The Excise Department is studying a levy on goods deemed to have a negative effect on consumers' health and the environment, in the hopes of reducing incentives to consume such products, says director-general Krisada Chinavicharana.
The idea is similar to value-added tax (VAT) collection where consumers are liable to pay a 7% tax on goods and services, said Mr Krisada.
Staff at the department have been instructed to study the idea as other countries collect an excise tax based on consumption, which ranges from 1-3% of product prices, he said.
The study is for taxing goods that are classified as taxable from the consumption base without being redundant to the VAT.
"In principle, products that are harmful to consumers' health or the environment should pay a higher tax rate than products with lower health and environmental threats. For instance, oils that release toxins in the environment should be liable to a higher tax rate than environmentally friendly oil," said Mr Krisada.
He said the concept of collecting excise tax from the consumption base may help change consumer behaviour as a higher tax liability would be applied for every purchase.
The department has raised the excise tax on cigarettes and spirits based on the production base many times in the past, but such measures did not reduce consumption of these products, he said.
The agency collects levies on 21 categories, including oil and oil products, non-alcoholic beverages, spirits, beer, cars, batteries, nightclubs and discotheques, golf courses and tobacco.
Excise tax collection is based on the retail price in accordance with the new excise law that came into effect on Sept 16, 2017.
Excise tax revenue has expanded by 3-4% annually, with the department tasked by the Finance Ministry to generate revenue worth around 600 billion baht for fiscal year 2018, said Mr Krisada.