Excise tax collection Bt2 bn short of target in first month of fiscal 2015
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The Excise Department reported that its revenue collection was Bt2 billion short of target in the first month of fiscal year 2015, prompting a meeting with Finance Minister Sommai Phasee to discuss possible changes to the tax criteria for beverages, curre
Fruit juices currently enjoy tax-exemption status.
Currently, 100 beverages are exempted from tax as they fall in one of two categories. The first is beverages that contain ingredients from local agricultural produce above the 10-per-cent level. The other category is beverages that the department has determined are good for people’s health.
The improving outlook and gradual recovery of the Thai tourism sector should help boost the Excise Department’s revenue collections late this year and early next year.
As for the entire fiscal year 2014, tax collections were significantly below targets.
This was attributed to the sluggish economy, which grew by less than the projected 4 per cent.
The Fiscal Policy Office now estimates that gross domestic product this year will grow by only 1.4 per cent, which has resulted in lower collections of value added tax, as well as lower corporate and personal income taxes.
