Coordinating Thai Legal, Accounting and Immigration Work: Who Does What?

The core answer

When an overseas firm sends a client to Thailand, three kinds of local work usually start at once: legal, accounting and immigration. Each is done under different rules, by people with different licences. Problems come less from poor work in any one stream than from tasks no one owns and answers given outside the giver's field.

The rule (Accounting Act, Immigration Act and Lawyers Act). Thai companies keep accounts under the Accounting Act B.E. 2543 and have their annual financial statements audited by a licensed auditor. Tax returns go to the Revenue Department and social security filings to the Social Security Office. Foreign employees need a work permit from the Department of Employment and a visa and stay permission from the Immigration Bureau, and a foreigner staying longer than 90 days must report their address every 90 days under the Immigration Act B.E. 2522. Appearing in a Thai court or preparing court pleadings for another person is reserved for lawyers licensed under the Lawyers Act B.E. 2528.

Our practical view. Draw one responsibility table that covers all three streams, name one owner for each task and one owner for the compliance calendar, and agree in advance what happens at the points where the streams meet.

For the corporate-formation stage, see company formation for overseas corporate service firms. This guide covers the company once it is running.

1. Why does the line between the three matter?

• Different licences. Auditors, lawyers and immigration practitioners are each regulated differently. An answer given outside one's field may not be covered by that provider's professional duties or insurance.
• Different authorities. The Revenue Department, the Social Security Office, the Department of Employment, the Immigration Bureau and the Department of Business Development each have their own forms, deadlines and portals.
• Shared facts. The same facts, such as an employee's job title, salary, employer and start date, appear in the contract, the payroll and the permit. If they differ, an authority may ask why.

2. A responsibility table you can adapt

Change the columns to fit the client. If the same firm provides two streams, keep both columns anyway; the table still shows which team inside that firm owns the task.

3. Where do the streams meet?

Most gaps appear at four handoff points.

Hiring a foreign employee.

1. Thai counsel prepares the employment contract.
2. The immigration provider checks that the job, salary and employer support the permit and visa.
3. The accountant sets up payroll, withholding and social security from the first pay period.
4. The client confirms the start date only once the permit allows the employee to start.

Paying an overseas group company. Thai counsel or the overseas firm prepares the intercompany agreement. The accountant handles withholding tax and VAT on the payment. See paying overseas service providers: VAT and withholding tax.

Terminating an employee. Thai counsel advises on grounds, notice and severance and drafts the letter. The accountant calculates final pay and tax. For a foreign employee, the immigration provider deals with the permit and visa consequences of the termination.

Closing the company. Thai counsel runs the dissolution and liquidation filings. The accountant prepares final accounts and tax filings. The immigration provider closes out permits and visas for remaining foreign staff. See company closure.

For each handoff, write down who starts it, who must be told and who confirms it is finished.

4. When do answers go beyond a provider's field?

Typical examples:

• An accountant says a dismissal is "fine" because the severance has been calculated.
• A lawyer gives a tax figure without the accountant checking it.
• A visa agent advises that a business activity does not need a Foreign Business licence.
• A home-country adviser applies its own country's employment rules to staff in Thailand.

Each may be right, but the client cannot tell which answers carry professional responsibility. Two simple habits help:

1. Every written answer states which discipline it comes from.
2. A question outside a provider's field goes to the owner in the responsibility table, copied to the coordinator.

5. How should providers share information?

The client company is usually the data controller for its employees' personal data under the Personal Data Protection Act B.E. 2562. In practice:

• each provider receives only the data it needs for its task
• each provider works under written terms with the client
• data passes between providers only on the client's instruction, ideally through one shared folder with access set per provider
• passports and salary details are not sent by unsecured email chains copied to everyone

For the client's own notices and policies, see PDPA compliance.

6. Sample compliance calendar (fictional)

The example below is fictional and shows the format only. Dates are left as placeholders because filing deadlines depend on the return, the filing channel and current announcements.

COMPLIANCE CALENDAR — Example Trading (Thailand) Co., Ltd. (fictional)
Owner of calendar: [named coordinator]

MONTHLY
  Withholding tax returns ............ Accountant ........ due [date]
  VAT return (if registered) ......... Accountant ........ due [date]
  Social security contributions ...... Accountant ........ due [date]

PER FOREIGN EMPLOYEE
  90-day address report .............. Immigration ....... next due [date]
  Visa / stay extension .............. Immigration ....... expires [date]
  Work permit renewal ................ Immigration ....... expires [date]

ANNUAL
  Audit of financial statements ...... Auditor ........... fieldwork [month]
  Annual general meeting ............. Thai counsel ....... by [date]
  Financial statements filing ........ Accountant ........ after AGM approval
  Corporate income tax return ........ Accountant ........ due [date]
  Review of work rules and contracts . Thai counsel ....... [month]

EVENT-DRIVEN
  New hire / termination ............. see handoff list
  Director, address or capital change  Thai counsel ....... file within the set period

7. What should each provider's engagement say?

Each provider should have its own engagement with the client, stating what it covers and what it does not. Watch three points:

1. Exclusions are written down. For example, the accountant's engagement may exclude employment advice; Thai counsel's may exclude bookkeeping and tax computations.
2. No one promises a "one-stop" answer unless one provider actually covers all three streams under one engagement.
3. Fees are agreed with each provider. If you are the referring firm, check your own professional rules before agreeing any fee arrangement with a Thai provider. This guide gives no fee figures.

8. Checklist

1. Build one responsibility table covering legal, accounting and immigration.
2. Name one owner for the compliance calendar.
3. Write down the four handoff points and who starts and closes each.
4. Make sure contract, payroll and permit describe the same job and salary.
5. Label every written answer with the discipline it comes from.
6. Share employee data only as needed, under written terms.
7. Check each provider's engagement for scope and exclusions.
8. Review the table when the client hires, restructures or closes.

Further reading

• Company formation for overseas corporate service firms: responsibilities and handover
• How overseas counsel and Thai counsel share ongoing client work
• Paying overseas service providers: VAT and withholding tax
• Managing a Thai subsidiary from abroad without a Thai legal team

Give every task one owner across all three streams, keep one calendar, and agree in advance who acts at each handoff.

We handle legal work for companies in Thailand and also offer accounting and work-permit services, so we can take on one stream or several, or work alongside the providers your client already has. For an initial consultation, call +66 92 254 2045 or send us the details. See also labour compliance, accounting and monthly tax and visas and work permits.

This guide is published by Suwanvara Law Firm — a Khon Kaen law firm established in 1986. General information only, not legal advice on a specific matter.