Minister clarifies tax concerns for digital wallet programme

[webfact]

Thailand's Deputy Minister of Finance Julapun Amornvivat insists that sales data from stores participating in the digital wallet programme will not be submitted to the Revenue Department, but stores must file taxes if their sales increase significantly.

 

Julapun addressed concerns yesterday from merchants about joining the digital wallet programme due to tax issues. He assured that the Ministry of Finance would not send sales data from participating stores to the Revenue Department.

 

However, if a store’s sales increase to a certain threshold, they are obligated to file taxes as usual. For instance, if a store’s annual sales increase from 100,000 to 200,000 baht to 1.8 to 1.9 million baht, they must correctly file value-added tax (VAT), said Julapun.

“We cannot force anyone to participate, but no one should miss this opportunity. The programme will circulate over 1 trillion baht within the system, providing a chance for all stores to increase their sales. Meanwhile, the government will educate merchants about the tax system, which is not as daunting as it seems. Once they join, they can deduct various expenses.”

Julapun highlighted that preparations are underway but some merchants are not ready. For example, certain enterprises have not fully registered with the relevant supervisory agencies. Efforts are being made to complete their registrations so they can join the programme without issues.

Overall, the response has been positive. Initially, 40,000 to 50,000 small business representatives were expected to show interest, but hundreds of thousands have already expressed their willingness to join. The postponement of the digital wallet registration announcement for merchants was merely to avoid confusion, as the registration for citizens is currently ongoing.

 

Julapun also mentioned that the proposal for the digital wallet programme will not be presented at the Cabinet meeting today. There is still time to submit the proposal for Cabinet approval before the budget is utilised. The overlapping budget can be established, and this has been clarified several times. Civil servants have confirmed that it is feasible, reported KhaoSod.

 

by Puntid Tantivangphaisal
Photo courtesy of KhaoSod

 

 

Source: The Thaiger 2024-08-07

 

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[Gottfrid]

Ops! There will be a huge problem here! The shop owners of Thailand will not be same honest like the regular taxi driver handing over 10k - 500k of lost money to the rightful owners.

 

Why do they even go out in the news and tell the sellers they will not file any information to revenue department? It´s like opening up the road for tax evasion of sales from the digital wallet program.

[Tropicalevo]

Sure, they will not harvest the data and share it with the tax office, but they will give you speeding tickets!

[hotchilli]

Why not just exclude shops that do not use a cashiers till with receipts?

[john donson]

fast check if shop is brand new, never filed TAX, then should be denied to participate... but TIT

[PETERTHEEATER]

It is my understanding that businesses are not required to file VAT returns unless they employ a certain number of staff. There is still a liability for Income Tax.

 

 

[Thaindrew]

and is the 10000 itself subject to income tax if it takes Thai individuals over the tax threshold?