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business registrations
take away the headaches of opening a company in thailand
Planning on opening a company in thailand? Our expert team take the headaches and red tape away & explain everything to you every step of the way
registering a company
So you are you want to open a company in Thailand? Thailand can be a very good place to make a business and the benefits of running your own company in paradise can be very rewarding, however the set up and running can be a difficult procedure to understand especially for foreigners since the laws are different here & since Thai isn’t your native language.
Typical foreigner owned businesses fall into the Co,Ltd category and in order to obtain a work permit the company must have a registered paid up capital of a minimum 2,000,000 THB.
A 2,000,000 THB capital company is entitled to apply for 1 foreigner work permit, if you require 2 foreigner work permits the company must have a registered paid up capital of 4,000,000 THB and so on.
Separately to the registered paid up capital requirements per work permit there is also a Thai staff requirement of 4 employed Thai staff per 1 foreigner work permit issued to be taken into consideration.
Meaning that a 2,000,000 THB company requires 4 Thai employees to be registered and a 4,000,000 THB company with 2 foreigner work permits requires 8 Thai employees to be registered.
It is also important to know that a foreigner can only own a maximum of 49% shares with the remaining 51% majority shares required to be Thai owned, therefore you will need some Thai nationals in your team or as a business partner.
There is an exception to this rule for American citizens under a special treaty.
get the right advice & help
The law in thailand can be a difficult thing to understand, our expert team of attorneys keep you on the right track
Our team have a wealth of experience in the requirements to open and maintain a foreigner ran business in Thailand as well as all of the accounting, visa and work permit factors which all interlink together as part of the process.
financial requirements for foreign owned / ran businesses
As a foreigner working and running a business in Thailand you will be required by law to pay taxes. The taxes for a foreigner with a work permit known as income tax is a % of approximately 3.6% of the minimum salary requirement listed in your work permit. The minimum salary requirement varies from nationality to nationality but to give you an example the minimum required salary to be listed in a British nationality work permit is 50,000 THB, this equates to 1,792 THB income tax to be paid monthly.
Certain Asian countries such as the Philippines have a lower minimum salary declaration of 35,000 THB thus resulting in paying less income tax.
If you are the business owner / employer then you will also need to keep in mind that there is a social security payment fund for Thai employees, typically the employee pay 5% deductible from their salary and the employer contributes 5%, if you are really kind hearted you can choose to pay all of it for your employees although this is not law.
Salaries up until 15,000 THB for Thai employees have a social security payment percentage of 10%. Meaning if an employees salary was 10,000 THB per month then the social security monthly contribution payment required would be 1,000 THB, with the employer paying 500 THB and the employee paying 500 THB. The percentage rates adjust on salaries over 15,000 THB.
Foreigner owned businesses tax payments can directly affect your visa & work permit renwals
In order to renew long stay NON’B business visas and work permits you will be required to show your tax payment reports for both your personal income tax as well as paid up social security reports for your 4 Thai employees.
Failure to pay these taxes will result in your visa or work permit application being rejected which is why it is always best to hire a professional accounting firm such as ourselves to handle your business tax affairs & payments.
YOUR visa and work permit links to your business
There is a direct link between your foreigner income tax payments, Thai employee Social security payments, yearly financial balance sheet statements and your work permit & visa renewals.
When applying for your yearly extension of stay at immigration internally inside of Thailand the immigration office will require you to produce the printed income tax payment reports as well as the Thai employees social security payment reports. Along side of those you will also be required to produce copies of your company yearly financial audit balance sheet report, some immigration offices ask to see the previous 2 or 3 years worth so it is important to be paid up correctly.
The Thai Immigration bureau reserves the right to refuse visa renewals if the company has not made a profit in the last 3 years.
Our team of experienced accountants are aware of this and advise and adjust accordingly.