Revenue Department Strategy Explained

[george]

The more you pay, the easier it gets

Revenue Department strategy explained

This is the last of three articles on the significance of recent developments at the Revenue Department. The first article covered the changes, the second article covered their effects on businesses and this final article will cover their benefits.

The initiatives taken by the Revenue Department to secure an effective tax collection system have widely affected taxpayers and enabled the department to collect more taxes. As evidenced in October, the first month of the 2004 fiscal year, the department collected 29% more taxes than projected. October's collection was, in fact, the highest in at least the last three years. In addition, fiscal year 2002-03 recorded the highest tax collection in the department's history.

Why is this beneficial for taxpayers? As part of the department's strategy to collect more taxes, it's making paying taxes easier for taxpayers. The idea is simple enough: the easier it is to pay taxes, the more people will do it, and the more money can be collected. Key changes include a comprehensive database, ``e-Taxinfo'', ``e-Service'' and online filing for tax returns.

The department's comprehensive database can track a taxpayer's profile across every category of tax: corporate income tax, value-added tax, specific business tax, withholding tax, and even personal income tax. The department's IT system is so impressive that it was awarded the eASIA 2003 Award from the United Nations Asia Pacific Council for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (Afact).

``e-Taxinfo'' is a free e-mail news service that sends updates and changes to tax laws, relevant news, and tax seminar information directly to taxpayers' inboxes. To sign up, all the department needs is your name, company and contact information. At the moment, however, the service is only in Thai.

``e-Service'' features electronic payment, customer service via e-mail _ taxpayers can send questions and request information _ and, perhaps most importantly, e-filing.

In the past, filing taxes was a formidable task. Taxes had to be paid at district departments, which were only open Mondays to Fridays from 8:30 am to 3:30 pm. Anyone with a job had to take time off from work, and the wait could sometimes be three hours or more. The system was inconvenient at best.

Today, however, taxpayers can file online from the comfort of their homes from 6 am until 10 pm. Online filing is not only convenient, it's also idiot-proof _ the system ensures that all calculations are correct and all information has been entered. Naturally, the department now accepts ``soft'' copies of documentation. Although the originals must still be sent via post, the department is slowly phasing out the need for hard copy.

In an effort to promote this service (and cut down on the time and energy wasted on data entry for paper filing), the department promises a faster turnaround time for taxpayers who file online. Although all forms of tax can be filed online, there is one exception. Taxpayers filing personal income tax and who are due refunds must file paperwork, because the department currently requires paper evidence such as hard copies of receipts.

Certainly, such changes mean increased security and savings in time, energy and costs for taxpayers. In addition, increased knowledge management and open communication mean less chance for mistakes.

The Revenue Department has certainly come a long way and its progress should be applauded. There is, of course, always room for improvement. Taxpayers would benefit greatly from the following: increased transparency in the enactment of regulations or laws, performance reviews of department staff and greater support of the business sector.

In the interest of taxpayers, the Revenue Department should have in-depth knowledge of all aspects of the industries affected by the enactment of or changes to regulations or laws. To ensure that new rules or changes are equitable and reflect actual practices, involved government parties should invite interested parties and experts to private hearings when issuing rules and regulations.

The best possible service should be provided to every taxpayer. Performance reviews of department officers would go a long way towards ensuring quality, integrity and transparency. Such service requires more than mere pleasantries. Officers should have comprehensive knowledge of industries, revenue policies and tax laws.

In order to maintain well-run operations and stay clear of tax pitfalls, businesses must constantly consider taxation costs and potential tax issues. When organisations are unsure about an issue, they often need to seek rulings from the department.

Such rulings should have a quick turnaround time and be consistently interpreted across the department's Bureau of Law and regional offices as well as the Large Business Tax Administration Office (LTO). Businesses also deserve quick quality service, regardless of whether their questions are in reference to an actual case or future situations.

Thavorn Rujivanarom is a partner in Tax and Legal Services at PricewaterhouseCoopers Thailand. He can be reached vis e-mail at

Source: [email protected].

[singa-traz]

Thx to Google:

For those interested in Large IT Project Failure ... a few years ago ...

- http://www1.worldbank.org/publicsector/egov/Thai_taxcs.htm

Must have been the beta version ...

I can't remember if at that time, PWC wad bidding for this project ...