Singapore or HK company but can’t open an account

[soleil1]

My strategy: I live most of my time in Thailand. So I am a tax resident there. Money (salary) from foreign sources is not taxed in Thailand. I have a UK LTD and all money made there is paid to me as a normal salary, so the UK LTD is not making a profit and not paying tax. This is a setup which I invented myself, I am not 100% sure if it is bulletproof.

I really should have someone with knowledge of this look at my setup. At the moment I pay 0% tax.

When making a choice you also have to think about opening a bank account. Starting a company is easier than getting bank accounts.

Just because your salary is flowing from abroad and paid by a foreign company, does not mean it is foreign sourced. Foreign sourced means the work (or dividend or rental income) was done abroad. Where were you physically when you performed the work? You need to pay taxes where you worked. So you would still theoretically need to pay taxes in thailand if thats where you were performing the work. Unless there is some sort of tax loophole for digital nomads im not aware of?

The fact that they havent asked you to pay because they dont know about your income, thats a different story. Might be best not to get too comfortable in thailand

 

[abchongkong]

Hi, I’m a Brit in Northern Thailand who is opening up a Singapore or HK company to do a few consultancy gigs

problem is I can’t open a bank account in either place and need some way of receiving money from my customer (there is only one of them)

I can’t go back to UK to open one there either

what are my options?
something like transferwise?

Both Hong Kong and Singapore are good options as your start-up gateway to incorporate (i.e., setting up a HK or SG company). While a certain no. of entrepreneurs treat Singapore as a nice replacement nowadays, Hong Kong still enjoys its absolute advantages such as the 8.25% profits tax rate - one of the lowest tax rates in the world; acceptance of foreign directors (does not require nominee directors like a Singapore entity); well-established legal framework and monetary system; serving as a stepping stone to enter into China, etc.

Due to the pandemic, it is not really easy to open a bank account in Hong Kong as it requires the director's physical appearance. But in Singapore banks, it is possible to open a bank account remotely. Singapore banks accept companies from Hong Kong, Singapore, and BVI.

Aside from opening a traditional bank account, the best alternative is to open a virtual account. There are various EMI / FinTech companies with which your can open your multi-currency account easily. Since your main goal is to receive payments from your clients, opening an account with Airwallex and Currenxie are favourable options. These FinTech companies in Hong Kong support a wide range of currencies, responsive customer service, provision of corporate Visa cards, with no opening / monthly fees, and no prefix on transaction records.

 

[Naka]

I opened a company with Osome and got a Neat account. Everything went smoothly, just took two weeks. I am also living in Thailand, so I can just recommend it.

 

[sergedc]

I've read a lot, they say that as a director you can pay yourself a salary, what is left is profit for the company and you can get that as a dividend. The company will pay Corporation Tax in that case. But there is no rule about how much salary you can give yourself. In most cases paying yourself with dividend is better, because less tax is paid. Corporation Tax is 19%, income tax much higher. Unless of course you live in a country where you do not pay income tax.

But I should hire someone with more knowledge to look at it. I am also not completely sure if I do everything right.

The question is: oversea income is not taxed in Thailand, but how do they define "oversea income"? Because you are physically in Thailand when you do the work

For anyone wondering this would not work for HK company. Any director fee (and salary to director) is taxed weather you are resident or not.

But in HK, there is 0 corporate tax rate for non-HK sourced profit, so if you can qualify for that (and don't mind paying 1% of revenue for Audit), you can then get the dividend tax free (because Thailand will not tax foreign sourced dividend).

@bangkokowl, what did you end up doing?