Thai government revenue exceeds target in first five months of 2013 fiscal year

BANGKOK, March 15 (TNA) - The Thai government's net revenue during the first five months of the 2013 fiscal year, or from October 2012-February 2013, had amounted to over 830 billion baht, exceeding its target by over 95 billion baht or 13 per cent. Somchai Sujjapongse, Director-General of the Thai Ministry of Finance's Fiscal Policy Office (FPO), on Friday informed the public of the government's preliminary net revenue in the current 2013 fiscal year, which reflected the continual growth of the national economy. Somchai said that the Thai government's net revenue last month alone amounted to nearly 159 billion baht, exceeding its target by over 5.7 billion baht or 3.7 per cent, attributing the administration's increased revenue to the collection of excise tax on vehicles and petroleum concessions, thanks to the government's first-car buyer policy and the country's unexpectedly-high petroleum production. Somchai acknowledged that revenues of all government agencies had grown beyond their targets during the period, also reflecting the steady growth of the Thai economy, especially growing domestic demand and household incomes. According to FPO, the Revenue Department's totally-collected tax had exceeded its target by 6.8 per cent during the period, cushioned mainly by the value-added tax (VAX), showing a continual growth of domestic consumption and personal income tax, which had been over 10 per cent higher than expected and resulted from increasing household incomes and national economic growth. The FPO chief also noted that the Excise Department’s revenue had exceeded its target by 13.6 per cent, with the excise tax on vehicles being as much as 44.9 per cent higher than anticipated, boosted by the government's first-car buyer policy. (TNA)