The Revenue Department has vowed to tighten enforcement of tax collection from four types of businesses to ensure accurate payments.
According to director-general Pinsai Suraswadi, the businesses are restaurants, nightlife establishments, cash-based trading businesses, and pharmacies.
The department is required to survey these businesses every two years, but these surveys have not been performed.
For fiscal 2025, ending on Sept 30, the department was assigned a tax collection target of 2.37 trillion baht, accounting for 82% of the government’s total revenue, said Mr Pinsai.
In the first seven months to April 30, the department collected 1.14 trillion baht, 17.9 billion above the 7-month target and 47.3 billion more than in the same period last year.
However, Mr Pinsai said collection might fall short of the full-year target given the economic slowdown, though the shortfall should not exceed 20 billion baht.
The Fiscal Policy Office previously estimated the department would collect 36 billion baht less than the target.
Mr Pinsai noted that petroleum tax revenue is projected to be about 10 billion baht below target as petroleum businesses have used accumulated losses as deductions against income, resulting in lower tax payments.
Similarly, although financial institutions have reported relatively high profits, they are paying less tax than in the past because they engaged in tax planning by utilising accumulated losses this year.
In the first quarter of 2025, 11 commercial banks in Thailand reported combined profits of 68.3 billion baht, a 12.1% increase from the last quarter of 2024.
For fiscal 2026, Mr Pinsai said the Revenue Department’s target would be 100 billion baht more than in 2025.
He said the department is studying some new measures to lift revenue, such as taxes on outbound travellers and increasing the value-added tax (VAT).
VAT has always been politically sensitive, as evidenced by the public backlash when Finance Minister Pichai Chunhavajira floated a proposal for an increase last year. Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra rejected the idea.
Mr Pichai recently proposed imposing VAT on businesses earning less than 1.8 million baht per year, which is being studied by the department.
When VAT was introduced in Thailand in 1992, the Revenue Department required businesses with annual revenue of 120,000 baht or more to be included in the system. Those earning between 120,000 and 600,000 baht per year were subject to a flat rate of 1.5%, with no ability to deduct input VAT from output VAT.
This flat-rate VAT system was later abolished. The department collected only about 400 million baht per year from VAT during this period.
Mr Pinsai said that if a flat-rate VAT system were reintroduced for businesses with annual revenue of 600,000 to 1.8 million baht, the department estimates it could generate 6 billion baht in revenue.