registered.

Does immigration require 4 employees when giving a long-term extension to stay ?

Based on business... yes 4 Thai employees per work permit.

Based on support of a Thai national, then no Thai employees are required.

And please I understand the parts about her controlling it all, my name not on bank account etc, I don't need the helpful warnings about that side of it.

Ok then please don't scroll down. For others please do scroll down and read a comment.

www.lawyer.th.com

This is a company organization that has no advantage to the foreigner and has lots of risk in being the minor partner.

www.lawyer.th.com

[rockytimeshere]

All depends on the region of Thailand and the Land office and the business objective. Odds are high if she has your same last name, you will not be able to buy land thru a limited partnership.

She will have to show how she got the funds to invest in the land.

Thanks for the prompt repsonse Sunbelt, yes we do have the same surname.

Doesn't look too promising then.

What do you think about a Limited Company, her and 6 other Thais, and me obtaining a WP working for her company ? Obviously the 'control' aspect will not be there again.

Would that make it easier to purchase land ?

Cheers,

Edited June 4, 2006 by rockytimeshere

[Backpack_thailand]

I have a Ltd.Part. with my wife and we didn't need any capital at all.

1. We went down to the local labour office and registerd our company name, giving them the logo, map, wife's house papers, ID card etc.

2. The paperwork was drawn up stating that my wife's "share" of the partnership is 1.1m Baht and mine was 900K.

3. We gave details of all company ventures, i.e what we will be trading as.

4. Application put in for work permit, back within 3 months.

5. Found a good accountant to ensure we pay tax on the minimum (45,000 I think?), but I pay tax equivalent of earnings 50,000 Baht per month so as to get a 1 year visa and never have to leave the country and don't have to show any money in the bank.

All in, the costs of set up were around 6,000 Th.Baht doing it ourselves.

Just be sure to pay your taxes on time and you shouldn't have any bother. There's an annual 10,000 government fee to pay and a couple of small ones along the way but nothing to hefty.

It's true you are more secure with a Ltd.Company but in my case I have very little actual "assets" so it's not a concern for me. We have two bank accounts operating on behalf of the business, one in my name and one in my wife's name. You never have to show your bank statements as long as all your tax records are in order.

You also don't have the added pressure of having to employ Thais who constantly need checking up on. If you do require additional staff you can just get them on a contract basis.

I stress though, and I'm sure Greg @Sunbelt will back me up, you MUST pay your taxes religiously. Any problems regarding your tax and it will only lead to trouble.

My accountants fee is just 1,500 Baht a month and the minumum tax to pay is generally around 4,000 Baht.

For VAT purposes, you are responsible for covering all the VAT issued on receipts so if you have a good earning month you'll pay extra tax (only normal I suppose!).

Buying land, can't answer that one I'm afraid as it's something which I'm not planning to do. Our house belongs to us (51/49%) but as we're married, due to recent changes in the law if we ever split up I can claim half. However your marriage MUST be registered to be able to go through legal channels in the event of any split between you and your wife.

I presume it would work the same way with land...???

For your visa, a non-imm with all your paperwork in order and you don't need to leave the country again. Just re-new your visa each year for 1,900 Baht.

Easy peasy, Lemon Squeezy!

As is normal in Thailand, there's paperwork piling up to skyscraper levels whenever you do anything, but it's the local system and if you abide by the rules then you'll be fine!

[rockytimeshere]

Thanks a lot Backpack, thats a great help.

Still need to check out the land part though, as that's the main driver for it.

Cheers,

[rishi]

I have a ltd. co. together with my wife who holds 50.95% of the shares and some family-members holding 5 shares a 100 baht each. As I read Backpackers post, there really isn't much practical difference between this and a ltd. part. regarding paperworks, money, taxpayment, getting a workpermit, etc.

The only noticeable differences for you to consider seem to be everything related to:

1) Your liabilities.

2) You legal rights.

3) Your means to be in control of your situation.

4) Purchase of land.

No doubt you'll be better off with a ltd. co. with respect to 1) - 3). As for the purchase of land - that issue is pretty much under questioning these days. Have a thorough look in the "News clipping" and "Real Estate" subfora of this site.