Thailand’s revenue surplus tops 10 billion baht despite tax shortfall

The Treasury Department recorded a revenue surplus of 10.38 billion baht for the first four months of the 2025 fiscal year, Pornchai Thiravej, director of the Fiscal Policy Office and Finance Ministry spokesman, said on Monday. 

From October 2024 to January 2025, about 827 billion baht has been collected in revenue, exceeding projections by 1.3% but matching collections during the same period last year. 

The surplus was primarily driven by:

• Carryover revenue from state enterprises: In the first quarter (October-December 2024), state enterprises remitted 51.9 billion baht, surpassing the target by 42.7%.
• Strong value-added tax collection from domestic consumption: Higher-than-expected VAT revenues were bolstered by government stimulus measures. 
• Surplus from bond sales used to finance the government’s deficit: Premium income from bond sales contributed to higher revenue. 

However, performance across key tax collection departments varied: 

• Revenue Department: Collected 646.02 billion baht, marking a 3.7% year-on-year increase, which was 1.2% above target. 
• Excise Department: Collected about 174 billion baht, a 0.7% increase year-on-year, which was 1.4% below projections. 
• Customs Department: Collected 38.89 billion baht, a 2.7% year-on-year decrease and 6.8% below projections. 

Despite these departmental discrepancies, overall government revenue exceeded targets. The Finance Ministry has pledged to closely monitor and manage revenue collection for the rest of the fiscal year to ensure alignment with set targets. 

As for the government’s cash flow, the revenue brought into the treasury was about 823 billion baht, while the total budget expenditure amounted to 1.58 trillion baht. To bridge this deficit, the government borrowed 478.75 billion baht. As of January 2025, Thailand’s treasury reserves stood at 245.49 billion baht.