Phuket entertainment venue operations call for delay in excise tax enforcement

[snoop1130]

Phuket entertainment venue operations call for delay in excise tax enforcement

By The Nation

 

 

Operators of entertainment venues on the holiday island of Phuket have called on the Excise Department to indefinitely delay the levying of 11-per cent excise tax on their businesses, saying the tourism business has become sluggish.

 

The call was made during a meeting on Thursday evening between representatives of the Excise Area 8 Office and the entertainment venue operators at the Baumanburi Hotel in Patong.

 

Wasin Sitalarom, chief excise officer of Phuket, and Suree Srisuk, director of the excise office of Area 8, briefed the owners on the excise tax requirement.

 

The officials said the excise law, which was enacted in 1992, has a new provision that has been enforced since September 2017 that requires the Excise Department to levy excise tax on entertainment places at the rate of 11 per cent per year on their revenue.

 

The officials said the owners of the entertainment places must register their businesses with the department and pay the excise taxes or face a fine and additional interest of 7.5 per cent per year.

 

But the operators of pubs and other entertainment venues argued that they are already paying taxes at the rate of 7 per cent on their revenue. They called on the excise tax to be indefinitely delayed, saying that the tourism business in the province has become sluggish.

 

The meeting ended without any conclusion. The officials will inform their department of the objections before answering the operators.

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/business/30372872

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand  2019-07-12

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[Cadbury]

 

12 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Phuket entertainment venue operations call for delay in excise tax enforcement

More milking of the tourist cow to pay for private jets for the likes of the Toad.

Doesn't it occur to them these tourist businesses will have to jack their prices to cover this added tax and further drive away tourists already hurt by the high baht. 

Greed personified with little consideration of the repercussions. Avarice comes first, worry about the consequences later. 

[Emdog]

"the tourism business has become sluggish" like a slug with salt poured on it.

Gov wants to milk the last drops from this important industry before it dies. Odd that they can come up with rice and rubber subsidies. Maybe rather than raising taxes they should consider subsidies in this difficult time?

[Moti24]

15 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Operators of entertainment venues on the holiday island of Phuket have called on the Excise Department to indefinitely delay the levying of 11-per cent excise tax on their businesses, saying the tourism business has become sluggish.

They've been scamming the tourists for years, and now unhappy their businesses are suffering.  Well, tough shit!

 

Let's cancel Brexit until a more convenient time, shall we!  

 

You take the rough with the smooth!  If you don't like the heat, get out of the kitchen!

[Joe Mcseismic]

It isn't actually the business owners that are responsible for the stratospheric prices, it's the greedy land-lords that keep jacking up the key money and rents. The business owners end up working for the land-lords who sit on their collective a.rses and stick their hand out once a month.

 

More and more businesses are giving up because they can't make a living because they have to give all their earnings in rent.

Mugs to take over empty business premises are starting to get rarer and rarer.

Edited July 13, 2019 by Joe Mcseismic

[Valentine]

Just about every business on the island could justify putting their hand out for assistance. The past few years have been tough & street level business have already suffered a lot while a select few make big money from their captive audience i.e. all the tourists who spend a good part of their holiday on a bus being taken to select places

[mac1970]

So prices will go up 20%?

[xylophone]

7 hours ago, Cadbury said:

worry about the consequences later. 

Consequences is not in the Thai vocabulary, it's all for the now with no thought for the next day/year/after and the result of an action. Evident in everyday life here.........

[xylophone]

3 hours ago, Joe Mcseismic said:

Mugs to take over empty business premises are starting to get rarer and rarer.

See my latest post in the "Patong-the Wake" thread..........these mugs are still around!!

[the guest]

Looking at this picture, one wonders why people visit Thailand? Sleezy bars and a confetti of shoddy restaurants isn't what I call a good time.

[ukrules]

Business down, put up the prices!

[Beggar]

"The officials said the owners of the entertainment places must register their businesses with the department and pay the excise taxes or face a fine and additional interest of 7.5 per cent per year." 

 

I don't see anything wrong here. These businesses have to learn that they are not above the law. 

 

[Joe Mcseismic]

2 hours ago, Beggar said:

"The officials said the owners of the entertainment places must register their businesses with the department and pay the excise taxes or face a fine and additional interest of 7.5 per cent per year." 

 

I don't see anything wrong here. These businesses have to learn that they are not above the law. 

 

Except that this demand is the final straw. At the last count, businesses are paying tax and bribes to 17 different organizations to stay in business. Rather than the businesses learning that they are not above the law, it should be these government departments and mafia that should learn that lesson.

Edited July 15, 2019 by Joe Mcseismic

[Beggar]

48 minutes ago, Joe Mcseismic said:

Except that this demand is the final straw. At the last count, businesses are paying tax and bribes to 17 different organizations to stay in business. Rather than the businesses learning that they are not above the law, it should be these government departments and mafia that should learn that lesson.

Somehow you are correct. But on the other hand paying and accepting bribes is on both sides against the law. It is driven by greed on both sides. It is a completely different thing to pay a tax according the law. It is not a criminal activity. But I understand that just acting according laws only might be not good for the business. But here with have it again - greed. Nobody is forced to run such a business. 

[Joe Mcseismic]

12 minutes ago, Beggar said:

Somehow you are correct. But on the other hand paying and accepting bribes is on both sides against the law. It is driven by greed on both sides. It is a completely different thing to pay a tax according the law. It is not a criminal activity. But I understand that just acting according laws only might be not good for the business. But here with have it again - greed. Nobody is forced to run such a business. 

In this case, I don't agree.

If you want to open a business, but, don't want to comply with the fire regulations and offer a bribe to get around this, then, yes, I agree with you.

If you do everything legally and government officials come round and say that if you don't pay, problems will arrive at your door, then that is different.

 

Let's not call these bribes. These entertainment businesses are paying extortion money. To then be hit by a tax on top of all this at a time that business is through the floor is just an insult. If they paid this tax, where do you think the money would go? To the government? Hah!

[worgeordie]

Just imagine the response from a tax man in the West if you said,

 can you please indefinitely delay collecting the taxes,things are a bit tight.

regards worgeordie

Edited July 15, 2019 by worgeordie
add on

[Joe Mcseismic]

6 minutes ago, worgeordie said:

Just imagine the response from a tax man in the West if you said,

 can you please indefinitely delay collecting the taxes,things are a bit tight.

regards worgeordie

I'm sure they would pay the tax if they didn't have to pay the illegal extortion money to the police and various other government departments. They are the trough that the pigs feed at. Does that happen in the West, too?

Edited July 15, 2019 by Joe Mcseismic

[GeorgeCross]

On 7/13/2019 at 3:09 PM, xylophone said:

Consequences is not in the Thai vocabulary, it's all for the now with no thought for the next day/year/after and the result of an action. Evident in everyday life here.........

 

as my wife says "Thai people never look back.. never look forward either" 

[Beggar]

3 hours ago, Joe Mcseismic said:

In this case, I don't agree.

If you want to open a business, but, don't want to comply with the fire regulations and offer a bribe to get around this, then, yes, I agree with you.

If you do everything legally and government officials come round and say that if you don't pay, problems will arrive at your door, then that is different.

 

Let's not call these bribes. These entertainment businesses are paying extortion money. To then be hit by a tax on top of all this at a time that business is through the floor is just an insult. If they paid this tax, where do you think the money would go? To the government? Hah!

I understand you completely. But I never would do business under such circumstances. And now you might say then I can't do business in Thailand. This is exactly what I never even was thinking about. Under such circumstances you are very vulnerable and many things are not up to you... The more successful you get the more vulnerable you might be. There are easier places to make money.