Chamber of commerce, industry and banking representatives have warned that the much-awaited Land and Buildings Tax Bill is unclear and will inflict the economy with a tax burden of 50-100 billion baht a year.
National Legislative Assembly president Pornphet Wichitcholchai on Thursday received a letter signed by representatives of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, the Bankers’ Association and the Federation of Thai Industries with views and suggestions on the Land and Buildings Tax Bill.
The private sector letter said the bill was still unclear and there would be an interpretation problem when it was enforced due to the different types of businesses affected.
Tax collection must be suitable and accepted by people and businesses, the letter said. The tax bill would affect people in all segments and they should be allowed to give their views in line with Section 77 of the 2017 constitution.
The high ceiling on tax rates would affect investments, the private sector warned. The tax bill would increase the burden on taxpayers, land tenants, small and large enterprises by 50-100 billion baht a year. It would affect the country’s economic growth, which would drop by 0.3-0.7% per year as a consequence.
The private sector proposed that a working group comprising representatives from the private sector be set up to provide input on the tax bill.
Mr Pornphet said he would forward the suggestions to the NLA’s standing committee on the land and buildings tax legislation.
The bill is being scrutinised by the NLA standing committee after recently being passed in its first reading. The new property tax will replace the outdated house and land tax and the local development tax.
The bill proposed by the Finance Ministry provides for tax to be levied on first-home owners and farmland appraised at more than 50 million baht.
A tax rate of 0.05% would be applied to first homes and agricultural land worth between 50 million and 100 million baht, and a 0.1% for homes above 100 million. People owning second homes would be taxed in a range of 0.02-0.1% of the appraisal price.
