Thailand to start collecting tax from foreign tech firms

Thailand on Wednesday will start collecting value added tax (VAT) from foreign technology companies and expects to raise at least 5 billion baht ($154.70 million) in additional revenue each year, a senior official said.

Foreign platforms providing electronic services in Thailand will have to register for VAT payments, senior finance ministry official, Ekniti Nitithanpraphas, told reporters.

“Out of 100 companies targeted, onley 69 companies are already registered and are divided into five categories including platforms getting income from e-commerce and advertising like Facebook and Google, intermediaries such as ride-hailing app Grab have and streaming services such as Netflix”, Reuters quoted Mr Ekniti as saying.

Thailand collects about 800 billion baht annually from VAT.

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Last week, the government approved an extension of the current 7% VAT rate until September 2023. The VAT rate has been at 7% since the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis.