Cabinet green lights tax plan for SEZs

Government spokesman Yongyuth Mayalarp said the Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha yesterday approved the measure to increase tax incentives in the SEZs by lowering the corporate income tax from 20 per cent to 10 per cent of the net profit in 10 accounting periods for new businesses that wish to invest in the SEZs.

Businesses that want to avail of the tax deduction must apply before or within 2017 and must not be on the Board of Investment’s tax promotional list or currently using any kind of SME’s tax privileges.

"The measure will not affect the current income of the government because it applies to new businesses only and the measure is currently up for the Council of State’s approval," he said.

Meanwhile, government deputy spokesman Major General Sunsern Kaewkumnerd said the Committee to Follow Up On and Scrutinise the Spending of State Budgets has revealed that 29.08 per cent of the government’s budget for projects worth more than Bt50 million has been disbursed while the contracts for 591 projects worth around Bt71.08 billion have already been signed.

No delay expected

There are 241 more projects, or 51.93 per cent of the total projects worth more than Bt50 million, that have yet to make any progress on the contract signing process but the government expects no delay in this aspect since the projects and the progress of the signing process will continue in the third and fourth quarters of this year, Sunsern claimed.

"That fact that more than 51 per cent of the projects have not made any contract signing progress does not mean that there is any delay since the process of disbursement for investment is annual and the investment progress in the first and the second quarters has gone according to plan," he said.

"The government expects 20-30 per cent more contracts to be signed within the third quarter," he added.

The Cabinet also approved the Ministry of Finance’s proposal for Thailand to apply as an observer within the World Trade Organisation’s Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) committee in order to gain the knowledge to improve the efficiency and transparency of the government’s procurement process.

Meanwhile, the prime minister has ordered ministers to take a look at the first draft of the new charter before sending in their comments for articles that fall under the jurisdiction of their offices by giving priority to those articles that can solve problems within their ministry before forwarding their comments by May 19.