Technology to assist in Revenue fetching B2tn
The Revenue Department expects to reach its tax revenue collection target of 2 trillion baht this fiscal year after adopting technology that helped it surpass its October target.
The tax-collecting agency’s digital transformation strategy, which has been implemented for 4-5 months, has started to pay off as its tax revenue exceeded the target by 4.8% to 117 billion baht in the first month of fiscal 2019, said director-general Ekniti Nitithanprapas.
The fiscal year runs from Oct 1 to Sept 30. The department is using a strategy called D2RIVE (digital transformation, data analytics, revenue collection, innovation, values and efficiency) to leverage a larger tax base and improve tax-collecting efficiency, he said.
It uses big data to sort out tax dodgers and networks suspected of selling counterfeit tax invoices, said Mr Ekniti.
The department also went digital to facilitate taxpayers, he said. The agency no longer keeps physical documents for tax refunds, as they can be uploaded electronically.
In addition, the department accelerated its investigation of tax collection by setting up a tax analysis team and adding innovations such as blockchain to the valueadded tax (VAT) system and VAT refunds for tourists.
Regarding the draft bill on e-payment, Mr Ekniti said it is expected to head to the second and third readings in the National Legislative Assembly next month.
Under the bill, financial institutions and digital financial service providers will be required to report transactions for customer accounts that have more than 3,000 deposits and more than 200 money transfers per year, with a total value of at least 2 million baht, to the Revenue Department.
For e-business tax, this is under the Council of State’s interpretation and platform giants including Alibaba and Facebook are ready to comply with Thai law, he said.
Under the amended Revenue Code on e-business tax, foreign-based digital platform operators providing services (including online games, sticker downloads, online ads, digital content and online hotel bookings) to Thai consumers are liable for VAT. The move allows the department to earn revenue from the booming digital channel and levels the playing field for local operators.
In separate news, Mr Ekniti said the department is discussing with the Rubber Authority of Thailand setting up measures for tax deduction for tyre purchases under the shopping tax break scheme scheduled to start next month.
He said buying magazines and newspapers is not tax deductible, while those who buy One Tambon One Product items are not required to have a full tax invoice to claim a refund. The incentive will let individual taxpayers deduct up to 15,000 baht of taxable income from the value of the goods they purchase.