Govt revenue collection in the first 8 months 1.5% below the target

FPO director-general Pornchai Thiraveja said on Thursday that the government had collected 1.67 trillion baht in net revenue from October 2023 to May 2024, which was below the target.

Net revenue collection in the first eight months was, however, 1.5% higher than the same period of the previous year, he said.

Pornchai added that net revenue collection in the previous fiscal year included ‘special revenue’ of 53.13 billion baht from various sources. Excluding these special revenues, the revenue in the eight months of this fiscal year would be 4.8% higher than the same period of the previous year.

Revenue collections of the three tax departments in the eight months of fiscal 2024 were as follows:

• The Revenue Department collected 1.32 trillion baht, 0.6% above its target and 1.2% higher than the previous year.
• The Excise Department collected 349.56 billion baht, 13.3% lower than the target but 11.4% higher than the previous year.
• The Customs Department collected 79.02 billion baht, 3.6% higher than the target but down 9.2% year on year.

Pornchai attributed the Excise Department losing about 20 billion baht monthly due to the reduction in excise tax on diesel oil and petrol, and the lower-than-estimated revenue from vehicle and tobacco taxes, as the reasons for missing the target.

The FPO reported that from October 2023 to May 2024, a total of 1.62 trillion baht had been deposited with the Finance Ministry, versus the 2.2 trillion baht disbursed by government agencies.

During the said period, the government borrowed 420.17 billion baht to offset the deficit. The treasury reserve as of May 2024 is 394.26 billion baht.