Thai property tax law to be reviewed in April: Finance Minister

[BANGKOK] A finance ministry committee will review a draft law to introduce Thailand's first tax on property in April, before the proposal is submitted for the general public's scrutiny, Finance Minister Sommai Phasee said on Monday.

The land and building tax is part of the military-led government's plan to restructure taxes and broaden the tax base to help boost revenue and promote fairness. "We will submit the first draft to the tax reform committee which will hold a meeting in April. After that we will invite academics, and the people to review it as much as they can," Mr Sommai told reporters.

Once approved by the cabinet, the draft property tax law is expected to introduced in two years. It is expected to raise around 200 billion baht (S$8.44 billion) annually, Mr Sommai said.

Deputy Prime Minister Pridiyathorn Devakula had planned to submit a draft to the cabinet earlier this month, but Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha ordered a delay in order for more work to be done on the proposals due to mounting criticsim of the draft legislation.

The government collected 654.5 billion baht during the first four months of the 2015 fiscal year, beginning in October, a fall of 1.4 per cent from the previous year.

REUTERS