Finance Ministry upbeat as annual tax revenue beats target for 1st time since Covid
Tax revenue for 2022 has already surpassed the target of 2.4 trillion baht, in a sign that the economy is recovering, the Finance Ministry said on Tuesday.
Ministry permanent secretary Krisada Chinavicharana said the target had already been exceeded by 70 billion baht. The 2022 fiscal year will end this month.
The surplus would be 130 billion baht had the diesel tax not been reduced to soften the impact of soaring fuel prices, Krisada added.
The ministry expects this month’s revenue collection to increase in line with rising consumption and tourism.
The Revenue Department collected 1.67 trillion baht during the first 10 months of fiscal 2022, which was 210 billion baht more than at the same period last year.
But the Excise Department failed to meet its own revenue target after the government reduced diesel excise tax three times.
The Finance Ministry expects the economy to expand 3.5 per cent this year from 2021.
This is the first year since the Covid-19 pandemic began that the government has reached its tax-revenue target.
It missed the target by 336 billion baht (12.3 per cent) in 2020 and 307 billion baht (11.5 per cent) in 2021.
Krisada said the government’s decision to extend the diesel tax cut for two months from September 20 to November 20 would cost the government about 20 billion baht in revenue.
The government has set a revenue target of 2.49 trillion baht for fiscal 2023, which begins next month. Krisada said the Finance Ministry is confident that target will be met as well.
