Calls have been made to look more closely at property taxes before they roll out in 2019.
Thailand’s tax property structure is under the spotlight again. With new taxes due to take effect as of 2019, there have been further requests to assess the existing system. In a bid to generate more tax revenue it has been suggested that the tax bracket is amended for land and buildings tax. Currently applicable to values in excess of THB 50 million, the Finance Ministry feel that this should be lowered to THB 10 million. A proposal they made to the National Legislative Assembly.
The reason for this change is due to the findings of a recent report. It concluded that 90 percent of properties are in fact less than THB 5 million. Therefore this proposal would not affect low income households. An important factor that is being considered ahead of implementing any changes.
This is all part of a bigger attempt to crackdown on taxes. Local bodies are being helped to deal with tax evasion by using resources such as farmers’ registrations to asses who is liable for taxes.
Additionally discussions of a windfall tax remain hot. Estimated to be at five percent of any appreciation value achieved due to government infrastructure improvements. This would inflict any properties situated within vicinity of road, air or rail travel assuming that these are government improvements. Hence any property situated near the MRT or BTS in Bangkok would not be subject to this windfall tax since they are operated by private owned firms.
This tax is still in its developmental stage. It remains unclear whether land used for agricultural purposes would be liable for windfall tax. Additionally it needs to be finalised how residential properties will be affected.