BANGKOK, 17 June 2015 – The Fiscal Policy Office (FPO) has reported that the government missed its revenue target for the first eight months of the fiscal year due to disappointing tax collection.
According to FPO Director Kritsada Jinavijarana, the amount of state revenue collected between October 2014 and May 2015 was recorded at 1.37 trillion baht, lower than the target by 56.5 billion baht or 4 percent. The figure, however, represented an increase from the same period of last year by 1.1 percent.
The Director attributed the missed revenue target to several tax-related factors, elaborating that the amount of corporate income tax collected was affected by the economic slowdown while value-added tax and income tax on petroleum were unsatisfactory due to the downtrend of crude oil prices. Moreover, car excise tax collection remained sluggish as the demand for vehicles had not recovered. Import tariff was also down as a result of the tariff reduction measure aimed at boosting the manufacturing sector.
During the eight-month period, the Revenue Department could collect 1.02 trillion baht and the Customs Department 76.9 billion baht, missing their targets by 10.1 percent and 5.9 percent respectively. The Excise Department, on the other hand, managed to bring in 295 billion baht, 4 percent higher than targeted.
Mr Kritsada affirmed that the total revenue, though disappointing, was still within the Finance Ministry’s expectation. He said the ministry is now striving to find measures to manage state revenue collection more effectively in a bid to meet the annual target while ensuring that no extra burden is put on the general public and the business sector at the same time.
