The Excise Department is studying a tax on online gaming and music and movie streaming services that collect fees from subscribers in a bid to cash in on the fast-growing market.
But the scope may not include e-sports because the Sports Authority of Thailand officially recognises e-sports as a sport, said Patchara Anuntasilpa, director-general of the Excise Department.
The tax-collecting agency is reviewing a tax on online gaming and music and movie streaming in several countries; but only the US, where Facebook is based, successfully imposes the levy, Mr Patchara said.
He acknowledged the challenges of taxing gaming and streaming services with a physical presence outside of Thailand, such as YouTube and Facebook. If the surcharge is successfully imposed, it will be classified as a luxury tax, he said.
The Finance Ministry is consistently exploring ways to tax online platform operators with a physical presence overseas but earning income in Thailand.
The Revenue Department recently made waves by pushing a draft bill of an e-business tax that has been stuck in the Council of State's vetting process. The department promises to propose it again to the new government.
According to 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 in Thailand are required to register for value-added tax (VAT) payment and are liable for sales tax.
Apart from tax revenue, the e-business tax is aimed at ensuring a level playing field between local and overseas-based online platform operators.
But Revenue Department head Ekniti Nitithanprapas said earlier that the department must have mandate to request information from foreign-based online platform operators earning income in Thailand to prevent them from avoiding the tax.
Without the authority to ask for information, tax collection will be inefficient and could lead to tax leakage.
The National Economic and Social Development Council's recent research on e-sports found that Thailand had 18.3 million e-sport game players and audiences stood at 2.6 million in 2017.