The pubic overwhelmingly supports a fresh government attempt to tax tutorial schools, a Nida poll released Thursday showed.
The survey by the National Institute of Development Administration found 68.2% of respondents backed the government plan to tax the highly profitable institutions. Only 25.9% of those answering disapprove, fearing schools could pass on new taxes in the form of higher fees to parents.
Nida pollsters queried 1,215 people across the country Dec 15-16. Secondary-school students and bachelor's-degree holders accounted for almost 60% of respondents.
The survey was conducted after the cabinet on Dec 9 agreed to tax tutorial schools and ordered related agencies, including the education and finance ministries, to study the proposal. The Finance Ministry said it could start levying taxes next year.
Past governments often discussed taxing cram schools, but their attempts generally were half-hearted and went nowhere. The latest bid came in 2011 when the Office of the Education Council held talks on a suggestion by then-prime minister Abhisit Vejjijva.
Tutors are subject to paying income tax and tutorial schools are required to pay signage and local taxes. But the businesses are exempt from corporate taxes under the 2007 Private Education Act, which considers them as non-formal education institutions.
This cram-school industry has flourished, growing from 171 schools in 1985 to 572 in 1999 and about 1,000 in 2011, according to several researchers.
The National Economic and Social Development Board estimated in 2007 that more than 300,000 students paid for courses, generating 6 billion baht a year for the schools. Average tuition fees range from 3,000-5,500 baht per year and each student studies an average of five courses, according to the board.
The Education Ministry even in 2010 there were about 10,000 schools operating with revenue of about 20 billion baht. School operators claim those figures are exaggerated.