Finance Ministry considers methods to expand tax base

Taxing profits from cryptocurrency trading and the plan to end the tax waiver on share sales from the local bourse should help to expand the tax base and garner additional revenue for national development, says Finance Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith.

Mr Arkhom said Thailand has not expanded the tax base for many years. Though GDP has expanded over the years, revenue from tax has not increased in relation to GDP. This is because the country offers a host of tax exemptions to support specific business sectors, he said.

Now is the time to wind down some tax privileges for those sectors because they can stand on their own, said Mr Arkhom.

He said taxing digital assets and cryptocurrency trading was not aimed at curbing the booming cryptocurrency market.

The financial transaction tax applicable for share sales by individual investors trading on the Stock Exchange…