Finance Ministry upbeat on hitting 2.79 trillion baht revenue target

There is a high potential for the Finance Ministry to achieve its target of collecting 2.78 trillion baht in revenue for fiscal 2024 ending in September, a top ministry official said.

Lawan Saengsanit, Finance permanent secretary, said on Monday that the ministry is confident it will reach its revenue target even though its collections in the first nine months were short by 26 billion baht.

He reckons agencies in charge of collecting revenue will collect more funds during the remaining months.

“After meeting with chiefs of revenue collection agencies, I estimate revenue collection will improve in the 10th month of the fiscal year, and the difference will become narrower in the 11th month. By the time the year ends, the target of 2.78 trillion baht will have been achieved,” he said.

Speaking at the same press conference, the Revenue Department’s director-general Kulaya Tantitemit said her department has earned 1.76 trillion baht in revenue for the first 10 months of this fiscal year, which began in October 2023.

The revenue received was 33 billion baht or 1.9% higher compared to the same period last year, and 8.9 billion or 0.5% higher than the target set by the Revenue Department, Kulaya added.

She said the Revenue Department would earn more corporate tax during the last two months of the fiscal year, adding that she was confident her department would achieve its target of 2.767 trillion baht.

Ekniti Nitithanprapas, the Excise Department’s director-general, said during the first 10 months of fiscal 2024, his department received 439 billion baht, which was 61.7 billion baht or 12.34% less than the target.

He attributed this drop in earnings to the reduction of diesel and petrol excise taxes early this year, and the ongoing subsidy measures for buyers of electric vehicles. The Excise Department’s revenue target for fiscal 2024 is 598 billion baht, he added.

The department has, so far, received 173 billion baht for oil excise, which was 12.65% lower than the target, and 58.6 billion baht in vehicle excise, which was 33.43% below target.

Customs Department director-general Theeraj Athanavanich said he is confident that his department will reach the target of collecting 100 billion baht this fiscal year. The department has exceeded its target by 4 billion baht or 4% in the first 10 months of this fiscal year.

Tibordee Wattanakul, director-general of the State Enterprise Policy Office (SEPO), said he was confident that SEPO will hand 200 billion baht in revenue to the Finance Ministry, higher than its target of 175 billion baht.

The enterprise has already given the Finance Ministry 165 billion baht in earnings during the first 10 months of the year, he added.