Thailand says most institutional investors must pay stock tax

Most institutional investors in Thailand won’t be exempted from a tax levied on stock transactions that will resume next year after more than three decades, authorities said.

While pension funds and market makers won’t have to pay, other institutional investors must do so, Thai government spokesman Anucha Burapachaisri said in a statement on Saturday (Dec 3). Thailand defines institutional investors that will be subject to the levy as individuals trading on their own accounts, funds other than pensions, and securities companies, which aren’t market-maker accounts, he said.

Reports on exemptions for institutional investors are “misleading”, Anucha said.

A tax of 0.05 per cent will be imposed on stock transactions, which will be raised to 0.1 per cent sometime in 2024, according to a finance ministry document last week after the cabinet approved the policy. The levy will initially take effect 90 days after it’s notified in the Royal Gazette. Thailand halted the tax in 1992 to help promote equity trading.

Anucha said the level was similar to or lower than in other Asian countries. The government expects to generate about 8 billion baht (S$310 million) in revenue in the first year, which may double to 16 billion baht per year when the levy is raised. BLOOMBERG