Land and building tax revenue to hit 43 billion baht this year

The Finance Ministry anticipates the land and building tax collection to reach 43 billion baht this year, marking an increase of 8 billion from the previous year due to the discontinuation of the tax discount.

Finance Permanent Secretary Lavaron Sangsnit, speaking at a property seminar on the fifth anniversary of the tax’s implementation, revealed that the ministry is currently reviewing the law to consider potential amendments, with a decision expected by the end of the year.

Lavaron explained that discussions surrounding the tax law spanned over two decades before its enactment in 2019, with the first collection occurring in 2020. The pandemic prompted the government to reduce the tax burden by 90% until 2021.

In 2022, the full rate as specified by law was implemented. Last year, the government offered a 15% reduction to mitigate economic hardships faced by the public.

With the absence of tax reduction measures, Lavaron expects the revenue to rise from 35 billion baht last year, to 43 billion this year.

He indicated that future revenue from this tax is likely to increase steadily, given that the tax base, comprising the value of land and buildings, continues to appreciate.

Regarding taxpayer participation, the number of people paying this tax surged from 7 million in the first year to 16 million by 2022.

Lavaron also noted that since the tax collection and its revenue benefit local governments, local administrative organisations must conduct thorough surveys of land usage, as different land usage types incur different tax rates.

Bangkok has completed 99.4% of its land usage assessment, covering 2.1 million plots of land, 2.2 million houses, and 1 million condominium units.

Government initiatives to stimulate the real estate sector have contributed to clearing housing stock, which in turn supported economic growth of 1.5% in the first quarter of this year.

Despite the relatively modest growth in the first quarter, Lavaron expressed optimism that delayed government budget disbursements and other planned measures would help stimulate the economy for the rest of the year, reported Bangkok Post.