The Finance Ministry says it has targeted an annual Bt3 billion in tax collection from Google, Facebook, Amazon, Alibaba, Apple, Line and other foreign tech giants.
Following Cabinet approval of the draft bill to collect 7-per-cent value-added tax from foreign e-commerce firms who sell products and services to Thai consumer, the Revenue Department aims to get 85 tech giants to register VAT payment with Thailand, Patricia Mongkhonvanit, Revenue Department’s deputy director general, said on Wednesday.
Thailand follows 50 other governments that are collecting taxes from e-commerce businesses. Thai consumers buy about 400,000 items daily from foreign websites, she added. If the price of any item is less than Bt1,500, VAT is exempted but it is subject to import tariffs.
It will take time before the bill becomes law as it needs approval from the National Legislative Assembly.
