PM discusses with tax departments ways to improve revenue collection

Executives of the Revenue, Excise and Customs departments were called to a meeting by Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin on Wednesday after revenue collection in the first seven months reportedly missed the target by 2.4% or 35.49 billion baht.

Also joining the session were Finance Minister Pichai Chunhavajira and Deputy Finance Minister Julapun Amornvivat.

After the meeting, Srettha told reporters that the discussion explored ways to improve revenue collection for the rest of the year, through both existing and new campaigns. He did not, however, provide details of the campaigns designed to bring the revenue collection back on track.

When asked if the government will have to borrow additional money to fill the gap left by the missing revenue, Srettha answered: “Everything is still proceeding according to plan, but now that we are halfway through the fiscal year, we need to assess where adjustments need to be made, whether that relates to reducing or increasing expenditure.”

The premier added that the government would manage spending carefully, including tax incentives for foreign investors, which is crucial to its economic stimulation policies.

“The economy in the fourth quarter will definitely improve, but today we are focusing on how to make the 3rd quarter better, as the fiscal budget disbursement has already started and we want to make sure the process is both quick and smooth,” Srettha added.

A news source said that during the meeting, the government’s revenue collection for 7 months of 2024 was reported at 1.46 trillion baht, which is 2.4% below the target or by 35.49 billion baht. It is however 2.7% or 38.87 billion baht higher than the same period in the previous year.

The Revenue Department collected 1.09 trillion baht, 0.9% higher than target and 1.8% higher than the previous year.

The Excise Department collected 304.5 billion baht, 13.4% lower than target but 9.9% higher than the previous year.

The Customs Department collected 68.68 billion baht, 3% higher than the target but 10.7% lower than the previous year.

Earlier on Wednesday, Julapun said it was understandable that the Excise Department had missed its revenue target during the first seven months of fiscal 2024 and possibly throughout the year, as the government had used the department as a tool to help consumers by cutting excise tax on oil and to promote the development of the electric vehicle industry.