The Finance Ministry expects collection of the land and building tax this year to total 43 billion baht, 8 billion higher than last year as the tax discount is discontinued.
Speaking at a property seminar organised by the Daily News on the fifth anniversary of the implementation of the tax and the outlook for the real estate sector, finance permanent secretary Lavaron Sangsnit said the ministry is reviewing the law to determine if amendments are needed, with a decision expected by the end of this year.
According to Mr Lavaron, the tax law was discussed for more than two decades, then enacted in 2019, with the first levy collection in 2020. However, the pandemic caused the government to reduce the tax burden by 90% until 2021.
The full rate as specified by law began in 2022. Last year, the government reduced the tax burden by 15% to alleviate economic hardship for people.
He said this year, with no tax reduction measures, revenue is expected to rise to 43 billion baht, up from 35 billion last year.
Mr Lavaron said future revenue from this tax will likely increase, with little chance of a decline, as the tax base is the value of land and buildings, which continues to rise.
In terms of taxpayers, only 7 million people paid this tax the first year, but by 2022, the number had risen to 16 million, he said.
According to Mr Lavaron, as this tax collection and its revenue belong to local governments, local administrative organisations must survey land usage because different types of land usage are subject to different tax rates.
Bangkok has completed 99.4% of its land usage assessment, covering 2.1 million plots of land, 2.2 million houses and 1 million condo units, he said.
The government's existing measures to stimulate the real estate sector have helped clear the housing stock to some extent, playing a part in economic growth of 1.5% in the first quarter this year, said Mr Lavaron.
Despite relatively low growth in the first quarter, he said for the remainder of the year, delayed government budget disbursements and other planned measures should help stimulate the economy.