Elderly citizens who are poor could obtain an additional 3,000 baht a year on average for a living allowance from an allocation of sin taxes and other elderly relinquishing their allowance, says Pornchai Thiraveja, an adviser to the Fiscal Policy Office.
If only 25% of the 4.4 million elderly Thais refuse to accept the government's aid, 8 billion baht will be available for the underprivileged, Mr Pornchai said. Low-income seniors could earn 3,000 baht more a year, assuming an annual 4-billion-baht allocation from sin taxes and an annual budget of 400 million baht, he said.
Based on this scenario, the elderly poor would receive a yearly living allowance of 11,000 baht on average, up from 8,000 at present.
Mr Pornchai's comments came after the National Legislative Assembly passed a bill enabling the allocation of up to 4 billion baht a year from sin taxes to support the elderly poor's living allowance.
The legislation was drafted to funnel 2% of the excise tax on liquor, beer and cigarettes, up to 4 billion baht per year, and the allowances relinquished by wealthier elderly to a fund supporting the country's low-income seniors.
Mr Pornchai said seniors who choose to relinquish their rights will receive honourable medals, while the forgone portion can be used to claim a tax deduction of up to 10% of taxable income.
All Thai elderly are entitled to a progressive living allowance, with 600 baht paid monthly to those aged 60-69, 700 baht to those 70-79, 800 baht to those 80-89 and 1,000 baht to those 90 and older.
Elderly earning less than 100,000 baht a year number 3.6 million nationwide.
According to the government's estimate, people aged 60 and over will account for 20% of the total population by 2021, up from 16% currently.
In a separate matter, importers will not be held responsible for incorrect customs duties determined by the e-advance ruling system slated for adoption from January next year, said the Customs Department chief.
The e-advance ruling is legally binding, which is intended to solve the problem of customs officials who make independent determinations at customs houses that do not comply with the department's determination, said Kulit Sombatsiri, director-general of the department.
The e-advance ruling system will allow importers and exporters who are unsure about import duties, particularly for new products such as drones, to check the levy in advance through an online system, he said.
The new system will take no longer than 40 days to determine how much the customs duty will be, shortened from 4-5 months.
The charge for the e-advance ruling system is 2,000 baht per use.
A ruling on the customs duty will determine whether the clearance process is done at a rapid or slow speed.
In the case of general products, importers and exporters can search for duties on the department's Harmonised System Check for free.