Thailand to create long-term retirement visa

By: Stephen Frost, Bangkok International Associates

Bangkok International Associates is a general corporate and commercial law firm

Thailand has for a long time had a retirement visa available. It is shortly to launch a long-term retirement visa, possibly to come into effect in August 2017, hoping to attract more foreign retirees to the country. In this article, we examine the existing law, the new proposals, and comment on them.

The existing retirement visa: The existing retirement visa concept is relatively simple in its requirements, as follows:

Whatsapp Messages: Admissible in Court?

Author: Donovan Cheah (Partner, Donovan & Ho)

www.dnh.com.my

Whatsapp is a text messaging application that is used by more than 1 billion users in more than 180 countries. Its use has become so prevalent that it has become a primary mode of communication for many individuals. Many parties now use Whatsapp even for business purposes, such as communicating with clients, sending documents or even negotiating contracts.

As lawyers, one of the questions we get asked frequently is whether Whatsapp messages can be adduced as evidence in court.

Recovery of Expenses: Disbursement vs Reimbursement

This article was written by Ivy Ling Yieng Ping of Lee Hishammuddin Allen & Gledhill.

1. It is common for a GST-registered business to incur expenses while making a supply of goods or services to clients. Generally, these expenses will be recovered subsequently from the clients. However, the commercial contract between the parties, more often than not, is silent on how the recovery of expenses should be treated for the purposes of GST.

2. This may create confusion, resulting in the recovery of expenses being given the wrong GST treatment (either GST is wrongfully charged or no GST has been charged when it should be) and ultimately resulting in the filing of an incorrect GST return.

Real Estate Transactions - GST Inclusive or Exclusive

This article was written by Ashley Lee Si Han of Lee Hishammuddin Allen & Gledhill. 

The goods and services tax (“GST”) has been with us since 1 April 2015 and we have seen its impact on various parts of our lives. In theory, it is a relatively straightforward tax regime that can nevertheless prove difficult in practice, especially in relation to GST on real estate transactions.

Since the introduction of GST in Malaysia, the parties to any real estate transactions have inevitably dealt with the insertion of GST clauses in their contracts. Judging from the precedents of GST disputes under real estate transactions in various Commonwealth jurisdictions, it is important to exercise vigilance in relation to all transaction documents by ensuring that you have the right GST clauses which reflect your intention. If you are relying on a standard “one size fits all” GST clause for all real estate transactions, it might contain several loopholes, which can be a costly mistake in the event of a dispute, given the significant financial impact of GST.