Any legal buff's can answer this ?

[Raffle 0]

I thought this might be the best section to post this in.

In my local last night, this guy I know comes in, he's been in LOS from Dec 07, (newbie)

So he's bragging he's bought a house, and a business .

I said to him that you cannot buy a house in Thailand, but he replied that you can if you have your own business , he says he has a pizza franchise and he owns that as well.

Personally I think he’s been scammed big time.

Inquiring minds would like to know what’s the deal here.

Thanks

[joekicker 53]

It is possible to "own" land, house and business, depending on his nationality as well as other circumstances. It is also possible he gets a kick out of telling whoppers.

 

Not exactly anything, but almost anything is possible.

[hybrid 1]

farangs cannot own houses as such

nor can they own land as such

however you can have your own company which in turn owns the land and the house.

this is how its done if you do not want to put it into a thai persons names eg. your tilak

not a new method, its been around for ages and used to be the same in bulgaria even.

the only question is how many percent of the company to have in your own name, some say 39% others say 49%. either way its as safe as any method of owning anything in thailand

also most people who own a house/land in thailand don't have a trading company that owns it. ie its a shell company paying minimal tax etc.

common practice though, you can read about is on most property sites.

lordflash, or skygod may wish to add to this as they are also in this "trade"

[Gary 4,119]

There are thousands of these bogus companies that own property. Whether the government will ever prosecute those who have these companies is a BIG unknown. As for myself, I like to sleep well at night and if I had to worry about some Thai politician getting a hard on for farangs, that would definitely cause me to lose sleep.

 

The worst part is the fact that some scum bag lawyers are STILL setting up these companies knowing full well that they are illegal. Even sadder is that some farangs are naive enough to believe their spiel. I would NOT like to pay an accountant and have to file a tax return for a company that does no business.

[marleyboy 140]

As already posted, you can buy a house in Thailand, as long as you have a business .I have 1 or 2 friends there who have done this. I used the easier route! as my wife is Thai its all in her name!

Edited June 22, 2008 by marleyboy

[hybrid 1]

There are thousands of these bogus companies that own property. Whether the government will ever prosecute those who have these companies is a BIG unknown. As for myself, I like to sleep well at night and if I had to worry about some Thai politician getting a hard on for farangs, that would definitely cause me to lose sleep.

 

The worst part is the fact that some scum bag lawyers are STILL setting up these companies knowing full well that they are illegal. Even sadder is that some farangs are naive enough to believe their spiel. I would NOT like to pay an accountant and have to file a tax return for a company that does no business.

 

the accounts that are filed do show buisness i think .. they have to show apprecaition in the land price and as such a gain in capital. therefore tax is paid.

i think some ppl do it and pay zero tax , these are most certailnly risky

average price is 15,000 baht per year to do the accounts and have them audited , there are much cheaper avenues however what corners they cut i do not know

[hwells 6]

There is a section in the property ownership laws that has to do with owning land after a BOI investment has been made. Basically if a farang had invested 40,000,000 over a certain timeframe in a Board of Investment recognised venture they where entitled to purchase up to 1 rai of land for residential purposes only. This is how it has been explained to me but I know of no one who has done this. The site below has some info regarding land purchase/leasing as well as links to other judical matters.

 

http://www.thailand-lawyer.com/land_purchase.html

 

As for the bloke at the local having this sort of deal who the hell knows. Would find it hard to believe that all the paperwork could be put in place between Dec 07 & now. Anyone that has dealt with government depts here will understand what i am talking about.

[JohnnyK 28]

You can buy a house and in your own name as well, doesn't have to be owned by a business.

The gov't doesn't give a shit who owns a pile of bricks.

Buying land is the thorny issue.

The gov't gives a shit about this.

[pattysteve 34]

Haha,the trouble comes when a dispute over the land arises your pile of bricks is worth shit.

[Gary 4,119]

the accounts that are filed do show buisness i think .. they have to show apprecaition in the land price and as such a gain in capital. therefore tax is paid.

i think some ppl do it and pay zero tax , these are most certailnly risky

average price is 15,000 baht per year to do the accounts and have them audited , there are much cheaper avenues however what corners they cut i do not know

 

A friend of mine had a legitimate Thai company and was doing business. Unfortunately the business was making no money but he was still forced to pay taxes. I'm certainly NOT an expert but paying taxes for income that you didn't have besides paying an accountant and lawyer didn't seem like a good thing to do.

 

To make this long story short, he was forced by the government to close the company because it showed no profit during a three year period. The only people who profited from his business were the accountant, lawyer and the government.

[joekicker 53]

A friend of mine had a legitimate Thai company and was doing business. Unfortunately the business was making no money but he was still forced to pay taxes.

 

Absolutely right. You WILL pay business tax - not only if you make no money but even if you lose a huge amount. This is by far the best reason NOT to just set up a business for the sole purpose of owning a home, say. Good stuff, Gary.

[barry_bonds 1]

A friend of mine had a legitimate Thai company and was doing business. Unfortunately the business was making no money but he was still forced to pay taxes. I'm certainly NOT an expert but paying taxes for income that you didn't have besides paying an accountant and lawyer didn't seem like a good thing to do.

 

To make this long story short, he was forced by the government to close the company because it showed no profit during a three year period. The only people who profited from his business were the accountant, lawyer and the government.

 

 

That is reason enough not to buy property through a business. Too much government regulation that is subject to change! Can you imagine owning a house which is contingent upon keep the business open? There is no retirement in this equation. There was so much hoopla about buying condos through a business, when the 49% farang buyers limit was met. I passed on those opportunities, as I rather picked a property in my own name and not in a Thai company's name.

[Feileacan 32]

Where's his Pizza business located. If he didn't tell you, then he's bullshitting