Phuket tax office way ahead of target

PHUKET: The Phuket Area Revenue Office (PARO) expects to collect 2.9 billion baht in taxes by the end of the tax-collection year on September 30, Supanee Sripanyawichya, Chief of the PARO, has told the Gazette. “We collected 1.8 billion baht in taxes between October 1 and April 30,” she said. “That’s more than 40% higher than our target.” K. Supanee attributed the boost in taxes collected to the island’s economic health, adding that most taxes collected in Phuket are from the property, hotel and tourism industries. “So far this year we have not experienced any economic downturns, especially compared with 2003, when small and large businesses were affected by the Sars (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) scare, which greatly affected Phuket’s tourism industry,” she explained. She added that she believed the violence in southern Thailand will not have much impact on the island’s economy – nor on the tax collected. The Revenue Department of Thailand (Division 11), which is responsible for collecting taxes in Southern Thailand’s seven northernmost provinces, including Phuket, expects to collect more than 7 billion baht in taxes by September 30. Vanista Rangsriteap-patimakorn, Chief of the Revenue Department (Division 11), said, “Phuket is the No 1 tax-paying province in our division. Surat Thani is second. We believe that all provinces in our area will exceed their targets.”