Personal income tax in Thailand: Few pay it
By Jon Fernquest
A
seminar at the Fiscal
Policy Office
this week described how personal
income tax
is paid by very few people in Thailand. The seminar also covered income distribution in Thailand and government efforts to alleviate income inequality.
As yesterday's article indicated, without a sufficient tax base an economy like Thailand's cannot become a welfare state as some advocate (See Jon Ungpakorn's 2008 article that presents this idea and Dr. Pasuk Phongpaichit's article on improving tax collection ).
Today's article begins after the vocabulary.
(The photo on right shows a person sitting on the floor of their living room with receipts filling out their personal income tax return)
income
- money that people receive from work or some other source, used for
household consumption and savings
income tax - a percentage of a person or company's income that must be paid to the government (See Wikipedia)
personal income tax - tax paid by individual people on the income they earn each year
Fiscal Policy Office - the Thai government agency that researches policy related to Thai government spending and financing debt to cover spending deficits (when tax receipts are not enough to cover spending)
seminar - an education meeting on a subject where people discuss and interact
alleviate - reduce the negative effects of a problem
income distribution - how a country’s total income economy is distributed amongst its population (either equally or unequally) (See Wikipedia) การกระจายรายได้
income inequality, economic inequality - when most of a country's income and assets are possessed by a small group of people, not spread equally over the whole population (See a colour-coded map of world economic inequality as measured by the Gini coefficients and also Wikipedia on income inequality and income inequality metrics).
tax return - the form that a person or company fills in with information that shows how the tax they are paying is calculated
tax base - tax collected by the government from an economy (that in turn supports government programs)
welfare state - a government that takes of people with special needs (the poor, disabled, aged, long-term sickness) (See Wikipedia)
advocate - publicly support a policy
income tax - a percentage of a person or company's income that must be paid to the government (See Wikipedia)
personal income tax - tax paid by individual people on the income they earn each year
Fiscal Policy Office - the Thai government agency that researches policy related to Thai government spending and financing debt to cover spending deficits (when tax receipts are not enough to cover spending)
seminar - an education meeting on a subject where people discuss and interact
alleviate - reduce the negative effects of a problem
income distribution - how a country’s total income economy is distributed amongst its population (either equally or unequally) (See Wikipedia) การกระจายรายได้
income inequality, economic inequality - when most of a country's income and assets are possessed by a small group of people, not spread equally over the whole population (See a colour-coded map of world economic inequality as measured by the Gini coefficients and also Wikipedia on income inequality and income inequality metrics).
tax return - the form that a person or company fills in with information that shows how the tax they are paying is calculated
tax base - tax collected by the government from an economy (that in turn supports government programs)
welfare state - a government that takes of people with special needs (the poor, disabled, aged, long-term sickness) (See Wikipedia)
advocate - publicly support a policy
Economics
ECONOMY
Only 2.3m Thais pay income tax
20/08/2010Wichit Chantanusornsiri
Just 2.3 million people nationwide pay personal income tax to help finance public spending for the country's population of more than 64 million, says Satit Rungkasiri, the director-general of the Fiscal Policy Office.
While some 9 million people file personal income tax returns each year, the majority are exempt from tax liability as they earn less than 20,000 baht per month.
nationwide
- throughout a whole country ทั่วทั้งประเทศ
finance - to provide money for something จัดหาเงินทุนให้
public spending - government spending
population - all the people in an area or country
tax return - the form that a person or company fills in with information that shows how the tax they are paying is calculated
file tax return - officially give the government a tax return
majority - more than 50 percent of a group เสียงส่วนมาก, คนส่วนใหญ่
exempt - permission not to do something
liability - (legal) responsibility or requirement, something that must be done ความรับผิดชอบ
tax liability - the amount of tax that must be paid to the government by a person or organization
finance - to provide money for something จัดหาเงินทุนให้
public spending - government spending
population - all the people in an area or country
tax return - the form that a person or company fills in with information that shows how the tax they are paying is calculated
file tax return - officially give the government a tax return
majority - more than 50 percent of a group เสียงส่วนมาก, คนส่วนใหญ่
exempt - permission not to do something
liability - (legal) responsibility or requirement, something that must be done ความรับผิดชอบ
tax liability - the amount of tax that must be paid to the government by a person or organization
Just 2.3 million people have to carry the burden for the entire population," Mr Satit said yesterday at the FPO's annual economics symposium. This year's theme focused on economic and social inequality, a major theme in the government's broader social and political reconciliation roadmap.
A closer look at the tax figures offers even a bleaker picture of the gap between rich and poor. Some 60,000 people each year pay taxes at the highest bracket of 37%, which applies for annual income of more than 4 million baht per year.
burden
- a difficult responsibility, a difficult thing that must be done, a
heavy load to carry ภาระ (See glossary)
carry the burden - do a difficult thing that must be done
annual - happening once a year ประจำปี
symposium - a conference or large meeting in which experts and academics discuss a subject in detail
theme - the main subject of something ใจความสำคัญ, ประเด็นหลัก
inequality - when people in a society have greatly different incomes, jobs, positions and opportunities
reconciliation - the process of two friends who have fought becoming friends again การปรองดอง, การทำให้ปรองดองกันอีก,การคืนด, การประีนีประนอม
roadmap - a plan that shows how goals will be achieved (how to get to a "final destination," just like a "roadmap")
figures - statistics, numbers describing the economy
bleaker - without much hope, very sad and negative
gap - a large difference between people or groups ช่องว่าง
carry the burden - do a difficult thing that must be done
annual - happening once a year ประจำปี
symposium - a conference or large meeting in which experts and academics discuss a subject in detail
theme - the main subject of something ใจความสำคัญ, ประเด็นหลัก
inequality - when people in a society have greatly different incomes, jobs, positions and opportunities
reconciliation - the process of two friends who have fought becoming friends again การปรองดอง, การทำให้ปรองดองกันอีก,การคืนด, การประีนีประนอม
roadmap - a plan that shows how goals will be achieved (how to get to a "final destination," just like a "roadmap")
figures - statistics, numbers describing the economy
bleaker - without much hope, very sad and negative
gap - a large difference between people or groups ช่องว่าง
This group of 60,000 taxpayers however account for as much as 50% of total personal income tax collected each year. And a full one-third of income tax collected is paid by just 2,400 people in the country earning over 10 million baht per year.
Mr Satit said over the past two decades of economic growth, Thailand's income gap had remained roughly unchanged.
The richest 20% of the population account for 54% of total income, while the poorest 20% account for just 4.8%. Overall, Thailand's income distribution ranks around the middle when compared with other countries in the world.
taxpayers
- people who pay taxes (who don't want to see their hard-earned money
wasted) ผู้เสียภาษี
a full one-third - one third, which is a large amount (used for emphasis)
decade - period of ten years เป็นสิบๆปี
income gap - differences in income in a society
a full one-third - one third, which is a large amount (used for emphasis)
decade - period of ten years เป็นสิบๆปี
income gap - differences in income in a society
Improving public welfare services is one means of closing income disparities, Mr Satit said.
But economic resources are limited, so it is necessary to prioritise and focus on fundamental areas, such as education and health care," he said.
welfare
- living in good conditions (with health, wealth, and happiness)
ความสะดวกสบาย, ความมีสุขภาพดี, สวัสดิภาพ
public welfare services - help given, especially by the state or an organization, to people who need it; good care and living conditions สวัสดิภาพ
mean - method; way วิธี, วิธีการ
disparity - difference (two things are not equal)
closing income disparities - acting to make the income of people more equal in an economy
resources - things such as money, workers and equipment that can be used to help achieve something ทรัพยากร
focus - think about and work on one thing (rather than waste time on many), concentrate time and attention on one thing ให้ความสำคัญ
fundamental - very important and essential พื้นฐาน รากฐานที่สำคัญ
public welfare services - help given, especially by the state or an organization, to people who need it; good care and living conditions สวัสดิภาพ
mean - method; way วิธี, วิธีการ
disparity - difference (two things are not equal)
closing income disparities - acting to make the income of people more equal in an economy
resources - things such as money, workers and equipment that can be used to help achieve something ทรัพยากร
focus - think about and work on one thing (rather than waste time on many), concentrate time and attention on one thing ให้ความสำคัญ
fundamental - very important and essential พื้นฐาน รากฐานที่สำคัญ
Welfare spending has increased significantly in recent years, including funding for free education for students, pension payments for the elderly and utilities subsidies for the poor.
On the funding side, the government is preparing to pass a new land and building tax aimed at encouraging landowners to develop properties and reduce land speculation in the market. Authorities estimate that 70% of total landholdings in the country are undeveloped.
significantly
- in an important way อย่างสำคัญ
funding - money given for a particular purpose or project การให้เงินสนับสนุน
pension - a saving system for retirement and old age, a regular payment by a company or the government to people after their retirement เงินบำเหน็ด บำนาญ (See Wikipedia)
elderly - older people, over 65 สูงวัย, อาวุโส, อายุมาก
subsidies - when the government pays part of the cost of some activity to encourage it เงินช่วยเหลือจากรัฐ เงินสนับสนุน
land and building tax - property tax, tax paid on land and buildings that a person or company owns (See Wikipedia)
speculation - buying an asset hoping that its price will go up and you will make money, it could go down with a loss of money, assuming the risk of loss in return for the uncertain possibility of a reward (See Wikipedia)
estimate - to say what you think an amount or value is or will be, either by using available information or by guessing คาดคะเน, โดยประมาณ
landholdings - the land that is owned by a person or company
funding - money given for a particular purpose or project การให้เงินสนับสนุน
pension - a saving system for retirement and old age, a regular payment by a company or the government to people after their retirement เงินบำเหน็ด บำนาญ (See Wikipedia)
elderly - older people, over 65 สูงวัย, อาวุโส, อายุมาก
subsidies - when the government pays part of the cost of some activity to encourage it เงินช่วยเหลือจากรัฐ เงินสนับสนุน
land and building tax - property tax, tax paid on land and buildings that a person or company owns (See Wikipedia)
speculation - buying an asset hoping that its price will go up and you will make money, it could go down with a loss of money, assuming the risk of loss in return for the uncertain possibility of a reward (See Wikipedia)
estimate - to say what you think an amount or value is or will be, either by using available information or by guessing คาดคะเน, โดยประมาณ
landholdings - the land that is owned by a person or company
Another law would establish a national savings fund to help boost retirement savings for the poor.
Deputy finance minister Pradit Phataraprasit said over time, it has become evident that efforts to reduce income disparity through redistribution have had little effect.
establish
- to start something that will likely continue for a long time สถาปนา,
ก่อตั้ง, จัดตั้ง
fund - a collection or gathering together of money เงินทุน กองทุน
national savings fund - a place where the people of the country put part of their income each month to save for the future
boost - to increase; to strengthen เพิ่ม; ทำให้มีกำลังมากขึ้น
retirement - the time when you stop working, especially because of old age เกษียณอายุ
evident - easy to see and notice, clear เห็นไ้ด้ชัด
efforts - people trying to accomplish something, achieve a goal ความพยายาม
efforts - the work done towards achieving some goal
disparity - a big difference between two things
redistribution - sharing something out differently from before, especially in a fairer way การปันส่วนหรือจัดสรรอย่างเป็นธรรม
redistribution - taking from one group of people and giving to another group
fund - a collection or gathering together of money เงินทุน กองทุน
national savings fund - a place where the people of the country put part of their income each month to save for the future
boost - to increase; to strengthen เพิ่ม; ทำให้มีกำลังมากขึ้น
retirement - the time when you stop working, especially because of old age เกษียณอายุ
evident - easy to see and notice, clear เห็นไ้ด้ชัด
efforts - people trying to accomplish something, achieve a goal ความพยายาม
efforts - the work done towards achieving some goal
disparity - a big difference between two things
redistribution - sharing something out differently from before, especially in a fairer way การปันส่วนหรือจัดสรรอย่างเป็นธรรม
redistribution - taking from one group of people and giving to another group
Rather than thinking of how to split the cake, we should consider how to make the cake bigger, to help improve quality of life for the poor," he said
Reaching this goal will depend on strengthening the economy's competitiveness. Mr Pradit noted that Singapore currently enjoyed per capita income up to six times that of Thailand
The aim of taxes shouldn't be to finance welfare programmes alone, but rather to strengthen the economy's competitiveness and guide future investment within the economy," he said
split
- to divide ทำให้แตกแยก
split the cake - meaning here: the way income in an economy is divided among different groups
improve - to make better ทำให้ดีขึ้น
quality of life- the degree of well-being felt by a person or group of people, often very different from income, depending on such factors as health, stress levels, clean air, time spent in traffic jams, work hours, free time, the neighborhood you live in, for example: many consider the quality of life in the provinces ito be greater than Bangkok (See Wikipedia)
competitiveness - how well a business can do compared to other firms (does it have lower price or higher quality?) การแข่งขัน
competitiveness - how well a company is able to maintain or gain customers in a market
aim - purpose; goal เป้าหมาย จุดมุ่งหมาย
investment - taking your money and putting it into projects to make a profit or earn interest (buying stock shares, bonds, real estate)
split the cake - meaning here: the way income in an economy is divided among different groups
improve - to make better ทำให้ดีขึ้น
quality of life- the degree of well-being felt by a person or group of people, often very different from income, depending on such factors as health, stress levels, clean air, time spent in traffic jams, work hours, free time, the neighborhood you live in, for example: many consider the quality of life in the provinces ito be greater than Bangkok (See Wikipedia)
competitiveness - how well a business can do compared to other firms (does it have lower price or higher quality?) การแข่งขัน
competitiveness - how well a company is able to maintain or gain customers in a market
aim - purpose; goal เป้าหมาย จุดมุ่งหมาย
investment - taking your money and putting it into projects to make a profit or earn interest (buying stock shares, bonds, real estate)
(Source: Bangkok Post, business section, Only 2.3m Thais pay income tax, 20/08/2010, Wichit Chantanusornsiri, link)
