(Photo by Tawatchai Kemgumnerd)The cabinet on Tuesday decided to keep value-added tax (VAT) at 7% for another year from Sept 30. VAT was introduced in Thailand in 1992 at a rate of 10% but was slashed to 7% after businesses said the high rate cut into people's buying power. The Finance Ministry has brushed aside the National Legislative Assembly's proposal to raise VAT to 8%, saying it would be inappropriate in the current economic climate. The NLA had proposed increasing VAT by one percentage point, saying it would boost government revenue by up to 70 billion baht a year. The Finance Ministry expects the e-tax system to stem tax evasion and raise revenue collection by at least 100 billion baht a year when it is fully adopted, making it unnecessary to raise VAT.

Source: Bangkok Post August 15, 2017 10:07 UTC