Taxpayer info at risk
The Finance Ministry plans to disclose taxpayer data to other state agencies.
The Finance Ministry plans to amend the Revenue Code to allow Revenue Department officials to disclose taxpayers’ information to other state agencies to facilitate the implementation of e-tax.
The disclosure following amendment of Section 10 of the code would help tax collection, said Prapas Kong-ied, deputy permanent secretary for finance.
The change needs to be accelerated in the next month or two to synchronise with the government’s plan to unveil the national e-payment system, he said.
Finance Minister Apisak Tantivorawong recently said the national e-payment scheme, including Any ID, e-tax and a rise in the number of electronic data capture (EDC) machines, was expected to be in place by July.
The first stage, Any ID, enables people, even those without a bank account, to transfer money using a mobile phone and national ID number.
Expansion of EDC, which runs in tandem with Any ID, will be divided into two phases. The first phase will encourage companies, state agencies and individuals who register with the value-added tax (VAT) system to install card payment machines. The second phase aims to help individuals running a business outside the VAT system to install machines.
E-tax invoices and e-tax receipts are due to be available on Oct 1, while e-withholding tax will begin on Jan 1, 2017. The Revenue Department will enter all data from money transfers through Any ID and payments through EDC into its taxation data system to boost efficiency.
The amendment will improve the tax payment recording and be more convenient for taxpayers, said Mr Prapas.
Department director-general Prasong Poontaneat estimated that an additional 100 billion baht in tax revenue would be collected from national e-payment and single financial accounting schemes as more companies, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, are encouraged to pay their taxes in full.