Nine-month tax revenue up but below FPO targets

The government collected about Bt1.631 trillion from the beginning of October 2014 to the end of last month.
The income was lower than expected because of below-target collections of petroleum and chemical taxes, automobile excise, corporate income tax and value-added tax. Petroleum and chemical tax revenue was 29.1 per cent or Bt32.669 billion below target; auto excise 22.3 per cent or Bt17.781 billion; corporate tax 14.7 per cent or Bt60.501 billion; and VAT 7.3 per cent or Bt42.269 billion short of the target.
Nevertheless, the collection of tax on retail fuel sales was Bt43.057 billion or 87.8 per cent higher than expected; government income from other sources than tax collection Bt25.387 billion or 23.4 per cent higher; and the profits from state-owned enterprises Bt15.8 billion or 16.6 per cent higher.
Krisda Chinavicharana, director-general of the FPO, noted that despite VAT collection being below target, it was 7 per cent higher than in the same nine-month period in the previous fiscal year.
“The increased VAT collection means that there is domestic consumption and investment, but the collections were lower than expected because of the effects from the slowdown in the economy and sharp decline in global oil prices,” he said.
In total, the government was able to collect around Bt257.703 billion in taxes last month, which was 4.4 per cent or Bt11.826 billion less than expected but still 33.3 per cent more than in June last year.
The lower-than-expected revenue from corporate income tax, by 12.7 per cent or around Bt14.036 billion, was the biggest drag on the government’s income last month as corporate profits are shrinking along with weak domestic consumption.