Rich politicians face scrutiny

POLITICIANS who held office in the Abhisit Vejjajiva and Yingluck Shinawatra governments who own assets worth more than Bt50 million will be scrutinised for any tax evasion, Auditor-General Pisit Leelavachiropas said yesterday.
Speaking at a seminar on efforts to tackle corruption in Thailand, Pisit said the Office of Auditor-General had recently sent a letter to the Revenue Department. It asked for an evaluation of the assets and liabilities of politicians who held office during the two previous governments to find out if they had any outstanding income tax dues.
The assets and liabilities of more than 100 former politicians were found to have fluctuated, resulting in more incomes that were taxable. The Revenue Department had to perform its duty in collecting taxes, he said, adding the Office also had a duty to oversee the work of the department.
He said at least 60 former politicians could be liable to pay back taxes and the move was not discriminatory. Earlier, the Office had also pushed for collection of back taxes on the sale of Shin Corp shares by former premier Thaksin Shinawatra.
Pisit said the Office had also looked at the tax records of wealthy businessmen and large companies that were among the country’s richest to find out if they had paid taxes properly. 
These individuals and companies include those identified by the leaked Panama Papers, which revealed several Thai billionaires and big firms had set up offshore companies to evade taxes.
According to the Office, more than Bt10 billion in back taxes had been recovered over the past two years based on the records of the Revenue, Customs and Excise departments.
Pisit urged former politicians in the two previous governments to pay their back taxes voluntarily so that no penalties are levied when the Revenue Department re-evaluates their tax records and compares it with declarations on assets and liabilities they made to the National Anti-Corruption Commission while they held public office.

Most former politicians reported higher assets and unchanged liabilities or lesser liabilities with unchanged assets suggesting higher incomes while in office. However, the Office has focused mainly on those with more than Bt50 million in assets per person and the Revenue Department has been informed recently to follow up on the collection of back taxes.
To date, there has been no response from the Revenue Department so the Office will send a second letter to the department seeking urgency in taking action.
Meanwhile, the Office reiterated that the Revenue Department is empowered to collect back income tax on the 2006 sale of Shin Corp shares under Article 61 of the Revenue Code, which says that people whose names appear in an asset ownership document are liable to pay tax.
Pisit warned at the same seminar that the Revenue Department could face also investigation by the National Anti-Corruption Commission if it failed to pursue this tax case before the March 31 deadline.
Earlier, Revenue officials claimed they could not collect taxes under Article 61 because the statute of limitations had expired.
But according to the Office, former premier Thaksin is liable to pay back taxes on the sale of Shin Corp shares to Temasek Group of Singapore, even though he used his children as nominees in holding the shares while serving as prime minister.