Government revenue collection in the initial seven months of the 2024 fiscal year fell short of the 1.4 trillion baht target by nearly 40 billion baht, primarily attributed to decreased fuel taxes and reduced vehicle tax proceeds.
As stated by Pornchai Thiraveja, the Ministry of Finance’s spokesperson, revenue generation from October of the previous year to April of the current year amounted to 1.38 trillion baht, marking a 2.7% shortfall, equivalent to 39.1 billion baht.
The Excise Department recorded a revenue of 304.5 billion baht, which was approximately 47 billion baht (13.4%) less than the target. Nonetheless, this performance showed an improvement of 27.5 billion baht compared to the same period in the previous year.
On the other hand, the Revenue Department achieved a revenue of 1.09 trillion baht, surpassing the target by about 9.5 billion baht (0.9%) and outperforming the revenue collected during the same period in the previous year by 19.56 billion baht (1.8%).
Meanwhile, the Customs Department accumulated 66.68 billion baht in revenue, slightly exceeding the target by approximately 1.9 billion baht or 3%. However, this amount still represented a 10.7% decline from the corresponding period in the previous year.
Deputy Finance Minister Julapun Amornvivat attributed the revenue shortfall to various government interventions aimed at easing the burden of living costs. The reduction in fuel tax significantly impacted the Excise Department, resulting in a monthly income loss of around 20 billion baht. Measures to enhance tax collection efficiency are being explored to compensate for this loss.
Despite the challenges, Mr. Julapun expressed optimism that revenue collection in the remaining four months leading up to September would likely align with the target. Finance permanent secretary Lavaron Sangsnit also highlighted the adverse impact of reduced fuel tax, estimating a loss of 24 billion baht on revenue collection.
