The Finance Ministry is set to waive tax imposed on interest earned from joint deposit accounts to dispel worries by account holders.
However, only holders who are married couples or blood relatives can expect to enjoy the privilege, Deputy Finance Minister Wisudhi Srisuphan said.
"The Revenue Department is considering ministerial regulations to ease tax on interest for joint bank holders within families — married couples and their children," he said.
"We're mulling whether to extend this to siblings and other relatives too."
Tax has been charged on interest from joint deposit accounts ever since a recent change in taxation on groups of persons that requires interest from joint accounts to be considered taxable income.
The Revenue Department has tightened taxes on groups of persons after some individuals earning high incomes exploited loopholes to understate their tax payments when such interest was subject only to withholding tax.
At present, public entertainers are subject to 5% withholding tax, while service and professional fees are charged 3%. There are also seven brackets of personal income tax — 5% for income of 150,001 to 300,000 baht, 10% for 300,001 to 500,000, 15% for 500,001 to 750,000, 20% for 750,001 to 1 million, 25% for more than 1 million up to 2 million, 30% for more than 2 million up to 4 million and 35% for more than 4 million.