The Revenue Department plans to adopt a carrot-and-stick approach in an effort to add 3-4 million individual and corporate taxpayers to the system, its chief says.
The department must convince those with taxable income to enter the tax system, said Ekniti Nitithanprapas, director-general of the department.
Department data lists 14 million personal income tax filers, while 460,000 out of 600,000 companies that registered with the Commerce Ministry paid income tax.
Individuals who earn income from employment as well as other sources of income must file tax returns if the total income exceeds 60,000 baht, though earning more than 310,000 baht a year is the minimum income band that is required to file tax bills.
He said there is some room for both individuals and corporates to enter the formal tax system.
The department plans a carrot-and-stick approach for existing and potential taxpayers, said Mr Ekniti.
Taxpayers who claim tax returns and make payments via the electronic channel can receive returns within three days, while those with more cash than electronic transactions face greater scrutiny as they are classified as a high-risk group for underreporting revenue, he said.
To attract more taxpayers, the department has simplified the tax system, including allowing outsiders to develop an open application progress interface platform for tax filing and directly feed such taxable income information to the tax-collecting agency. The department managed to add 1 million individual taxpayers to the system this year from 10 million last year.
For fiscal 2020, the department targets 2.12 trillion baht in revenue collection.
The department's tax revenue for fiscal 2019 outpaced the target for the first time since fiscal 2012. It amassed 2.01 trillion baht in tax revenue for last fiscal year, exceeding the target by 9.31 billion.
