Government cuts income tax rates

Business > Financial Advice

FINANCE

Published: 19 Dec 2012 at 00.00
Newspaper section: News

The cabinet Tuesday approved an overhaul of the personal income tax structure amid criticism that the changes benefit mainly the rich.

The change will slash the highest personal income tax rate to 35 per cent, down from 37 per cent, effective on 2013 tax returns filed in 2014.

The restructuring will cut the government's revenue in the 2013 fiscal year by 25 billion baht, the Finance Ministry said.

This article is older than 60 days, which we reserve for our premium members only.You can subscribe to our premium member subscription, here.

Forum

Your comments

dao
Post : 4,647
Send message

Discussion 9 : 19 Dec 2012 at 13.189
Post this to my Facebook
Less exports ,less tax ,and more populist handouts means Thailand is once again on track for a date with the IMF.
Like dislike 18 people liked / 0 people disliked this comment
bluebottle
Post : 1,471
Send message

Discussion 8 : 19 Dec 2012 at 10.428
Post this to my Facebook
Just words to try and gain confidence and votes.How are they going to pay for the Rice project,The Palm oil project,The high speed rail, The new port in Burma, The refunds on car Vat. batter schooling to mention but a few. I know increase alcohol and cigaret tax you may as well throw in increased fuel and car tax.What is the expression Get real!!
Like dislike 19 people liked / 2 people disliked this comment
tamsin
Post : 115
Send message

Discussion 7 : 19 Dec 2012 at 10.027
Post this to my Facebook
What's the reason for this? They can hardly use the West's disingenuous 'trickle down economics' excuse, can they.
Like dislike 16 people liked / 2 people disliked this comment
banmebkk
Post : 2,422
Send message

Discussion 6 : 19 Dec 2012 at 09.216
Post this to my Facebook
Cutting taxes and raising debt, what a good way to run the country into the ground. Hint Hint, Maybe the PTP should read some world news.
Like dislike 35 people liked / 5 people disliked this comment
saparod
Post : 106
Send message

Discussion 5 : 19 Dec 2012 at 09.145
Post this to my Facebook
I strongly believe the true problem we have is that we just have around 5 Million Tax payers who pay personal income tax.
The fact is that maybe millions of people/businesses do not pay tax at all – although they earn ‘much’ more than THB 150,000.- year, but the authorities and revenue department just don’t care!
Look at Phuket, Samui, Pattaya etc. etc. where several thousand businesses, restaurants including hotels and resorts don’t pay any tax at all as they officially don’t exist! (but pay under-table money to authorities be allowed to operate, even on public land, roads and beaches)
It’s very unfair to say ‘the rich wil
Like dislike 34 people liked / 1 people disliked this comment
franklin
Post : 1,269
Send message

Discussion 4 : 19 Dec 2012 at 08.264
Post this to my Facebook
Just two days ago in Dawei, Myanmar, the Yingluck made a promise to the Myanmar PM Thein Sein that the Thai government would use Thai tax money to guarantee the building of the new Myanmar port. Thai tax payers’ money guaranteeing building a port in Myanmar!? How is she going to manage that and cut Thai taxes? What about Thailand’s needs? The easiest way to generate more money is for the corrupt Thai politicians not to steal 30+ percent off the top.
Like dislike 60 people liked / 8 people disliked this comment
OldThaiHand
Post : 652
Send message

Discussion 3 : 19 Dec 2012 at 07.503
Post this to my Facebook
There is so much un-reported money made in this country, that I doubt that fair and equitable taxes will every be paid by most Thais. There are street vendors selling noodles that own houses and expensive cars, and yet have likely never paid a single satang in tax.
Like dislike 63 people liked / 3 people disliked this comment
bikeme
Post : 1,116
Send message

Discussion 2 : 19 Dec 2012 at 07.442
Post this to my Facebook
The top bracket should have been made higher, but the PTP is the new elite, so they don't want to pay higher taxes.
Like dislike 50 people liked / 11 people disliked this comment
faranginkorat
Post : 231
Send message

Discussion 1 : 19 Dec 2012 at 07.331
Post this to my Facebook
I would not call a reduction from 37% to 35% a "slash", more of a small tweek.

General agreement on what is "fair" will never be reached.

The savings will not generally be spent by people in the top bracket, of which there are only about 18,000. It will mostly be saved and invested, which also benefits society as savings is where banks get the money they loan for investment, and where the capital for building businesses comes from, and they create jobs.

For the critics, however, how do you justify 90% of people paying no income taxes??

Is that fair???
Like dislike 61 people liked / 10 people disliked this comment

Government cuts income tax rates | Bangkok Post: business