Government revenue falls short due to dip in oil taxes

There’s been a shortfall in the government’s revenue collection for the first four months of the 2024 fiscal year, largely due to a sharp drop in oil taxes. This data was disclosed by the Fiscal Policy Office (FPO) director-general, Pornchai Thiraveja, who highlighted that the government’s net revenue for the period of October 2023 to January 2024 was 824 billion baht. This was a reduction of 8.83 billion baht or 1.1% off the original projected target.

“The dip in revenue is primarily due to a reduction in the diesel and gasoline tax rates during this period.”

Comparatively, the state’s net revenue during the initial four months of this fiscal year saw a decrease of 14.9 billion baht, or 1.8%, from the same period of the preceding fiscal year.

Pornchai identified another factor causing the decreased revenue – an additional 36.6 billion baht in special government income recorded during the same period in the last fiscal year, which raised the baseline. However, if this special income was not factored in, the government’s revenue collection in the first four months of this fiscal year would have been 2.7% higher than the same period last year.

This marks the first time the government’s revenue collection has fallen short of the projected budgetary target.

Further examination of the performance of the three main tax departments – the Revenue Department, Excise Department and Customs Department – in the initial four months of fiscal year 2024 showed varied results. The Revenue Department collected 622 billion baht, marking an increase of 1.5% from the same period last year and surpassing the target by 1.1%.

The Excise Department collected 172 billion baht, 7.7% higher than the same period last year but falling short of the target by 12.1%. Lastly, the Customs Department collected 39.9 billion baht, representing a decrease of 15.2% from the same period last year, yet exceeding the target by 2.7%.

State-owned enterprises’ contribution to revenue in the first four months of this fiscal year totalled 70.8 billion baht, down by 2% from the same period last year but surpassing the target by 12.8%.

The Finance Ministry also noted that as of the end of January, the government’s treasury stood at 172 billion baht, which is 165 billion baht less than the same period last year, demonstrating a decline of 48.9%, reported Bangkok Post.