Govt spokesman squash rumours of VAT hike

BANGKOK, May 28 (TNA) -- Government Spokesperson Lt-General Sansern Kaewkamnerd denied rumours of an impending VAT hike, saying that it was caused by a general public misunderstanding. He stated that there were a lot of distortion of information especially on social media. At the moment a lot of these had to do with politics, weapons seizures and also the VAT hike. Lt Gen Sansern stated that these rumours were false mostly involving recirculating of old news in a different context. The current rumour going viral is that the government's plans to raise VAT from 7 to 10%. The spokesman explained that there were laws covering the application of VAT or value added tax which specifies a 3% increase every year. The government had delayed these hikes because the economy was only just recovering. Even now with statistics indicating a 4.8% growth in the first quarter the government has no intention of raising taxes because it does not want to overburden the public. Lt Gen Sansern said that a VAT hike will probably be made in 2019. (TNA)