Prayut delays land tax indefinitely

Prayut delays land tax indefinitely

Visitors listen to a housing estate sales pitch at the House and Condo Show 2015 at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre in Bangkok on Thursday as the government decided to postpone a planned tax on land and buildings. (Photo by Narupon Hinshiranan)
Visitors listen to a housing estate sales pitch at the House and Condo Show 2015 at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre in Bangkok on Thursday as the government decided to postpone a planned tax on land and buildings. (Photo by Narupon Hinshiranan)

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on Thursday indefinitely postponed a planned tax on land and buildings, citing a cloudy economic outlook and the impact on low-income homeowners.

Government spokesman Yongyuth Mayalarp said that Gen Prayut ordered the indeterminate delay in his meeting with five work-acceleration committees at Government House.

The prime minister was concerned that the tax would not suit the present slow economic situation and current household-debt loads on low-wage earners. He ordered relevant authorities to study the tax for a future implementation to ensure it would not adversely impact people, Mr Yongyuth said.

How long the tax on land and houses should be delayed would depend on the overall economy, he said.

The government spokesman denied that the prime minister's decision was influenced by criticism of the planned tax. He said authorities were actually discussing the tax internally and had not reached a conclusion on the plan, but the proposal reached the media and caused concern by many parties.

Rungson Sriworasat, permanent secretary for finance, will lead the study of the tax. It will compare taxation and collection efficiency in Thailand with other countries.

The prime minister did not set a deadline for completion of the study, but those conducting will have to report their findings regularly, Mr Yongyuth said.

Recently Gen Prayut said that the government must collect more taxes from land and buildings because it needed funds for national administration. Otherwise, people would face an increase in the value-added tax, he said.

The VAT is set at 7% with its ceiling of 10%.

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