For the first nine months of fiscal 2023, the government's revenue exceeded the target by 7.5%, or 136 billion baht, despite the diesel excise tax cut, Fiscal Policy Office (FPO) director-general Pornchai Thiraveja said.
During the first nine months of fiscal 2023 (Oct 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023), the government was able to collect net revenue of 1.95 trillion baht, which exceeded the target by 136 billion baht and was 5.2% higher than the corresponding period of the previous year, after value-added tax (VAT) refunds were made by the Revenue Department and the Customs Department, along with the allocation of income to local government organisations.
The Revenue Department, as the country's largest tax collection department, collected 1.59 trillion baht, exceeding the target by 11.1%, or 159 billion baht, driven by higher corporate tax revenue, VAT and personal tax.
The Excise Department collected 87 billion baht, which fell below the target by 17.8%, or 75.7 billion baht, as a result of the reduction in the excise tax rate on diesel fuel which expired on July 20, 2023.
The Customs Department collected 97.5 billion baht, exceeding the target by 23.2%, or 18.3 billion baht.
Fiscal Policy Office director-general Pornchai Thiraveja.
Some state firms remitted income of 122 billion baht, which fell below the target by 0.5%, or 574 million baht.
The rest of the income was remitted by other state agencies which do not fall under the main tax collection departments.
The government forecasts that this year it will be able to collect revenue matching the target of 2.4 trillion baht, in line with the recovery of the Thai economy.
The tourism sector has continued to improve following the reopening of the country, with 12.9 million foreign tourists entering the country in the first six months, with an annual target of 29 million. Inflation, which was previously putting pressure on the economy, declined to 2.5%.
On the other hand, the export sector is still putting pressure on the economy, declining 5.1% in the first five months of this year. The FPO forecasts 2023 economic growth of 3.6% (as of April), supported by improving domestic consumption and the rebounding tourism sector.
The diesel excise tax cut, which has now expired and which the Finance Ministry has no plans to extend, was implemented in February 2022. There were then several periodic extensions, the last one covering the period between May 21 and July 20, 2023.
According to the Finance Ministry, the previous seven reductions in diesel fuel excise tax significantly affected state revenue collection during fiscal 2022 and 2023 by up to 158 billion baht, with roughly 90 billion baht of this taking place in fiscal 2023.