Department to scrutinise tax filings

Department to scrutinise tax filings

The Revenue Department plans to examine tax returns more closely.
The Revenue Department plans to examine tax returns more closely.

The Revenue Department plans to step up its examination of suspicious personal income tax returns, says director-general Lavaron Sangsnit.

He said people who submit accurate filings have nothing to worry about, and eligible filers should receive a tax refund within three days.

The department will spend more time scrutinising returns with suspicious information, said Mr Lavaron. If returns are determined to be eligible to receive refunds, the department will take more than seven days to provide refunds to filers who have been examined, he said.

There are around 11 million salaried workers in the tax system, of which 4 million are subject to tax payment.

Mr Lavaron said during the tax filing period of January to March, fraudsters are actively trying to deceive people to steal their money.

Fraudsters will claim to be department officials and send SMS or Line messages to victims, aiming to trick them into downloading suspicious applications, he said.

The department does not send such messages to taxpayers, instead mailing letters to their addresses as usual practice, said Mr Lavaron.

He said if taxpayers have any inquiries, they can contact the call centre by dialling 1161, as the department has increased its capacity to receive calls to improve convenience.

The department is also reviewing its rules governing the tax information service provider to enable them to provide a wider scope of services for taxpayer convenience, said Mr Lavaron.

The new rules are expected to take effect in March.

Currently only corporate customers can submit certain tax and account information to the department.

The rule revision is intended to allow electronic accounts for small entrepreneurs to submit electronic tax filings to the department.

Mr Lavaron said difficulties in developing the right business accounts or submitting tax filings are obstacles for small businesses, discouraging them from entering the tax system.

More small businesses would be willing to enter the tax system if the department makes the tax payment method more convenient for them, he said.

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