BANGKOK, 10 March 2015 – The land and building tax will not be collected anytime soon, because three more hearings on the law’s draft by the National Legislative Assembly are required. There will also be a long time lag before the taxation takes effect, said Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha.
According to General Prayut, it may be one or two years before the new taxes are collected. He explained that the significant time requirement is due to deliberation into details of prices, urban planning, and other relevant matters. Gen. Prayut added that he and state officials would be among those who will be taxed under the new law.
The prime minister added that the collection of land and building tax is required in order for the state to gain additional income to offset shortfalls in revenue collection from other sources, which were attributable to tax avoidance. He noted that the avoided taxes will also be recouped at a later time.
Gen. Prayut elaborated that the government had to set an unbalanced budget with a deficit of around 200 billion baht in order for the sub-district administrative organizations to pay for their loans, the warehouse bills for mortgaged rice, the expenses incurred from free train and bus services to keep them running and regular expenses of the state.
