The controversy about a 1,000-baht departure tax on outbound Thais and foreign residents is only a legally obliged opinion survey and the tax will not be imposed, the Revenue Department said.
Winit Wisetsuwannaphum, deputy director-general of the department, said on Sunday that the department did not plan to impose the departure tax of 1,000 baht for outbound flights and 500 baht for exit by land or sea for Thais and foreign residents.
He referred to a 1983 executive decree concerning the departure tax.
Mr Winit said although a ministerial regulation has waived the departure tax since 1991, the constitution required the department to assess the suitability of the old executive decree.
Therefore, the Revenue Department conducted the opinion survey on the tax on its website www.rd.go.th from May 3 to 17, he said.
"There is not a plan to collect the departure tax," Mr Winit said.
By the end of next year the department would conduct opinion surveys on laws on inheritance tax and petroleum income tax (PT), he said.
PT is a direct tax, levied annually (for each accounting period of 12 months duration) on net profit of a “petroleum taxpayer” involved in the business of petroleum exploration and production. It is also levied on the disposal of profits outside of Thailand.