Group pushes govt on land tax amendment
Local Action Links, a non-profit organisation that aims to protect farmers' land rights, has urged the government to ensure fairness in landholding in Thai society, suggesting that a land tax is the most appropriate fiscal measure to achieve this.
Tax exemptions should be made for farmers and other people who own small plots of land with low value, it says.
According to a study by the organisation, the 284 Pheu Thai Party members who held seats in the House of Representatives before the military seized power last year owned 31,797 rai (5,087 hectares) of land worth Bt8.27 billion, followed by the Democrat Party’s 167 MPs with 27,074 rai worth about Bt6.07 billion. All 530 MPs owned 8,388 plots of land totalling 68,765 rai and worth about Bt18.09 billion.
Anchalee Tephabutra, a member of the Democrat Party, held 207 plots totalling 4,115 rai worth Bt337.44 billion.
Democrat Pracha Potipipit held 67 plots on 3,830 rai worth Bt142 million.
The third-biggest landowner among MPs in the last House was Malinee Inchat, a member of the Pheu Thai Party, with 148 plots on 2,492 rai worth Bt302 million.
Amnuay Kangpla, another former Pheu Thai MP, held 2,084 rai worth Bt60.18 million.
Democrat Sopa Kanjana held 2,046 rai worth Bt280.91 million, and Pheu Thai’s Chuchat Hansawat had 2,026 rai worth Bt149 million.
Local Action Links director Pongthip Samranjit said the organisation supported the proposal for a land and building tax, believing it would reduce inequality in society.
However, the government has to revise the proposal to reduce its impact on lower- and middle-income Thais before putting it into law, she said.
The bill to establish a real-estate tax is already undergoing revision after the Finance Ministry weathered a lot of criticism over the original proposal.
