The delay in issuing personal income tax refunds this year can be attributed in part to stricter document verification procedures, prompted by a surge in the submission of counterfeit documents aiming to claim refunds, as per statements from the Revenue Department.
Vinit Visessuvanapoom, the department’s deputy director-general and principal advisor on tax base management, highlighted the increased scrutiny of tax refund documents due to the growing number of fraudulent submissions, particularly involving fake income certificates (known as 50 Tawi forms).
This rise in deceptive filings has led the department to exercise increased caution during the verification process. However, Mr. Vinit expressed optimism that the situation is likely to improve in the upcoming year, as the department has encouraged companies to submit their 50 Tawi income certificates online.
While this submission request is not mandatory, companies failing to comply with the online submission are required to provide explanations to the department.
During the fiscal year 2023, which spanned from Jan 1 to April 29, 2024, a total of 11.9 million personal income tax forms were filed, displaying a 3.34% increase compared to the previous year. Among these filings, 4.25 million requests were for tax refunds, marking a 7.65% rise from the previous year.
Refunds have been disbursed for 3.39 million filings, indicating a 6.77% increase from the previous year, totaling 33.2 billion baht and showing a 7.57% year-on-year increase.
For fiscal 2023, concluding on Sept 30, 2023, the Revenue Department successfully collected a total of 2.21 trillion baht in taxes, surpassing the target by 9% and outperforming the previous year by 2.1%.
Across significant tax categories, corporate income tax revenue reached 767 billion baht, exceeding the target by 13.8% and showcasing a 5.3% increase from the previous year. Value-added tax revenue totaled 913 billion baht, exceeding the target by 5.1%, though representing a 1.8% decline from the previous year.
Personal income tax revenue stood at 395 billion baht, surpassing the target by 10.9% and marking a 7.5% increase from the previous year. Petroleum income tax revenue amounted to 48.7 billion baht, exceeding the target by 25.1%, despite being 22.4% lower than the previous year.
