BANGKOK, Dec 22 – Thailand’s revenue from tax collection in the first two months of the 2013 fiscal year, or October-November, reached Bt321.2 billion, or 8.5 percent higher than the target, mainly due to the government’s policy of tax refunds for first-car owners, the Finance Ministry announced.
Somchai Sujjapongse, director general of the Fiscal Policy Office, said the collection of excise tax from first-car purchase was Bt5.89 billion or 58.3 per cent higher than expected, while the expansion of domestic consumption has contributed to Bt5.66 billion or a 10.2 percent increase in the collection of value added tax (VAT) from the original target.
Revenue from the government sector was Bt4.1 billion higher than targeted, while state enterprises contributed Bt1.8 billion more than anticipated.
Mr Somchai said the state coffer also received Bt1.65 billion from the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission and Bt1.95 billion from the Communications Authority of Thailand or CAT Telecom.
The Finance Ministry received revenue from CAT Telecom much earlier than the expected delivery of May next year, he said.
He said the country’s economic growth and the positive signals of global economic recovery have boosted the Finance Ministry’s confidence in achieving the targeted tax collection of Bt2.1 trillion for the 2013 budget year.
