THURSDAY, March 28, 2024
nationthailand

Excise Dept expects more car tax under new structure

Excise Dept expects more car tax under new structure

THE EXCISE Department expects to collect between Bt5 billion and Bt10 billion more in car taxes after the emission-based tax structure goes into effect next year.

The new excise tax is based on carbon-dioxide emissions instead of engine capacity.
Somchai Poolsawasdi, director-general of the department, said yesterday that the rise in revenue was expected as some car models could not meet the emission requirements.
If emissions are low, the car tax will also be low. For example, a passenger car emitting no more than 150 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometre will be levied the basic rate. If it emits more than that, the rate will rise.
If a pickup truck releases no more than 200 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometre, its excise tax rate will stay at 3 per cent. More than that, and the tax rate jumps to 5 per cent.
Excise-tax revenue usually depends on annual car sales.
Next year, total car production is forecast at 2 million units, of which 1.2 million are slated for export and the remaining 800,000 for local distribution. Cars sold domestically are subject to the excise tax.
For fiscal 2016, the Finance Ministry targets an increase of Bt57 billion in excise-tax revenue to Bt496 billion.
The Excise Department, for the first month of this fiscal year, collected Bt1.6 billion less revenue than targeted because of lower fuel-tax revenue. However, there has been a sign of improvement this month in sin and beverages taxes due partly to the stocking of products for New Year festivities.
The Fiscal Policy Office also plans to revise the revenue targets of tax-collection departments.
The move was expected as the departments’ revenue targets were based on the fuel tax rising by Bt1 from Bt4.25 to Bt5.25 per litre. However, the government has not announced the increase yet, in light of the country’s economic slowdown, and this resulted in a Bt20-billion revenue loss for the Excise Department.
“As global oil prices dropped, the government’s revenue collection has been affected, particularly for the Excise Department, from the value-added tax on oil imports and tax on fuel consumption. If the fuel tax is not raised, our revenue will be affected,” Somchai said.

 

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