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Thailand: Arkhom pushes digital to hit revenue goal
Finance Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith is confident the government will meet its revenue target of 2.4 trillion baht in fiscal 2022.
Mr Arkhom said he instructed the three main tax collection departments to utilise digital technology to boost revenue gathering and make payments easier.
He said people should not be concerned about the government meeting its income target as the ministry is improving revenue collection and practises fiscal discipline.
The Revenue Department’s fiscal 2022 tax collection target is 1.87 trillion baht, while the Excise Department and Customs Department are aiming for 592 billion baht and 100 billion baht, respectively.
Revenue Department director-general Ekniti Nitithanprapas said its tax collection accounts for 65% of total state revenue.
He said over the past four years the department has been digitally transformed through the modernisation of its working processes and the use of a data analytics tool to effectively plan its tax collection strategy. The agency also adopted modern management techniques to strengthen its operations, and these reforms have resulted in a higher tax haul, said Mr Ekniti.
During the first six months of fiscal 2022, the department collected revenue of 852 billion baht, up 15.6% from the same period last year, and 13.5% higher than the target.
In that period, the government’s net revenue stood at more than 1.09 trillion baht, exceeding the target by 6.7% or 68.9 billion, a 6.8% year-on-year increase. This was the result of the Revenue Department’s better than expected tax collection, he said.
The Fiscal Policy Office recently downgraded its 2022 economic growth forecast to an average 3.5% from 4%, mainly because of the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war, which has affected Thai trading partners and pushed up energy prices as well as the inflation rate.
However, the office believes the Thai economy is on course to recover based on rising domestic consumption and the easing of entry restrictions.
Source: https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/2306798/arkhom-pushes-digital-to-hit-revenue-goal