BANGKOK, 22 April 2014 – Finance Minister Kittiratt Na Ranong will chair a meeting of tax collection officials from the Departments of Revenue, Excise, and Customs tomorrow to discuss ways to boost tax income after the 2013 tax collection has fallen behind target.
Permanent Secretary of the Finance Ministry Rangsan Sriworasart said that the discussion aims at addressing the tax income decline in 2013, which appeared to match a concern raised by the Prime Minister during Monday’s cabinet meeting with economic ministers.
The main topics of tomorrow’s discussion are to seek measures to enhance efficiency of tax collection, the Permanent Secretary said. Towards that goal, he said, the ministry is considering implementing three approaches, namely to collect tax and pay tax return sooner than usual, and to eradicate corruption in the collection process.
Mr. Rangsan also attributed the decrease in tax revenue to a decline in Value Added Tax collection in the export sector, adding however that the tax income would return to the normal level once the economic recovery measures are employed.
