Revenue Department is drafting new e-commerce law to tax multi-lateral IT corps

[webfact]

Revenue Department is drafting new e-commerce law to tax multi-lateral IT corps

 

 

BANGKOK: -- The Revenue Department has set up two ad hoc committees to study foreign laws governing e-commerce as a basis for the drafting of similar law in Thailand in order to properly tax e-commerce business operated by multi-lateral corporations such as Google and Facebook.

 

The department director-general Mr Prasong Poonthanet said on Monday that multi-lateral IT giants such as Google and Facebook operate e-commerce in several countries and are making huge profits but they mostly send their revenue out of those countries and, hence, pay small amount of taxes.

 

He said the ad hoc committees would study laws regarding e-commerce in Europe, Australia and India to find out if there are any can be applied for use in the drafting of a new law in Thailand to deal with the growing e-commerce business for the benefit of the country.

 

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/revenue-department-drafting-new-e-commerce-law-tax-multi-lateral-corps/

 

-- © Copyright Thai PBS 2016-12-27

[Srikcir]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

properly tax e-commerce business operated by multi-lateral corporations such as Google and Facebook

Should also include LINE and WeChat.

[ChrisY1]

They're going to have a crack at FB and Google.....good luck with that lads!

Can these ad-hoc committee members read and understand english I wonder?

[realenglish1]

Good luck Google makes more money then the National GDP of Thailand

How are you going to tackle this monster

Impossible

[FredNL]

11 hours ago, webfact said:

growing e-commerce business

???

Less than an half percent of the Thai companies are having websites for e-commerce.

Websites cost money.
Facebook is free
LINE is free

 

Source: PAIBKK.com Thailand's leader in e-Commerce / OpenCart solutions.

[eisfeld]

2 hours ago, realenglish1 said:

Good luck Google makes more money then the National GDP of Thailand

How are you going to tackle this monster

Impossible

 

Google revenue is about 75B USD while Thailands GDP should be now between 450B and 500B USD.

 

How are they going to tackle it? They just make a law and tax them. Thailand depends zero on Google for anything but Google surely makes a nice little chunk of money from the local ad market.

[realenglish1]

26 minutes ago, eisfeld said:

 

Google revenue is about 75B USD while Thailands GDP should be now between 450B and 500B USD.

 

How are they going to tackle it? They just make a law and tax them. Thailand depends zero on Google for anything but Google surely makes a nice little chunk of money from the local ad market.

Regardless Its like getting money from a dead horse

[NCC1701A]

you notice the Thai government and banks seem to be really scrounging for cash lately?

the 3 million baht visa scheme for a influx of foreign cash comes to mind.

 

not that they are not always scrounging around.

 

i wonder if the newly created middle class Thai debt slaves are drying up?

 

 

 

 

[Srikcir]

12 hours ago, webfact said:

making huge profits but they mostly send their revenue out of those countries and, hence, pay small amount of taxes.

I think the trick in this strategy is that the, ie.,  Irish companies that hold the rights to the tradename/trademark that generates revenues. Thus, by the Irish company charging its foreign affiliate such as Google Thailand for a license to the tradename/trademark as an operating cost, Google Thailand can strip a substantial part of domestic taxable income. What small profit remains is then declared by the affiliate as taxable income, ie., in Thailand.

 

To defeat income stripping Thailand would need a law that allows only a fair and reasonable charge for licensing  as an operating expense in a cross-border transaction. Such would  likely result in greater domestic taxable profits. This approach is legitimate since, ie., the Thai company and Irish company are related parties wherein transactions may not be conducted at arm's-length to represent an adverse economic relationship and would be justifiably examined. The problem in enforcement is establishing what is fair and reasonable but not an impossible task. But it will require sophisticated economic analysis and negotiations.

[eisfeld]

1 hour ago, realenglish1 said:

Regardless Its like getting money from a dead horse

 

I have no idea what you are talking about. They'll either get some cash out of this or something else useful. Maybe they use it as a negotiation point when asking for data. Either way they'll get something. What do you think Google would do, leave the Thai market because it has to pay some tax? Not gonna happen.

[Retiredandhappyhere]

Perhaps Google and Facebook might agree to paying some tax in Thailand in return for the Thai Government agreeing NOT to interfere in the two companies' affairs?

[wakeupplease]

I have no idea what you are talking about. They'll either get some cash out of this or something else useful. Maybe they use it as a negotiation point when asking for data.

 

Maybe cash as no way Google, You Tube, facebook or even Line will give data as if they did the rest of the world would close them down overnight and they know it. Thailand is a small point of revenue collection for those companies very small ,so no way data would be traded and those companies are not stupid they know what has been going on here or should I say there for years

 

The Clock Is Ticking?