Cabinet approves transaction tax on securities trades

The cabinet on Tuesday approved a financial transaction tax on securities trades on the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET), ending a three-decade waiver, Deputy Finance Minister Santi Promphat said on Tuesday.

The tax of 0.1% has been waived for a long time and other countries have also collected such a tax, Mr Santi told reporters. 

The tax should take effect early next year, he added.

Authorities will set the tax at 0.055% in the first year and then 0.11%, a ministry official told Reuters, adding there would be a four-month grace period.

The tax, if collected in full, should produce 16 billion baht (US$448.81 million) of revenue per year, said the official.

The tax is like a Tobin tax applied on financial transactions, akin to those in India and Taiwan.

Late last year, SET President Pakorn Peetathawatchai said the tax would impact some investors, particularly those involved in high frequency trading.

The main stock index was up 0.49% at the lunchbreak.

In February 2022, the Federation of Thai Capital Market Organizations (Fetco) had proposed the Finance Ministry to extend the waiver of the transaction tax for stock trades because reimposing it can cause trading costs to increase by 70% for general investors and 170% for foreign investors.

The tax has been waived since 1991.