Bankers' association seeks talks with Revenue Dept on plan
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THE Thai Bankers' Association (TBA) will hold discussions with the Revenue Department as soon as possible about proposed changes to the Revenue Code affecting holders of joint bank accounts.
The proposed amendment to the code would apparently force joint account holders to pay tax on their deposits, as they would be considered “limited partnerships” or “registered ordinary partnerships”. To avoid this, people wanting, for example, to open a joint savings account for their children would have to register the account in only one name.
Boontuck Wungcharoen, chairman of the TBA and chief executive officer of TMB Bank, said the association would get the full details of the proposed amendment from the Revenue Department before informing member banks, and the discussion with the department should be held as soon as possible.
He said that in the meantime, banks would continue to open joint accounts as usual.
Kris Chantanotoke, executive vice president of Bank of Ayudhya, said it had around 100,000 joint accounts. While the TBA is trying to get a clear understanding of the proposed amendment, the bank will have to set up a system to verify the tax numbers of joint-account depositors.
Meanwhile yesterday, TMB Bank announced a new deposit product called “TMB All Free”. It hopes that 1.2 million of its 2015 of 1.4 million to 1.5 million new accounts will be TMB All Free accounts, which will waive fees for several types of transactions.
Boontuck said that according to TMB Bank’s research, 94 per cent of medium-income depositors make bill payments around four times per month, one interbank transfer and five ATM cash withdrawals, all of which normally carry fees. But holders of TMB All Free accounts will be able to make free cash withdrawals and inquiries at any bank’s automated teller machines nationwide, with no limit on the number of transactions.
In the Thai banking industry, there are around 72 million savings accounts, of which 10 million are held by medium-income customers, defined a those with monthly incomes of Bt15,000. TMB has 6 per cent of the 72 million accounts.
Of its 4 million savings accounts, 2 million are active, Boontuck said.
