Plea to motorists to pay tax

PHUKET TOWN: Phuket vehicle owners have until February 25 to pay outstanding tax – and avoid hefty fines and other penalties, including cancellation of registration documents, the Phuket Provincial Transportation Office (PPTO) announced today. Prasit Amarapal, Chief of the PPTO, warned errant motorists that failure to respond to the February 25 deadline would result in drivers having to pay the entire sum of tax owed plus 20% interest, if caught. However, motorists who have not paid tax for more than three years will limit their liability to just three years if they pay before the February cutoff. K. Prasit also encouraged motorists to advise the PPTO if their vehicles have been stolen, seized, sold or broken down. “If you can prove that your vehicle has been stolen, is now off the road or no longer in your possession, then you will be required to pay only the tax for the period that you used your car,” he told the Gazette. A similar purge from September 1 to December 31 saw just 11,095 car owners out of an estimated 112,745 on Phuket with oustanding tax bills pay up. This netted 4.6 million baht for PPTO coffers yet left an estimated 42 million baht oustanding. PPTO officials will coordinate with police to compile lists of non-payers. For more information contact the PPTO during office hours at Tel: 076-211019.