Other taxes may rise to keep diesel cheap
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The Finance Ministry will likely extend the de facto exemption of diesel from excise tax for another month but may increase other taxes to cover the revenue shortfall, Benja Luicharoen, director-general of the Excise Department, said yesterday.
The Bt0.005-per-litre diesel tax was to be terminated at the end of this month, and a considerably higher excise imposed. But the department now will propose extending the ultra-low tax for another month, Benja said after meeting with Finance Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong.
She said the department might increase excise rates on other items to cover the resulting revenue shortfall.
Somchai Sujjapongse, director-general of the Fiscal Policy Office, said government revenue in January missed the target by Bt4.8 billion, coming in at Bt126.39 billion. The diesel-tax exemption contributed to the shortfall, since the government previously had planned to resume a Bt5-per-litre rate last month.
The collection of corporate income tax also missed the target as companies were affected by the massive flooding last year, he said. Excise revenue on vehicles was also lower than expected because of a drop in car sales due to the flood disaster.
Somchai said revenue in the first four months of the current fiscal year, however, exceeded the target by Bt9.7 billion. The total tax collected from October to January was Bt523.42 billion.
