How Much To Close A Dormant Company

[watchoutfarang]

Hi Guys,

I opened a company in May with a view to buying a house, which I never did. This company is inactive and for tax purpoese thought it might be better to close it down. My lawyer has suggested that the fee for this would be 28K. Is this about right or am I being fed the proverbial bs??

Thanks

wtchoutfarange

[lingling]

I opened a company in May with a view to buying a house, which I never did. This company is inactive and for tax purpoese thought it might be better to close it down. My lawyer has suggested that the fee for this would be 28K. Is this about right or am I being fed the proverbial bs??

Just leave it as is...

[watchoutfarang]

I opened a company in May with a view to buying a house, which I never did. This company is inactive and for tax purpoese thought it might be better to close it down. My lawyer has suggested that the fee for this would be 28K. Is this about right or am I being fed the proverbial bs??

Just leave it as is...

But if I dont close it under the new rules I have todeclare I am paying the 4 employees which in the long run will add to tax problems and moremoney

[Filer]

I opened a company in May with a view to buying a house, which I never did. This company is inactive and for tax purpoese thought it might be better to close it down. My lawyer has suggested that the fee for this would be 28K. Is this about right or am I being fed the proverbial bs??

Just leave it as is...

I did something almost similar in April - actually buying some land and planning to build my own houe to retire. Following the agitations over foreigners controlling Thai companies I have finally decided that Malaysia (which I know and like just as well as Thailand) offers an infinitely superior deal for retirees in all respects (clearly defined residence, property and tax laws), compared with Thailand's vague situation, where I am no longer prepared potentially to risk my life savings. I'm selling my land and will close my company as soon as I'm clear. Although my situation is slightly different, I'll post here any details of close-down costs which I am quoted, as soon as I get them, for information af all.

[Chang_paarp]

28K is in the ballpark to close a company.

It takes about 3 months and requires an audit, several meetings of the company board and a series of adverts in the paper. There may be other things I have missed.

Not sure about the 4 employees part, I thought that was one of the rumours about getting a work permit. You are supposed to do tax returns even for a non trading company. The costs for these may start to add up after a while.

[bangkokrick]

28K is in the ballpark to close a company.

It takes about 3 months and requires an audit, several meetings of the company board and a series of adverts in the paper. There may be other things I have missed.

Not sure about the 4 employees part, I thought that was one of the rumours about getting a work permit. You are supposed to do tax returns even for a non trading company. The costs for these may start to add up after a while.

I opened acompany around five years ago so that i could get a work permit. I had the 4 employee names as required and everything was going swimmingly until at the last minute the accountant asked for me to put 2 million Baht into my bank account. I knew nothing of this at the outset and i did not have that kind of money. I told him not to proceed and paid him up for the work that he had done. Four years later i got a call from the fraud squad asking me to pay them a visit. I arrived with my then Thai girlfriend to find that the company had been opened but never closed. Therefore i was liable for the back tax on 4 Thai employees for the past 4 years. I was shocked and stunned by all of this but the officer insisted that i paid in full. To cut a long story short i contacted the original accountant and he sorted things out at a discount 30000 Baht. With this in mind I recommend that you close the company.

Rick

[Sunbelt Asia]

Hi Guys,

I opened a company in May with a view to buying a house, which I never did. This company is inactive and for tax purpoese thought it might be better to close it down. My lawyer has suggested that the fee for this would be 28K. Is this about right or am I being fed the proverbial bs??

Thanks

wtchoutfarange

Our professional fee is 25K to close down a company. If the company has creditors, it can take up to two years to close down.

Sometimes if a company has never traded. A person will acquire it and save the hassle of closing iot down.

I had the 4 employee names as required and everything was going swimmingly until at the last minute the accountant asked for me to put 2 million Baht into my bank account.

Shocking how bad some advice from accountants can be. In this one sentence alone, I can see two instances of bad advice. 1. You did not need 4 Thai employees to get a work permit... at that time, ione of the criteria that could be met was simply pay a personal income tax of 18K in a year. 2. Based on the Civil Commercial Code, you did not need to pay cash for your shares ( could of been service or equipment, inventory as well. It could as well could of been booked as a directors loan.

But if I dont close it under the new rules I have todeclare I am paying the 4 employees which in the long run will add to tax problems and moremoney

This is after you wrote

I opened a company in May with a view to buying a house, which I never did. This company is inactive and for tax purpoese

These accountants or lawyers that give this advice, should be shot! If its inactive, why on God's green earth do you have 4 Thai employees? You only need this for Immigration and only if you apply for the extension of stay based on business. It certainly does not appear that is the case. So why the heck would they tell you to have 4 Thai employees?

www.sunbeltasiagroup.com

[skippybangkok]

I did something almost similar in April - actually buying some land and planning to build my own houe to retire. Following the agitations over foreigners controlling Thai companies I have finally decided that Malaysia (which I know and like just as well as Thailand) offers an infinitely superior deal for retirees in all respects (clearly defined residence, property and tax laws), compared with Thailand's vague situation, where I am no longer prepared potentially to risk my life savings. I'm selling my land and will close my company as soon as I'm clear. Although my situation is slightly different, I'll post here any details of close-down costs which I am quoted, as soon as I get them, for information af all.

Malaysia superior ? Let me get this right, a muslim country which still has a big chip on its shoulder of being colonized once before by the brits.......

.. have lived there for many a year, dont kid your self. They will call in the chips when it suits them.

Edited December 5, 2006 by skippybangkok

[Tim207]

Our professional fee is 25K to close down a company. If the company has creditors, it can take up to two years to close down.

Sometimes if a company has never traded. A person will acquire it and save the hassle of closing iot down.

www.sunbeltasiagroup.com

That was my first thought. Why pay 25000 to close down a company when plenty of people are paying to start one. Is there a problem with buying out a preformed company? With so many people running for the doors now, maybe I should take one of these dormant companies for future use.

[bangkokrick]

Hi Guys,

I opened a company in May with a view to buying a house, which I never did. This company is inactive and for tax purpoese thought it might be better to close it down. My lawyer has suggested that the fee for this would be 28K. Is this about right or am I being fed the proverbial bs??

Thanks

wtchoutfarange

Our professional fee is 25K to close down a company. If the company has creditors, it can take up to two years to close down.

Sometimes if a company has never traded. A person will acquire it and save the hassle of closing iot down.

I had the 4 employee names as required and everything was going swimmingly until at the last minute the accountant asked for me to put 2 million Baht into my bank account.

Shocking how bad some advice from accountants can be. In this one sentence alone, I can see two instances of bad advice. 1. You did not need 4 Thai employees to get a work permit... at that time, ione of the criteria that could be met was simply pay a personal income tax of 18K in a year. 2. Based on the Civil Commercial Code, you did not need to pay cash for your shares ( could of been service or equipment, inventory as well. It could as well could of been booked as a directors loan.

But if I dont close it under the new rules I have todeclare I am paying the 4 employees which in the long run will add to tax problems and moremoney

This is after you wrote

I opened a company in May with a view to buying a house, which I never did. This company is inactive and for tax purpoese

These accountants or lawyers that give this advice, should be shot! If its inactive, why on God's green earth do you have 4 Thai employees? You only need this for Immigration and only if you apply for the extension of stay based on business. It certainly does not appear that is the case. So why the heck would they tell you to have 4 Thai employees?

www.sunbeltasiagroup.com

Thanks Sunbelt. This is why i have used and will use your services for all my future requirements.

Cheers, Rick

[watchoutfarang]

Our professional fee is 25K to close down a company. If the company has creditors, it can take up to two years to close down.

Sometimes if a company has never traded. A person will acquire it and save the hassle of closing iot down.

www.sunbeltasiagroup.com

That was my first thought. Why pay 25000 to close down a company when plenty of people are paying to start one. Is there a problem with buying out a preformed company? With so many people running for the doors now, maybe I should take one of these dormant companies for future use.

Well mate, if you want to buy mine for 25k you can have it - just PM me since i am going to start the process tomorrow

Cheers

watchoutfarang

[Tim207]

Well mate, if you want to buy mine for 25k you can have it - just PM me since i am going to start the process tomorrow

Cheers

watchoutfarang

You miss the point, intentionally ot not I don't know.

If you are paying a lawyer 25k to shut down, how about paying me 5k to take it? You save 20k and I save by just paying cost of transfer. Good for everyone.

[Sunbelt Asia]

Thanks Sunbelt. This is why i have used and will use your services for all my future requirements.

Cheers, Rick

Rick,

Thank you very much for the warm comments!

www.sunbeltasiagroup.com

[Cyberstar]

Our professional fee is 25K to close down a company. If the company has creditors, it can take up to two years to close down.

Sometimes if a company has never traded. A person will acquire it and save the hassle of closing iot down.

www.sunbeltasiagroup.com

That was my first thought. Why pay 25000 to close down a company when plenty of people are paying to start one. Is there a problem with buying out a preformed company? With so many people running for the doors now, maybe I should take one of these dormant companies for future use.

If the company has been truly dormant, such as OP's, it might be worth buying - provided it is not of the usual lawyer-provided nominee kind. The law regarding nominees apply to all companies - not only landholding ones.

If the company actually has been used to aquire land, later sold, it isn't truly dormant - it has been trading in the about worst of all businesses - "land speculation" is probably what the authorities would call it. If its Thai shareholders also are shareholders of 300 similiar land trading companies --- then, looking at it with the right (wrong) glasses, it could look like a major land speculation scheme.

I wouldn't touch such a company even if I were paid 10 times what lawyers charge to close it down (as much as it can be closed down)

[PattayaXpat]

I've got to wonder how easy it would be for them to catch up with you if you just walk away. For example if you have a company registered in BKK but you leave thailand and come back a year later to Pattaya... and only stay for 6 months.

I would guess that they would some how have to get info from immigration of your comings and goings and I would say that's a long way off!

[junkofdavid2]

QUESTION FOR SUNBELT, or Others:

With most of these dormant companies, THE BOOKS AREN'T IN ORDER... and many monthly govt. required filings probably have not been done and are way overdue... may have even possibly not filed an Annual Audit in the past year(s) as required by law.... sales and expenses (with lost receipts, etc.) don't tally with bank statements.

How big a problem does this cause for the new owner ???

(and/or old owner/s as well?)

Edited April 2, 2007 by junkofdavid2

[selftaopath]

Sunbelt Asia quoted me a minimal fee of Bt 51,000.00. I would love to do this myself if possible. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[12DrinkMore]

Already many threads on this topic.

Stand by to be ripped off. I paid some 18,000 to close a company which had never traded. Anything above this for such a company is simply putting cash into the pockets of the vultures, who will doubtless spend it on golf, whisky and the mia nois.

[dressedingreen]

Already many threads on this topic.

Stand by to be ripped off. I paid some 18,000 to close a company which had never traded. Anything above this for such a company is simply putting cash into the pockets of the vultures, who will doubtless spend it on golf, whisky and the mia nois.

I closed a company late last year, that had been used for 3 years to 'hold' my house. The company I had used for yearly accounts closed it for me. Standard prodecure. Total cost 15,000 Baht. I'd been quoted 35,000 - 40,000 by law firms

DIG

[12DrinkMore]

Already many threads on this topic.

Stand by to be ripped off. I paid some 18,000 to close a company which had never traded. Anything above this for such a company is simply putting cash into the pockets of the vultures, who will doubtless spend it on golf, whisky and the mia nois.

I closed a company late last year, that had been used for 3 years to 'hold' my house. The company I had used for yearly accounts closed it for me. Standard prodecure. Total cost 15,000 Baht. I'd been quoted 35,000 - 40,000 by law firms

DIG

I think the way it works is that the law firms subcontract the work to their pet accountants for around 10 to 15,000 and head off to the golf course in the Benz after a hard minute's work making a phone call. :D

Here's what is involved....

1. Provide documents and register the company dissolution with the Ministry of Commerce.

The Company can be dissolved by a special resolution. As for a special resolution, the text, at least, should have the resolution to dissolve and to appoint a liquidator(s). The dissolution of the Company must be registered to MOC within 14 days after the date of dissolution by the liquidator. After that within 14 days, the liquidator must notify the public by 2 successive advertisements at least in a local paper and send a notice to by registered letter to each creditors of the Company.

2. Provide balance sheets of the present financial year of the company and of the liquidation for Ministry of commerce and Revenue Department

Such financial statement is needed to be approved by authorized auditor and annual ordinary shareholder meeting within 4 months after the end of their annual financial period and it will be submitted to Ministry of Commerce within 1 month after the meeting approval. And for the dissolution, the Company has to provide a balance sheet for liquidation also.

3. Provide accounting and tax report and cancel VAT registration with the Revenue Department

The Company should cancel VAT registration within 15 days from the date of dissolution, but if the Company has no VAT registration, it is required to cancel tax ID card only.

4. Provide documents and register the liquidation of the company with the Ministry of Commerce

After the Meeting approves the balance sheet and an account of the liquidation, the Company must register to MOC within 14 days from its date. Such registration is taken as being the end of the liquidation.

Simplifying that lot for a company which has not traded.

a. Notify MOC of the liquidation using a standard form.

b. Place two standard format adverts in the cheapest local paper announcing the liquidation.

c. Produce and have audited the final accounts; which are trivial as the company has not traded.

d. Cancel tax ID using a standard form.

e. Register the liquidation with the MOC using a standard form.

And that is going to cost HOW MUCH???? Those lawyers will be laughing all the way to the karaoke bar and the mia noi's flat.

:D

[Susamma]

Thanks Sunbelt. This is why i have used and will use your services for all my future requirements.

Cheers, Rick

Rick,

Thank you very much for the warm comments!

www.sunbeltasiagroup.com

Probably best if you ask for them in writing. Sunbelt don't get many compliments. Don't know why. Probably because in my experience and opinion they don't do a good job.

Fool some of the people all of the time or all of the people some of the time. Take any one from two.

[rufanuf]

Hi Guys,

I opened a company in May with a view to buying a house, which I never did. This company is inactive and for tax purpoese thought it might be better to close it down. My lawyer has suggested that the fee for this would be 28K. Is this about right or am I being fed the proverbial bs??

Thanks

wtchoutfarange

Our professional fee is 25K to close down a company. If the company has creditors, it can take up to two years to close down.

Sometimes if a company has never traded. A person will acquire it and save the hassle of closing iot down.

I had the 4 employee names as required and everything was going swimmingly until at the last minute the accountant asked for me to put 2 million Baht into my bank account.

Shocking how bad some advice from accountants can be. In this one sentence alone, I can see two instances of bad advice. 1. You did not need 4 Thai employees to get a work permit... at that time, ione of the criteria that could be met was simply pay a personal income tax of 18K in a year. 2. Based on the Civil Commercial Code, you did not need to pay cash for your shares ( could of been service or equipment, inventory as well. It could as well could of been booked as a directors loan.

This is after you wrote

These accountants or lawyers that give this advice, should be shot! If its inactive, why on God's green earth do you have 4 Thai employees? You only need this for Immigration and only if you apply for the extension of stay based on business. It certainly does not appear that is the case. So why the heck would they tell you to have 4 Thai employees?

www.sunbeltasiagroup.com

In my perosnal experience you guys are the worst of the lot from whom to take advice...in fact the reason why I am having to close my company! Its less hassle then getting the struxture you guys put in place striaght! Since your sponsors of TV I dont expect my post to last long here!