Excise collection sees sharp drop in five months of current fiscal year
Excise tax collection in the first five months of fiscal year 2023 (October 2022 to February 2023) plunged from 231 billion baht recorded in the previous year.
The Excise Department collected 198 billion baht during the five months, it reported on Monday.
The drop in total revenue was due to the government’s policy of slashing diesel excise tax by 5 baht per litre since last year in a bid to help reduce people’s financial burden amid the fuel price crisis.
The relief, which ends in July, has cost excise tax revenue of around 10 billion baht per month, Kriangkrai Pattanaporn, deputy director of the Excise Department, said.
The five products that generated the most excise taxes in the past five months were:
- Vehicles, 44.4 billion baht
- Fuel, 44.3 billion baht
- Beer, 40 billion baht
- Liquor, 29 billion baht
- Tobacco, 25 billion baht
Kriangkrai added that revenue collected from alcoholic beverages rose 12 per cent year on year, thanks to the reopening of entertainment venues and the influx of foreign tourists since late last year. Tax revenue from alcoholic beverages has returned to near pre-Covid-19 levels, he added.
The Excise Department has set a revenue target of 567 billion baht for fiscal 2023. Kriangkrai said he expected no problem in achieving the target since the income from diesel tax should rise significantly after July.
