More houses to be taxed under revised amendment

[webfact]

More houses to be taxed under revised amendment



BANGKOK: -- The Finance Ministry will revise its proposed amendment to the land tax law particularly on the price of house that will be exempted from taxes.

Adjustment of the price will be made before forwarding to the cabinet for approval within the next 2 – 3 weeks.

Sommai Phasee, the finance minister, has stated that the ministry will require between 2 – 3 weeks to finalize amendments to land tax law.

The majority of adjustments will made to criteria for tax exemptions, he said.

For example, previously, homes valued at no more than 2 million baht were exempted from paying tax .

But the new amendment proposes to lower that value so that more rural homes can be taxed, he said.

In the past, the vast number of these homes was exempted from paying taxes.

Mr Sommai stated however that farm lands not exceeding 15 – 20 rai are still exempted from having to pay land taxes.

Meanwhile a cabinet economic council meeting scheduled to be held today, the Ministry of Finance will be putting forward proposals for another round of economic stimulus package valued at 80 billion Baht.

Of these, 40 billion will come from loans and will go to the construction of new roads and the maintenance of existing ones.

The remaining 40 billion will be provided by the Bank for Agriculture and Agriculture Cooperatives and the Government Savings Bank as loans through the Thailand Village Fund.

These loans will go for setting up financial establishments to provide funds for village sufficiency economy throughout the country.

(Photo : Thai PBS File)

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/houses-taxed-revised-amendment

-- Thai PBS 2015-02-25

[Costas2008]

I hope that they don't eventually introduce a Poll Tax in Thailand as it was introduced in the UK by Margaret Thatcher.

It was a disaster there and it will be a worst disaster here.

We wait and see........................

[taff33]

I hope that they don't eventually introduce a Poll Tax in Thailand as it was introduced in the UK by Margaret Thatcher.

It was a disaster there and it will be a worst disaster here.

We wait and see........................

Then why mention it ?

[worgeordie]

Always finding new ways to claw money in the coffers,THEN waste it

on ridiculous schemes,that benefit the few but not the majority .

regards Worgeordie

[keith101]

because so many farangs have made big homes in rural Thailand the govt sees a big opportunity to make some big money by lowering the limit to include most if not all of them . it only cost me 1.4 ml to build mine but they could easily adjust that to fit the new criteria what ever that may be , just another way for us to pay for living in los .im heading home to Aus early next month to do my 2 yr residence to get the pension and not really looking forward to it other than the food not much else but my old golf club .

[jacky54]

Maybe they could introduce a bedroom tax, or one on windows or doors, the sky's the limit for these thief's easy for anyone to win an election now, just promise to put the level back to what it was and scrap some of the down the drain spending plans.

Edited February 25, 2015 by jacky54

[trogers]

because so many farangs have made big homes in rural Thailand the govt sees a big opportunity to make some big money by lowering the limit to include most if not all of them . it only cost me 1.4 ml to build mine but they could easily adjust that to fit the new criteria what ever that may be , just another way for us to pay for living in los .im heading home to Aus early next month to do my 2 yr residence to get the pension and not really looking forward to it other than the food not much else but my old golf club .

Hunting kangaroos?

[Robby nz]

Disgrace isn't it, they are trying to tax the rich, just as the Abhisit Govt had planned.

In fact its pretty much the same thing as he proposed but which was dropped and not revived when the Yingluck Govt took office :

The land tax draft is among the laws the Finance Ministry is proposing the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) for consideration.

If approved, it will push for its enforcement within one year.

The law had already been vetted by the Council of State in 2011 during the Abhisit Vejjajiva government, but was dropped when the House of Representatives was dissolved.

One would have thought that PT would have been keen to implement this tax on the rich, after all they are (were) the party of the poor ?.

It now takes the present lot, who I would think would all be caught by the tax they are proposing, to revive it.

[mikemac]

I hope that they don't eventually introduce a Poll Tax in Thailand as it was introduced in the UK by Margaret Thatcher.

It was a disaster there and it will be a worst disaster here.

We wait and see........................

Then why mention it ?

Because last time I looked this was a forum, and that's what people do on forums, they mention things. Capice ?

[ezzra]

So the chickens are finally coming to roost and the Thai government looking for a revenue

sources, now that the Ex PM Yingluck squanders hundreds of billions of baht just to

make some farmers happy, (and her brother), this might be the beginning of more efforts

to raise money from place we all thought that they were safe,, time to pay the piper...

way to go Yingluck.....

[halloween]

because so many farangs have made big homes in rural Thailand the govt sees a big opportunity to make some big money by lowering the limit to include most if not all of them . it only cost me 1.4 ml to build mine but they could easily adjust that to fit the new criteria what ever that may be , just another way for us to pay for living in los .im heading home to Aus early next month to do my 2 yr residence to get the pension and not really looking forward to it other than the food not much else but my old golf club .

The easy way to get you would be to consider the value of the land. But I really don't think this measure was aimed at you or other farangs. OTOH I'm sure your neighbours might enjoy a little shadenfreude.

[fosseway]

because so many farangs have made big homes in rural Thailand the govt sees a big opportunity to make some big money by lowering the limit to include most if not all of them . it only cost me 1.4 ml to build mine but they could easily adjust that to fit the new criteria what ever that may be , just another way for us to pay for living in los .im heading home to Aus early next month to do my 2 yr residence to get the pension and not really looking forward to it other than the food not much else but my old golf club .

The easy way to get you would be to consider the value of the land. But I really don't think this measure was aimed at you or other farangs. OTOH I'm sure your neighbours might enjoy a little shadenfreude.

I have several properties here, and I strongly believe there should be property tax in Thailand, the proposed rate is very low I think,.Try paying property rates in UK for example, I know you get more services, but still very expensive.

[trogers]

When more people have to pay a direct tax, on income or asset, they would be more careful in casting their votes in National elections.

Those who pay no direct taxes and expect freebies are those who readily sell their votes.

[ratcatcher]

because so many farangs have made big homes in rural Thailand the govt sees a big opportunity to make some big money by lowering the limit to include most if not all of them . it only cost me 1.4 ml to build mine but they could easily adjust that to fit the new criteria what ever that may be , just another way for us to pay for living in los .im heading home to Aus early next month to do my 2 yr residence to get the pension and not really looking forward to it other than the food not much else but my old golf club .

The easy way to get you would be to consider the value of the land. But I really don't think this measure was aimed at you or other farangs. OTOH I'm sure your neighbours might enjoy a little shadenfreude.

I have several properties here, and I strongly believe there should be property tax in Thailand, the proposed rate is very low I think,.Try paying property rates in UK for example, I know you get more services, but still very expensive.

"I have several properties here,........."

I'd like to get some property. but my wife says it would all have to be in her name. Just how does a farang do that here in Thailand?

[halloween]

"I have several properties here,........."

I'd like to get some property. but my wife says it would all have to be in her name. Just how does a farang do that here in Thailand?

Very carefully.

[trogers]

because so many farangs have made big homes in rural Thailand the govt sees a big opportunity to make some big money by lowering the limit to include most if not all of them . it only cost me 1.4 ml to build mine but they could easily adjust that to fit the new criteria what ever that may be , just another way for us to pay for living in los .im heading home to Aus early next month to do my 2 yr residence to get the pension and not really looking forward to it other than the food not much else but my old golf club .

The easy way to get you would be to consider the value of the land. But I really don't think this measure was aimed at you or other farangs. OTOH I'm sure your neighbours might enjoy a little shadenfreude.

I have several properties here, and I strongly believe there should be property tax in Thailand, the proposed rate is very low I think,.Try paying property rates in UK for example, I know you get more services, but still very expensive.

"I have several properties here,........."

I'd like to get some property. but my wife says it would all have to be in her name. Just how does a farang do that here in Thailand?

Not true. You can get a condo fully in your name. Hop into the Real Estate section for more info.

[BirdsandBooze]

Disgrace isn't it, they are trying to tax the rich, just as the Abhisit Govt had planned.

In fact its pretty much the same thing as he proposed but which was dropped and not revived when the Yingluck Govt took office :

The land tax draft is among the laws the Finance Ministry is proposing the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) for consideration.

If approved, it will push for its enforcement within one year.

The law had already been vetted by the Council of State in 2011 during the Abhisit Vejjajiva government, but was dropped when the House of Representatives was dissolved.

One would have thought that PT would have been keen to implement this tax on the rich, after all they are (were) the party of the poor ?.

It now takes the present lot, who I would think would all be caught by the tax they are proposing, to revive it.

The amendment to the land tax draft is to lower the threshold at which a property becomes eligible for tax payments so that cheaper properties will fall into the tax bracket. Currently properties of ฿2m and above are subject to the tax.

[SOUTHERNSTAR]

Disgrace isn't it, they are trying to tax the rich, just as the Abhisit Govt had planned.

In fact its pretty much the same thing as he proposed but which was dropped and not revived when the Yingluck Govt took office :

The land tax draft is among the laws the Finance Ministry is proposing the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) for consideration.

If approved, it will push for its enforcement within one year.

The law had already been vetted by the Council of State in 2011 during the Abhisit Vejjajiva government, but was dropped when the House of Representatives was dissolved.

One would have thought that PT would have been keen to implement this tax on the rich, after all they are (were) the party of the poor ?.

It now takes the present lot, who I would think would all be caught by the tax they are proposing, to revive it.

Robby someone that owns a house of B 1 or B 2 million can't be classified as rich, can they ? In your terms it equals to a NZ$ 40 K house. What they are doing is to tax the lower and middle class more. There are many more houses in the B 1 million to B 2 million class than above B 2 million. Many poor people inherited property many years ago and due to market prices increases they are now owning land thats worth millions, but they are still poor on the monthly income side. These people can't afford to pay this tax and can lose their properties in future. That is the reason why PT never implimented this type of tax. The reason for this law is not to narrow the income gap (which was the reason given by the junta for this new law) but to generated deperately need taxes. The countries tax income is falling fast due to the economic slowdown and it will become worse over the next year. They will also increase VAT soon (next 6 months) which will further increase financial pressure on the poor.

[halloween]

Robby someone that owns a house of B 1 or B 2 million can't be classified as rich, can they ? In your terms it equals to a NZ$ 40 K house. What they are doing is to tax the lower and middle class more. There are many more houses in the B 1 million to B 2 million class than above B 2 million. Many poor people inherited property many years ago and due to market prices increases they are now owning land thats worth millions, but they are still poor on the monthly income side. These people can't afford to pay this tax and can lose their properties in future. That is the reason why PT never implimented this type of tax. The reason for this law is not to narrow the income gap (which was the reason given by the junta for this new law) but to generated deperately need taxes. The countries tax income is falling fast due to the economic slowdown and it will become worse over the next year. They will also increase VAT soon (next 6 months) which will further increase financial pressure on the poor.

If someone owns land worth millions of baht and can't make a decent income from it, perhaps they should sell it to someone who can. Or perhaps they are just sitting on it waiting for it to increase in value.

Even better, hit them with an inheritance tax.

[smotherb]

because so many farangs have made big homes in rural Thailand the govt sees a big opportunity to make some big money by lowering the limit to include most if not all of them . it only cost me 1.4 ml to build mine but they could easily adjust that to fit the new criteria what ever that may be , just another way for us to pay for living in los .im heading home to Aus early next month to do my 2 yr residence to get the pension and not really looking forward to it other than the food not much else but my old golf club .

B2M, big farang homes? While their tax will surely be based on assessed value rather than build value, I bet you will find many more middle- and lower-middle-class Thais than farangs own homes in the B1-2M range. So, I doubt this is intended to single-out farangs.

[smotherb]

Disgrace isn't it, they are trying to tax the rich, just as the Abhisit Govt had planned.

In fact its pretty much the same thing as he proposed but which was dropped and not revived when the Yingluck Govt took office :

The land tax draft is among the laws the Finance Ministry is proposing the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) for consideration.

If approved, it will push for its enforcement within one year.

The law had already been vetted by the Council of State in 2011 during the Abhisit Vejjajiva government, but was dropped when the House of Representatives was dissolved.

One would have thought that PT would have been keen to implement this tax on the rich, after all they are (were) the party of the poor ?.

It now takes the present lot, who I would think would all be caught by the tax they are proposing, to revive it.

Robby someone that owns a house of B 1 or B 2 million can't be classified as rich, can they ? In your terms it equals to a NZ$ 40 K house. What they are doing is to tax the lower and middle class more. There are many more houses in the B 1 million to B 2 million class than above B 2 million. Many poor people inherited property many years ago and due to market prices increases they are now owning land thats worth millions, but they are still poor on the monthly income side. These people can't afford to pay this tax and can lose their properties in future. That is the reason why PT never implimented this type of tax. The reason for this law is not to narrow the income gap (which was the reason given by the junta for this new law) but to generated deperately need taxes. The countries tax income is falling fast due to the economic slowdown and it will become worse over the next year. They will also increase VAT soon (next 6 months) which will further increase financial pressure on the poor.

Sorry SOUTHERNSTAR, did not mean to steal your thunder.

[727Sky]

The problem with any property tax is once the thief gets its' foot in the door said door can never be closed again. All governments want to tax and spend because they need money to fulfill their stated obligations as a government... and pad the pockets of those who can get away with it in the form of saleries and B.S. construction/military contractor kick backs..

Property taxes and school taxes were a big percentage of the reason I sold everything in my home country and moved to Thailand.

My wife and I found some property we were going to buy until she heard about the new tax that was coming.. As she said we are happy and comfortable with what we have so why buy something we may not be able to sell because of the taxes ?

Death and taxes etc etc

[Nbarch]

The problem with the house tax is who and how the value is assessed, if your house is next to the highway does that increase or decreases the value of your property?

(I see a brown envelope opportunity here).

[h90]

because so many farangs have made big homes in rural Thailand the govt sees a big opportunity to make some big money by lowering the limit to include most if not all of them . it only cost me 1.4 ml to build mine but they could easily adjust that to fit the new criteria what ever that may be , just another way for us to pay for living in los .im heading home to Aus early next month to do my 2 yr residence to get the pension and not really looking forward to it other than the food not much else but my old golf club .

I think what the house cost isn't important, if you did it well it might be easily 3 million worth.

[trogers]

Disgrace isn't it, they are trying to tax the rich, just as the Abhisit Govt had planned.

In fact its pretty much the same thing as he proposed but which was dropped and not revived when the Yingluck Govt took office :

The land tax draft is among the laws the Finance Ministry is proposing the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) for consideration.

If approved, it will push for its enforcement within one year.

The law had already been vetted by the Council of State in 2011 during the Abhisit Vejjajiva government, but was dropped when the House of Representatives was dissolved.

One would have thought that PT would have been keen to implement this tax on the rich, after all they are (were) the party of the poor ?.

It now takes the present lot, who I would think would all be caught by the tax they are proposing, to revive it.

Robby someone that owns a house of B 1 or B 2 million can't be classified as rich, can they ? In your terms it equals to a NZ$ 40 K house. What they are doing is to tax the lower and middle class more. There are many more houses in the B 1 million to B 2 million class than above B 2 million. Many poor people inherited property many years ago and due to market prices increases they are now owning land thats worth millions, but they are still poor on the monthly income side. These people can't afford to pay this tax and can lose their properties in future. That is the reason why PT never implimented this type of tax. The reason for this law is not to narrow the income gap (which was the reason given by the junta for this new law) but to generated deperately need taxes. The countries tax income is falling fast due to the economic slowdown and it will become worse over the next year. They will also increase VAT soon (next 6 months) which will further increase financial pressure on the poor.

Whether a person is rich or poor depends on his net financial worth, not his income.

A guy getting Bt50k a month and spends all of it for his leisure is not building any financial worth.

[Robby nz]

Disgrace isn't it, they are trying to tax the rich, just as the Abhisit Govt had planned.

In fact its pretty much the same thing as he proposed but which was dropped and not revived when the Yingluck Govt took office :

The land tax draft is among the laws the Finance Ministry is proposing the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) for consideration.

If approved, it will push for its enforcement within one year.

The law had already been vetted by the Council of State in 2011 during the Abhisit Vejjajiva government, but was dropped when the House of Representatives was dissolved.

One would have thought that PT would have been keen to implement this tax on the rich, after all they are (were) the party of the poor ?.

It now takes the present lot, who I would think would all be caught by the tax they are proposing, to revive it.

Robby someone that owns a house of B 1 or B 2 million can't be classified as rich, can they ? In your terms it equals to a NZ$ 40 K house. What they are doing is to tax the lower and middle class more. There are many more houses in the B 1 million to B 2 million class than above B 2 million. Many poor people inherited property many years ago and due to market prices increases they are now owning land thats worth millions, but they are still poor on the monthly income side. These people can't afford to pay this tax and can lose their properties in future. That is the reason why PT never implimented this type of tax. The reason for this law is not to narrow the income gap (which was the reason given by the junta for this new law) but to generated deperately need taxes. The countries tax income is falling fast due to the economic slowdown and it will become worse over the next year. They will also increase VAT soon (next 6 months) which will further increase financial pressure on the poor.

The tax comes in at a low level and increases with increase of value, therefor the rich will be more paying tax on their higher value properties.

What you are saying is that the Yingluck Govt didn't want to tax the rich in case it hurt the middle income bracket.

Simple then isn't it, raise the threshold to a higher level so it only impacts the rich.

No they didn't implement this for two reasons, first it was the Abhisit Govt idea and second they didn't want to tax their rich friends.

That's the rich friends who got a cut in tax when the corporate tax rate was cut.

Sure there is a world economic slow down and that will have an impact but there will also be local investment in infrastructure and tourism which will help.

The implementation of ASIAN this year should have a positive effect on the economy and as we see a start is being made on tackling corruption which also rose to an unprecedented high during the Yingluck administration, if this can be even cut by a quarter it will have a significant positive effect on the economy and investor confidence.

You should note : http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/801776-revenue-collection-for-oct-jan-period-is-11-billion-baht-above-target/ Revenue collection for Oct-Jan period is 1.1 billion baht above target

That should be balanced with : http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/803138-thai-revenue-collection-target-for-2015-adjusted-down/ Revenue collection target for 2015 adjusted down.

You should note that household and national debt were both left at historic highs by the Yingluck Govt and given the factors you have detailed there is not going to be any quick fix for this.

[Suradit69]

because so many farangs have made big homes in rural Thailand the govt sees a big opportunity to make some big money by lowering the limit to include most if not all of them . it only cost me 1.4 ml to build mine but they could easily adjust that to fit the new criteria what ever that may be , just another way for us to pay for living in los .im heading home to Aus early next month to do my 2 yr residence to get the pension and not really looking forward to it other than the food not much else but my old golf club .

I think what the house cost isn't important, if you did it well it might be easily 3 million worth.

Not sure how they'll do it here, but where I'm from they usually end up with a tax assessment value that's about 25% of the market value and tax that amount at something under 10% annually.

I have a friend who pays between US$25,000 and $30,000 a year in real estate taxes on a single family home. Admittedly the neighborhood and services provided are a bit above the typical rural area in Thailand, but I doubt whatever they come up with here will be anything as extortionate as that, and the friend also pays state & federal income taxes as well as sales tax on all purchases.

When it comes to throwing money around, the city, state and federal governments in the US are way ahead of anything in Thailand, including the amounts that are siphoned off in corruption, and some of the governments in Europe are even better at spending money without bothering too much about recouping it in taxes ... for fear of the political backlash the next time elections come around.

Everyone wants services, roads, water, police, etc, but they are reluctant to pick up the tab/

Edited February 25, 2015 by Suradit69

[timendres]

Taxes, of course, are a necessary evil.

That said, I believe it is a question of moral versus immoral taxation.

Taxation of income and property are immoral. They eliminate freedom and enslave the citizen.

If I want to save up some money, then live in a cheap little house and eat rice every day, because I value the freedom that it provides me, the government should stand aside and allow for that freedom. They should not be allowed to force me back into the work force because of taxation of my home. If a couple saves money all of their lives to build a nice home to retire in and put enough in the bank to pay the bills so they can enjoy their final years, the government should stand aside, and not tax them into potentially losing their home and savings. They contributed to society during their productive years, and now they deserve to rest.

Sales tax (except for essentials such as food and water) is more reasonable. I can choose wether or not to purchase something and pay the tax. Sales tax also discourages consumption and encourages savings and investment, which benefits society. It also has a check and balance - if the government taxes an enterprise too much, they kill that enterprise (or reduce it's activity) in turn eliminating the tax source itself. So it keeps the government in check and limits their ability to tax too much. What can you do if they tax your income at 90%?! You need to make an income, you have no choice. In fact, you are likely to work a second job to make up the difference.

Usage tax for the use of infrastructure built by the government (highways, bridges, communications, etc.) makes a lot of sense, and puts the taxation where it belongs - with the consumer of said infrastructure. Why should I pay for a highway if I never use it? If I purchase a product where use of that highway was involved in it's production or delivery, then the cost is built into the price of the product.

Import and export taxes also make sense.

Property tax on commercial property that is producing revenues also makes some sense, as there is commercial activity allowed for by the country. And the purpose of commercial property is economic activity, so if it is not productive, it should be moved into more capable hands.

But standing between a person and the fruits of their labor (income tax) is slavery pure and simple. Don't accept that argument? Then I am sure you will be just fine when the income tax is set at 95% of your income.

And taxing a person's property is also slavery. Don't accept that argument? If there is a property tax on your home, then you do NOT OWN your home. Ever. You are a renter. Don't accept that? Then try not paying your property tax and see what happens.

When I think of a poor family in Thailand working hard for two generations to save enough to purchase a simple home, and then being saddled with a property tax, it seems immoral to me. The argument that taxing the home of the "rich" is completely arbitrary, and as many have rightly noted, the definition of "rich" will always be open to interpretation. Let the rich pay their way in other areas, such as the sales tax, import duties, etc.

[cookee68]

somebody has to pay for that rice

[bitterbatter]

The problem with the house tax is who and how the value is assessed, if your house is next to the highway does that increase or decreases the value of your property?

(I see a brown envelope opportunity here).

I agree completely. This valuation of houses is very subjective. Whoever is in charge of assessing the value of a house will hold the keys to destroying livlihoods. This piece of very bad legislation could cause a huge uproar in in the near future. The value of Thai property is currently in a huge bubble, with values rising quickly.

Does this legislation take into account inflation and the dropping value of the currency ( comparing its value to the euro or dollar is very deceptive because these currencies are losing their true purchasing value quickly)? The answer is no. If anything should have been done, it should have raised the taxable value, not lowered it. Just when a growing middle class was beginning to raise the quality of life and create a healthier economy. we see more of these draconian laws which will sink people back into financial struggle. Stupid greedy politicians who don't know what they are doing are going to fuel another coup if they continue on this path. A healthy economy is directly created by a healthy middle class which drives consumerism. These politicians need to learn this basic concept of economics instead of copying the bad ideas of western countries who are self-destructing due to bankers making all the wrong decisions. I am losing faith in the future of Thailand more each day recently. IT is sad.