Thailand’s 7% value added tax (VAT) might not be enough as PM Prayut Chan-o-cha asks before an audience in Prachin Ratsadornamrung School in Prachinburi for an additional 1% increase, Thursday, March 16, 2017.
PM Prayut insists the need to raise VAT to generate more than 100 billion baht in additional tax revenues. “Let me ask for this sacrifice, can I? If this can happen, the state budget will increase and it can then be used to fund what members of the public are calling for,” he explained.
He continues that he will press on with investment projects that gain profit and lead to a better revenue the succeeding years, including high-speed train infrastructures and double-track railway projects to cite a few.
Legal limits, he admits, might hinder the government from fast implementation of these said goals. If government income does not increase to cater to the country’s growing needs, the country will go bankrupt; thus the need for a tax system revamp.
Finance Minister Apisak Tantivorawong says that the government still plans to keep the 7% VAT for another year until it ends in September 30.
Source/Photo: Bangkok Post Thai PBS
