Vendors to face up to 20 years in jail for using forged VAT invoices
The Revenue Department will enforce severe punishment for vendors using forged VAT invoices, with those found guilty facing a jail term of up to 20 years, director-general Prasong Poonthanet said on Tuesday.
Enforcement of the new law will start in September, he said.
Currently, if vendors do not fully pay tax by using doctored bills or invoices for value-added tax in order to misguide the authorities about their real income, tax officials simply ask them to pay the full amount due.
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) often use forged bills or tax invoices, Prasong claimed.
Under the new tax law, however, any vendor found guilty of using a doctored bill or tax invoice will be jailed for between seven and 20 years, he warned.
The department is also installing a new tax-surveillance system, which will facilitate electronic transactions so that vendors and accounting firms need not use paper tax invoices, he said.
It is also seeking cooperation from accounting auditors in order to assist SMEs in conducting their accounting practice correctly, the agency chief added.
