Relief rate deliberated

The Finance Ministry is considering extending reduced liability for the land and building tax by another year to lower taxpayers’ financial burdens.

The ministry’s decision to reduce eligible taxpayers’ liability for the land and building tax by 90% in 2020 followed the pandemic sweeping the globe, causing higher unemployment and GDP contractions.

The relief has seen local administrations incur losses of a combined 39 billion baht.

Wilawan Veerakun, deputy director-general of the Treasury Department, said an extended reduction of liability from the land and building tax is expected this year, but the rate is being deliberated.

When the full implementation of the long-awaited land and building tax will take place this year, which the

Fiscal Policy Office has been trying to pass for 25 years, remains unclear.

The Finance Ministry has approved postponing the use of new land appraisal prices, set to take effect in 2020-23, for another year.

The Treasury Department will continue to temporarily adopt land appraisal prices used in 2016-19 this year.

The new appraisal process started in 2018, using a valuation base for 202023, but the growth of land prices is not expected to rise by 7-8% on average because of the economic slowdown, said Ms Wilawan. Land prices for some state-owned development areas could exceed beyond the evaluated prices in 2022, she said.

The department will assess whether to adopt the use of new land appraisal prices late in 2021 or early 2022, said Yuttana Yimgarund, director-general at the Treasury Department.