PM seeks tax reprieve for poverty eradication donors

BANGKOK: -- Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has assigned the Finance Ministry to study the possibility of offering a special tax reduction for donors to the government-sponsored poverty eradication programme.

Mr. Thaksin told journalists at the end of yesterday's special cabinet meeting on poverty eradication nationwide that he had ordered the Finance Ministry to conduct the study to determine the feasibility of offering special tax reduction to donors in areas targeted by his government to solve poverty.

Earlier this month, Mr. Thaksin, accompanied by several cabinet ministers, spent five days in At Samat district of Roi Et province to lay out guidelines for solving the problem of poverty there.

The impoverished northeastern district has also become a model for solving the problem by the government.

If implemented, the government may lose a certain amount of income tax, Mr. Thaksin said, but it is worth it since the money is spent as a charity to help needy people.

Meanwhile, Dhanin Chearavanont, advisor to the poverty eradication centre, said he believed the government is moving in the right direction to solve the problem because the programme would not only boost the incomes of the poor but will also improve the quality of life, both in areas of health and in education.

Mr. Dhanin said the measure would solve the crisis on a sustainable basis.

--TNA 2006-01-29

Can you see this one coming?

A select few will be contributing to this special tax and it's management and use will be obscure.

The man is tired of flak coming his way but keeps bringing ammo the the gun