Thai Cabinet to mull property tax

BANGKOK, June 6 (TNA) - The Thai Ministry of Finance will, this week, propose new property tax, covering land and buildings, to the Cabinet for further consideration. Permanent Secretary for Finance Somchai Sujjapongse told journalists on June 5 that the proposed property tax will be raised before the Thai Cabinet at its weekly meeting on June 7, after his ministry has reviewed all relevant draft laws. Based on the proposed property tax, Somchai revealed, a person’s first residence worth not over 50 million baht will be exempted from the taxation, but those whose residence is more expensive and those who have at least two residences will be taxed at the rate ceiling set at 0.5 per cent of the prices of residences. Somchai said farmlands will be taxed up to 0.2 per cent, while the tax for commercial buildings and industrial factories will be up to 2 per cent. For unused plots of land, Somchai noted, the tax will be low in a grace period of the first three years, but the rate will be doubled from the 4th to 6th year and the tax ceiling for this category of land is set at 5 per cent of land prices. The senior official acknowledged that the imposed property tax rates will be progressive, but they will not reach the ceilings at the initial stage. According to the senior official, his ministry's Treasury Department will appraise individual land plots to support property tax calculation, while the state should raise its revenue by 60 billion baht in the first year of the imposition of the property tax, set to be started on January 1, 2017, and local administration organizations will be responsible for collecting the tax in their jurisdiction, expected at 20-30 billion baht yearly. (TNA)