Representative Office in Thailand

Representative Office in Thailand

A Representative Office of a foreign business entity in Thailand is not subject to taxation but is still required to obtain the Corporate Tax Identification number and to provide the Revenue Department with income tax returns and financial statements. Representative Offices are not allowed to earn income while operating in the Kingdom therefore it is highly important for a foreign company to clarify with corporate lawyers or with the concerned government offices which activities constitute income generation and which do not. Yet to clarify, a Representative Office can only do the following activities:
  • To observe and report the Thai business climate to its foreign headquarters.
  • To give its head office with notices about its products sold in the Thai market.
  • To search and secure sources of goods and services in Thailand for the foreign headquarters.
  • To act as quality assurance inspector of goods and services sourced by its foreign head office.
  • To act as a marketing arm of the head office but limited only to the promotion of the foreign headquarters’ new products and services.
Functioning outside its allowed activities may be viewed as a gross violation of the conditions set for Representative Offices and this could result to the revocation of the said license to operate.
Thai Corporate Legal Services
Siam Legal Pattaya provides legal services related to business activities in Thailand and these includes providing legal assistance to any corporate entity which is planning to setup a Representative Office in the Kingdom.