The Thai Immigration has recently announced the new regulations for extension of temporary stay in Thailand. Under the Order of Royal Thai Police No. 327/2557 which has been effective since 29 August 2014, the regulations that have been changed are as follows:

1. Foreign nationals of certain countries entitled for Visa Exemption for tourism purposes and permitted to stay in the Kingdom for 30 days upon arrival according to the Interior Ministerial Announcements, shall be granted extension of stay for one time and not exceeding 30 days from the expiry date.
2. In case that the application for extension of temporary stay is not approved due to incomplete qualifications and the foreigner has been granted extension of stay for 7 days in order to leave the Kingdom, such foreigner is not able to appeal for reconsideration of non-permission.
3. For the reason of study in a private educational institution particularly for Non-school system (such as Language School etc.) each permission of stay shall be granted for not longer than 90 days but the total permitted period of stay for this reason consecutively shall not exceed one year from the date of entry into the Kingdom.
4. For the reason of performing duties in a public charity organization, a foundation, a non-government organization, an association, a foreign chamber of commerce, the Federation of Thai Industries, in case of no certification letter by the relevant government department, each permission of stay shall be granted for not longer than 90 days but the total permitted period of stay for this reason consecutively shall not exceed one year from the date of entry into the Kingdom.

Contact ThaiLawyers for your visa and work permit questions.

One of our accounting clients asked a question about VAT on their export.

I would like to know if the export portion of my product sales which is roasted whole coffee beans grown, roasted and packed in Thailand, is classified as 0% VAT? The challenge is that I export only 1 or 2 kg per shipment and it is done by EMS courier and then sent via a Thai Post Office. I do not export from an airport or customs point. Kindly clarify. I have been told conflicting answers and I can’t seem to find a definitive answer. Your assistance is greatly appreciated.

Thai Accountant answered: When you export products from Thailand, you must do it via customs. Sending it by post or EMS, you still can declare it with the Customs Department of Thailand. You need to tell the post office that you want to declare Customs, which normally is done using form EMS Por 256. When exporting your products using DHL or Fedex, you need to tell them that you want to send your products through customs. They will prepare some customs export shipment papers for you.

If you do not have Customs export shipment papers, the Thai Revenue Department will treat your sale as domestic one, which is subject to 7% VAT.

Contact MSNA for your accounting and tax questions.

If your business is software related, BOI is the best way to set up your business in Thailand.

The BOI promoted company has the following advantages:

1. The company needs only THB 1 M capital/investment.

2. The company can be owned 100% by foreigners.

3. The company can get more work permits for its foreign technicians or experts than non-BOI companies. (Normally, a non-BOI company needs to have at least THB 2M capital for each work permit and must hire 4 Thai employees for each work permit it is getting.)

4. The promoted company is permitted to own land which is to be used as its location to do software business only.

5. The promoted company is exempted for the import duty on the machinery (hardware and software.)

6. The promoted company is exempted for corporate income tax on the net profit generated from the promoted activity for a period of 8 years as from the date it starts to generate such income.

7. The dividends derived from the promoted activity are also tax exempted.

8. The promoted company is allowed to transfer money to overseas in foreign currency.

Read Thailand BOI information and contact MSNA for consultation on getting BOI for your software business.