Finance Ministry rules out reviving Easy E-Receipt, citing “economic leakages” and inequality

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Ekniti Nitithanprapas has confirmed there are no plans to bring back consumption-stimulus tax measures such as “Easy E-Receipt” or “Shop Dee Mee Kuen” in the near term, after an assessment found the scheme did not drive GDP as effectively as expected relative to the tax revenue the state forfeited.

A report by the Fiscal Policy Office (FPO) said that in 2022 the Shop Dee Mee Kuen measure cost the state more than THB 6.2 billion in lost tax revenue, while boosting GDP by only 0.12%. For the 2025 Easy E-Receipt measure, the revenue loss was projected at as much as THB 10.5 billion in exchange for an estimated THB 70 billion in circulation.

Analysts at the Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI) described the policy as largely a “shift in the timing of consumption”, with people delaying big-ticket purchases until the incentive period, rather than generating new hiring or expanding productive capacity.

Another major weakness cited was “economic leakage”. Under the original terms, only certain prohibited items were excluded via a negative list—such as alcohol and tobacco—without restricting product origin. This, the analysis said, allowed higher-income earners to use up to THB 50,000 in deductions on imported luxury goods, including cosmetics, electronics and foreign brand-name products, meaning the tax revenue sacrificed by the state did not circulate back to support Thai businesses as intended.

The measure has also been criticised as a regressive tax policy that widens inequality. For example, a taxpayer in the 35% bracket spending THB 50,000 would receive THB 17,500 in tax relief, while a taxpayer in the 5% bracket spending the same amount would receive only THB 2,500. This suggests the state effectively subsidised higher-income consumption around seven times more than lower-income groups, running counter to the principle of tax fairness.

While the scheme was credited with increasing the number of operators adopting the e-Tax Invoice system by more than 80%, it was seen as falling short in distributing income to grassroots businesses and OTOP products, as most community enterprises remain unprepared to enter the digital system and are wary of tax burdens.

A Finance Ministry source said that if an economic stimulus measure is revived in the future, there are policy suggestions to tighten conditions to strongly support “Made in Thailand” products—potentially referencing criteria set by the Federation of Thai Industries requiring at least 40% domestic raw materials—so that every baht generates a fiscal multiplier within the country and sustainably strengthens the competitiveness of Thai manufacturing.