BANGKOK, 4 July 2012 – Mr. Kittipong Urapeepatanapong of the Thai Chamber of Commerc is urging the government to quickly pass the law on tax exemption for Thai businessmen investing overseas to prepare the country for the ASEAN Economic Community in 2015.
Mr. Kittipong said he had conveyed his call to Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong asking the latter to speed up the amendment of the royal decree no. 442, which stipulates tax exemption on Thai investments in overseas countries.
Mr. Kittipong explained how the amendment would encourage Thai businessmen to seek investment opportunities beyond Thailand, the notion which, he claimed, is also the government’s policy.
He said the introduction of tax privileges will help promote the business sector in Thailand to become part of the AEC in 2015. According to him, the amendment draft was introduced by the last government, but has not received attention until these days.
He revealed that currently under the Thai Revenue Code, Thai companies whose investment is in holding companies in Singapore, Hong Kong or other tax haven countries, will have to pay corporate income tax of 23% in 2012 and 20% next year when those companies bring their profits into Thailand.
According to Mr. Kittipong, investors have been calling on the government to accelerate the tax exemption proposal for a few years now. He stated that an overseas investment by Thai companies is an urgent matter that the government needs to pursue quickly. The tax exemption will encourage Thai investors to exploit the Euro-debt crisis, during which European businesses can be bought at a much cheaper cost.
