How taxes can enhance democracy, not cheat it

Thailand’s current state welfare-card system, which covers more than 14 million low-income citizens, serves as a potentially powerful tool to make the country’s democracy work better in the near future.
Registered on the national database are 8.3 million people whose income is under Bt30,000 per year or Bt2,500 per month. Of this number, 2.9 million are farmers, the rest engaged in other professions. They are among the poorest segment of the population and certainly in need of state subsidies.
The state welfare-card database includes another 5.7 million people whose earnings are less than Bt100,000 per year or Bt8,300 per month. This group is not as poor, so recipients have to meet other conditions to qualify. First, they must be at least 18 years old with financial assets valued at less than Bt100,000. If they own a house, the area must not exceed 25 square wah. If they have a condo unit, it can’t be bigger than 35 square metres. And land owned must not exceed 10 rai per farmer and one rai per non-farmer.
Overall, the government spent Bt19.2 billion in 2017 and more than Bt27 billion in 2018 and has earmarked Bt53 billion for this year to subsidise the economic wellbeing of eligible citizens under the state welfare-card system. Using digital and other technologies to implement the system and pay out state money to those who need it help ensures transparency and boosts the potential to turn the database into a crucial part of the broader income-tax system.
In a working democracy, an effective tax system that covers most of its citizens – both taxpayers and non-taxpayers – is required. At present there are just over 10 million Thais registered in the personal income tax system, with even fewer people actually paying tax due to an exemption granted those earning less than Bt150,000 per year. In other words, the power of our democracy is barely supported by the majority of citizens who pay taxes and seriously care how 
the government uses their tax money.
To tackle this challenge, both taxpayers and tax-benefit recipients such as the 14 million citizens who directly receive state welfare should be on the same database. This would help enhance greater accountability and transparency among elected politicians. The days when unscrupulous politicians turn to innocent voters to win their support via the use of tax money in an irresponsible way should end now.
By developing the current state welfare-card system into a more advanced approach, poor and low-income citizens should get a basic monthly income directly from the Revenue Department as mandated by the government. This would usher in a new era of more transparent politics, especially in view of fiscal prudence and curbs on abusive populist policies. Overall, the country’s democratic governance system will work better when more citizens are on the personal income tax system, covering both taxpayers and tax-benefit recipients.
At the least, there would be a combined 24 million citizens in the database, accounting for about half of the 50 million people who are eligible to vote in the March 24 general election.