Buying a condo under company name

[Xfreak0000]

Hello?

I have been contacting real estate agents to find the right condo unit for me and one of the agent told me that I can buy Thai ownership condo unit by establishing a company so the condo will be owned by my Thai company.

This is my 1st time to hear that I can buy a Thai owned condo unit under my company name and I am quite tempted to do it because I can save quite some money.

Please, share your knowledge for the below questions.

1. can this real estate company be owned by me 100% share? or is it the same as other biz company that Thai has to own 51% share and 49% is by foreigner?

2. The agent told me this is common way to own a condo because this way gives foreigers chance to own a condo under Thai name. Is it true? and is there anyone who did this by yourself?

3. Would you recommend this? or how do you think? The condo price is lower than foreign owned unit price by about 20%.

4. For re-selling, the agent told me that I could re-sell the condo with my company so technically it is actually selling the company's ownership to the buyer and take the money personally. Is this legal? In my country, the money from selling companies goes to the company account and you can get the money by dividends by paying dividend tax and income tax.

5. Can I make a company credit card and use as I want without any limitations? 

6. How about rental income tax? Tax report and issuing invoices to tenants?

7. Any advice? or thoughts that may help?

 

 

 

 

[david555]

22 minutes ago, Xfreak0000 said:

Hello?

I have been contacting real estate agents to find the right condo unit for me and one of the agent told me that I can buy Thai ownership condo unit by establishing a company so the condo will be owned by my Thai company.

This is my 1st time to hear that I can buy a Thai owned condo unit under my company name and I am quite tempted to do it because I can save quite some money.

Please, share your knowledge for the below questions.

1. can this real estate company be owned by me 100% share? or is it the same as other biz company that Thai has to own 51% share and 49% is by foreigner?

2. The agent told me this is common way to own a condo because this way gives foreigers chance to own a condo under Thai name. Is it true? and is there anyone who did this by yourself?

3. Would you recommend this? or how do you think? The condo price is lower than foreign owned unit price by about 20%.

4. For re-selling, the agent told me that I could re-sell the condo with my company so technically it is actually selling the company's ownership to the buyer and take the money personally. Is this legal? In my country, the money from selling companies goes to the company account and you can get the money by dividends by paying dividend tax and income tax.

5. Can I make a company credit card and use as I want without any limitations? 

6. How about rental income tax? Tax report and issuing invoices to tenants?

7. Any advice? or thoughts that may help?

 

 

 

 

.........and still they come ....

[Xfreak0000]

david555.

What do you mean by that?

[js89]

28 minutes ago, Xfreak0000 said:

1. can this real estate company be owned by me 100% share? or is it the same as other biz company that Thai has to own 51% share and 49% is by foreigner?

 

Unless you are a Thai or an American citizen, you cannot own a Thai company more than 49%

 

28 minutes ago, Xfreak0000 said:

3. Would you recommend this? or how do you think? The condo price is lower than foreign owned unit price by about 20%.

 

They probably have some kind of illegal nominee agreement that they will try to use. And the risk of you being shafted by your Thai nominee, the laywers or the agent is fairly high. NOT recommended.

 

29 minutes ago, Xfreak0000 said:

4. For re-selling, the agent told me that I could re-sell the condo with my company so technically it is actually selling the company's ownership to the buyer and take the money personally. Is this legal? In my country, the money from selling companies goes to the company account and you can get the money by dividends by paying dividend tax and income tax.

 

 

If you're the shareholder of the company and you sell the company, then yes you pocket the money personally in your capacity as the owner of the shares. If you sell a company asset but not the company, then the money goes into the company and you need to liquidate the company and issue a liquidation dividend.

[whitespider - RIP]

Buy in your own name. If they rack the price up for foreign ownership just do what you would do at home - make a lower offer and wait and see what they say.

[david555]

2 minutes ago, Xfreak0000 said:

david555.

What do you mean by that?

it is possible.... but it is a bypassing of the original reason they make 51 % Thai name and 49% for Foreign name of condo possessions ....but in essence of the origin of the law it is illegal use of company form .. .... .....unless you are genuine trading with that company

[js89]

If you really want to know how to do this in a safe fashion, send me a PM and I will let you know.

It requires both an offshore and a local company, as well as a Thai shareholder. However, it is a technique commonly used by venture capital companies and foreign corporations to ensure beneficial ownership / control over an asset. I have done it many times before (for my previous employer).

It is expensive in terms of lawyers bills. If you're only going to save a few thousand USD then its not worth it. However, if the savings are substantial (I would say at least $20,000 USD or more), then it may be worthwhile.

[Xfreak0000]

1 hour ago, js89 said:

If you really want to know how to do this in a safe fashion, send me a PM and I will let you know.

It requires both an offshore and a local company, as well as a Thai shareholder. However, it is a technique commonly used by venture capital companies and foreign corporations to ensure beneficial ownership / control over an asset. I have done it many times before (for my previous employer).

It is expensive in terms of lawyers bills. If you're only going to save a few thousand USD then its not worth it. However, if the savings are substantial (I would say at least $20,000 USD or more), then it may be worthwhile.

js89.

I sent you a message.

[Xfreak0000]

4 hours ago, david555 said:

it is possible.... but it is a bypassing of the original reason they make 51 % Thai name and 49% for Foreign name of condo possessions ....but in essence of the origin of the law it is illegal use of company form .. .... .....unless you are genuine trading with that company

So, it is illegal. Thanks. I don't want to do anything illegal.

[KittenKong]

Agents here lie. All of them. Either out-and-out lies or lies by omission which to me is the same thing. Unlike in many Western countries, nothing here requires them to do otherwise. Either way only a fool would ever trust anything that any agent here says.

There are many pitfalls in company name ownership and many hidden costs (opening the business, yearly auditing/taxes, closing the business, to mention just those). The legality of company ownership is dubious at best. It it also much easier to be defrauded out of company-owned property than it is to lose property that is in your own name. Anyone who has known Thailand for a long time will also know that they are gradually introducing laws and applying them, albeit very slowly. So company ownership will probably only get harder and more expensive over time.

Savings can be made on company-name properties because few sensible people want to get involved with them, so prices have to drop to arouse any interest. The "saving" only really reflects the true price, and when you come to sell you will also probably have to take a similar hit on the price.

[wayne5]

I remember a post a fair while ago that said that if you bought real estate in a company name and the company wasn't actually trading and only used for the real estate purchase that the government could confiscate the property. I also suggested that they were going to introduce a scheme were if Thai told the government obout illegal company ownership they would be able to get 50% of the money made property when it was sold.

[usexpat46]

Aren't all the homes and townhouses owned by falangs in company names?

[Darksider11]

24 minutes ago, usexpat46 said:

Aren't all the homes and townhouses owned by falangs in company names?

I would say that the majority are 51% in the Thai wife's name, 49% in the farangs name. I do know people wh have gone down the company route. Both are risky IMO!

[Tripp]

16 hours ago, js89 said:

Unless you are a Thai or an American citizen, you cannot own a Thai company more than 49%

 

They probably have some kind of illegal nominee agreement that they will try to use. And the risk of you being shafted by your Thai nominee, the laywers or the agent is fairly high. NOT recommended.

 

 

If you're the shareholder of the company and you sell the company, then yes you pocket the money personally in your capacity as the owner of the shares. If you sell a company asset but not the company, then the money goes into the company and you need to liquidate the company and issue a liquidation dividend.

I bought my house through a Thai company.  As others have said, to be legal, the majority of the shares must be held by Thais and they should, be true directors of the company, not just nominees conjoured up by the lawyers .  My company is 49% owned by me and my UK kids and the other 51% by  2 close, trusted  Thai ralatives.  The company ARTS are written in such a way that no major spending, share allocation, or selling decisions can be made on company property /business without my vote in favour. 

[Oukiva]

5 minutes ago, Tripp said:

// to be legal, the majority of the shares must be held by Thais and they should, be true directors of the company, not just nominees conjoured up by the lawyers .  //

They should also have brought the money corresponding to their part/share in the company, and that is a (nearly) never respected requirement, as money usually come full from the foreigner.

[Tripp]

39 minutes ago, Oukiva said:

They should also have brought the money corresponding to their part/share in the company, and that is a (nearly) never respected requirement, as money usually come full from the foreigner.

Correct

[Tripp]

40 minutes ago, Oukiva said:

They should also have brought the money corresponding to their part/share in the company, and that is a (nearly) never respected requirement, as money usually come full from the foreigner.

we covered this requirement by having a joint account in the UK where the money came from for myself and one of the Thai directors.  The other Thai was financed through a UK bank loan that was then repaid in full by the UK joint account.  This apparently satisfies the law, but as you said, it is not rarely checked. We also used a Bangkok, Thai/English  Law firm.  Not cleap, but we wanted the set up and transactions to be as water tight legally as these things can ever be here.

[Safado12]

 

  On ‎1‎/‎29‎/‎2018 at 05:16, Xfreak0000 said:

1. can this real estate company be owned by me 100% share? or is it the same as other biz company that Thai has to own 51% share and 49% is by foreigner?

Unless you are a Thai or an American citizen, you cannot own a Thai company more than 49%

 

U.S. citizen can own more than 51%?  First time I've heard of special status for U.S. citizens.  Can you elaborate?

 

 

[biggles]

"There are many pitfalls in company name ownership "

if you only own 49% of the company, you can only will that 49% to your family/friends when you die? The other 51% is presumably left to the Thai nominees.!

[roderick]

I am not an expert on Thai companies so I'm venturing into the unknown.  If you  do go down the company ownership path, would it be possible to set-up a loan ( between the expat and his company ) - for an amount equivalent to the asset value of your condo ?. That way, the company has zero in net assets - the loan offsets the condo,  while you hold a mortgage or loan over the asset - in addition  to the 49 % of shares held.     Otherwise, if you transfer the full value of the condo into a  Thai company, you are effectively giving 51% of it to your Thai shareholders !!

[roderick]

I am not an expert on Thai companies so I'm venturing into the unknown.  If you  do go down the company ownership path, would it be possible to set-up a loan ( between the expat and his company ) - for an amount equivalent to the asset value of your condo ?. That way, the company has zero in net assets - the loan offsets the condo,  while you hold a mortgage or loan over the asset - in addition  to the 49 % of shares held.     Otherwise, if you transfer the full value of the condo into a  Thai company, you are effectively giving 51% of it to your Thai shareholders !!

[KittenKong]

1 hour ago, Safado12 said:

U.S. citizen can own more than 51%?  First time I've heard of special status for U.S. citizens.  Can you elaborate?

 

It isn't quite what it appears to be:

https://www.siam-legal.com/Business-in-Thailand/US-Thai Amity.php

[KittenKong]

1 hour ago, Safado12 said:

U.S. citizen can own more than 51%?  First time I've heard of special status for U.S. citizens.  Can you elaborate?

 

It isn't quite what it appears to be:

https://www.siam-legal.com/Business-in-Thailand/US-Thai Amity.php

[KittenKong]

37 minutes ago, roderick said:

If you  do go down the company ownership path, would it be possible to set-up a loan ( between the Expat and his company ) - for an amount equivalent to the asset value of your condo ?. That way, the company has zero in net assets - the loan offsets the condo,  while you hold a mortgage or loan over the asset - in addition  to the 49 % of shares held.  

People do that as one way of protecting themselves. Doesnt always work, especially if a crooked lawyer is involved.

[questor]

No question that much rule stretching happens with foreign purchases of houses & Thai-quota condos. But no question either that this generates significant tax revenues...

Any serious crackdown would mean the loss of this revenue and would likely crater the (already wobbly) property markets in places like Pattaya & Phuket etc.

Crackdown threats always make for good press, but cash generation usually takes precedence... TIT.

Just my 2B.