NLA to take first look at 2016 budget bill

In the military-appointed assembly’s first deliberation, Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha, who is also chief of the National Council for Peace and Order, will make a speech to NLA laying out the rationale for the proposed budget. The 2016 budget is about Bt145 billion or 5.6 per cent more than that of the previous fiscal year. The figure represents 20.4 per cent of the country’s gross domestic production. 

A draft of the inheritance tax bill has also been set for preliminary deliberation by the NLA. The Finance Ministry proposed an exemption for inheritances not exceeding Bt50 million. However, a majority vote of a parliamentary committee vetting the bill agreed on the figure of Bt100 billion. 

The tax rate remains at 10 per cent of donated assets’ value. The beneficiaries will be subject to a 5-per-cent tax if they are descendants of the deceased. 

According to the bill, the inheritances to be taxed include immovable properties, securities according to the securities and exchange law, deposits, and registered vehicles.

 

7-month revenue up 

 Government revenue in the first seven months of its 2015 fiscal year increased by 6.2 per cent over the same period last year, Fiscal Policy Office director-general Krisda Chinavicharana said.

“The government has collected Bt1.143 trillion, which is Bt15.577 billion or 1.4 per cent more than what the Budget Bureau expected, because of the increased incomes of state-owned enterprises and [higher] collections by the Excise Department,” he said.

The SOEs contributed Bt25.055 billion more than expected, and the Excise Department collected Bt14.771 billion more than anticipated. However, the Revenue Department collected Bt47.713 billion less than projected, and the Customs Department came up Bt2.988 billion short. 

Meanwhile, income from value-added tax expanded by 7.5 per cent year on year.