The Revenue Department expects a draft bill on e-business tax, a levy on foreign-based online platform operators earning income in Thailand, will not be vetted by lawmakers before the Prayut Chan-o-cha government leaves office.
The draft bill, a priority for the Finance Ministry to be passed ahead of March's general election, is not on the National Legislative Assembly's agenda yet because it is still being deliberated by the Council of State, said Ekniti Nitithanprapas, director-general of the Revenue Department.
"We proposed the draft law more than two years ago. We understand the Council of State is overloaded with a large number of draft bills and cannot deliberate all of them. The department is preparing to propose the law to the next government for consideration," he said.
The cabinet last year approved an amended Revenue Code related to value-added tax (VAT) collection from e-business operators that are located outside of Thailand.
Under the bill, digital platform operators providing services (including online games, sticker downloads, online advertisements, digital content and online hotel bookings) that generate annual sales of more than 1.8 million baht from Thais are required to register for VAT payment and are liable for the sales tax.
Mr Ekniti said the country's largest tax-collecting unit managed to garner 22 billion baht or 7% higher than targeted from October to December, which was 40 billion or 11% above the same period the prior year.
He is confident the department's revenue target at 2 trillion baht in fiscal 2019 will be reachable.
The department's target for the next fiscal year stands at 2.16 trillion baht.
This year, 700,000 individual taxpayers already filed personal income tax returns and 400,000 of them are entitled to refunds. Of those expecting a refund, 55% have already received it, said Mr Ekniti.
Ekniti: Submit tax returns online
Taxpayers can file income tax returns until the end of March through traditional channels and April 9 on online platforms.
"Personal income taxes filed online normally account for 85% of individual taxpayers. We aim for 90% this year," said Mr Ekniti.
There are 10-11 million individual income earners, of whom 4 million are liable for personal income tax bills. He recommends individual taxpayers submit income tax returns online to receive refunds rapidly.