Adoption of new technologies like big data and pursuing digitisation of the tax collection system are the priorities for the new director-general of the Revenue Department, Ekniti Nitithanprapas, who aims to boost the state agency's efficiency and enlarge the taxpayer base.
"In a nutshell, do less, get more is the epitome of the 4.0 era. We need to adopt IT systems, including blockchain and chatbots," he told the Bangkok Post in his first interview since taking office last week.
Before his promotion to head of the Revenue Department, he was director-general at the State Enterprise Policy Office (Sepo).
Individual revenue officials can examine a few tax cases a day, but in the digital age, data analytics is more efficient, helping the department spend less time on the tax examination process, Mr Ekniti said.
If the department can link data related to withholding tax and value-added tax (VAT) with big data systems, and integrate the Customs Department's data with the system, the efficiency of tax collection will be enhanced because the department can use the technology to determine whether taxpayers' money flow is in line with transactions, he said.
The Revenue Department, Thailand's biggest tax-collecting agency, wants to spend several billion baht to install a big data analytics system in a push to raise tax collection efficiency, as the government needs more income to finance big-ticket infrastructure investment and take care of the increasing number of elderly Thais.
The Finance Ministry has set a goal of balancing the budget in the next decade, for which economic growth averaging 4% a year is viewed as essential.
The government has run budget deficits since fiscal 1999, with the exception of 2005 and 2006. The Finance Ministry is eager to curb the deficit to strengthen its fiscal position as a cushion for any economic crises that could erupt.
The Revenue Department has missed its tax collection target over the past few years, falling short of the target by 70 billion baht last fiscal year. During the October-April period, the department fell short of its target by 6.55 billion baht or 0.7% at 899 billion baht, largely due to lower-than-expected revenue from VAT and personal income tax.
The department has set a collection target of 1.93 trillion baht for fiscal 2018.
"I believe that the tax base will actually increase after the system is completely installed," Mr Ekniti said. "We must tackle those who avoid tax payment. I still believe that many people want to pay taxes accurately, but they don't know how to do so."
The Revenue Department continues to apply an advice-centric scheme initiated by former director-general Prasong Puntanet, who is now the finance permanent secretary, but technology will also be employed to detect those who fail to pay taxes or make incomplete reports on tax payments.
In a related development, Mr Ekniti said he will let an outsider who is the top executive of a tech giant give a speech on disruptive technology, opportunities and challenges at the Revenue Department, digital transformation at the department, and data analytics to revenue officials at a town-hall meeting scheduled for June 1.
Mr Ekniti, who describes himself as tech savvy, managed to link information about tap water and electricity consumption to big data analytics technology to allow the state-owned Small and Medium Enterprise Development Bank of Thailand (SME Bank) to better assess risks and make faster loan approval decisions when he headed Sepo.
Regarding taxing online vendors, he said the Revenue Department is setting up a new system, particularly in legislation.
"I think that if we can make tax payments easy, people would want to enter the tax system," Mr Ekniti said.
The Revenue Department is expected to propose a draft bill on e-business tax to the Finance Ministry in the months ahead before forwarding it to the cabinet.
The e-business tax, a levy on online purchases, advertisements and website rent in Thailand earned by operators with a presence outside the country, has already passed the public hearing process. The bill sets a ceiling rate of 15%, but the applicable rates will vary depending on the nature of the business.
If the bill is enforced, online vendors with an overseas presence but with domestic transactions are required to withhold taxes and remit them to the Revenue Department.
In addition, they will be required to sign up for the VAT system if they earn income of more than 1.8 million baht from selling products and services.
The draft will also annul the department's VAT exemption for online shopping on goods worth less than 1,500 baht bought from foreign vendors outside Thailand and shipped by mail, to prevent vendors from exploiting the loophole by breaking up invoices into amounts below the threshold to skirt the levy.