BANGKOK, 21 September 2011 – The government has agreed to lower corporate income tax in the near future in a move to speed up the countrywide wage rise by early next year.
According to the Commerce Ministry, the current 30 percent income corporate tax will be cut to 23 percent in the first phase, and will be further reduced to 20 percent in 2013.
Deputy PM and Commerce Minister Kittirat Na Ranong said the move was intended to enable private companies to earn more incomes so that they could comply with the wage increase policy as soon as possible, possibly starting from January 1, 2012 onwards. At the same time, the government will ask the Bank of Thailand to delay its plan to increase interest rates so that the policy can be carried out smoothly.
The Deputy PM said Thailand collected more corporate taxes than most ASEAN countries. If other ASEAN countries are still able to live with lower taxes, Thailand should be able to survive the same way, too.
Mr. Kittirat also revealed that further tax cuts in three years were possible, but the private sector would have to cooperate with the government in income distribution so that the government could widen the tax base.
