The Revenue Department has been instructed to expedite the refund of outstanding value-added tax (VAT) amounting to 160 billion baht to enhance liquidity in the business sector.
According to Finance Minister Ekniti Nitithanprapas, he ordered the department to speed up the refunds of VAT owed to the business sector, amounting to a total of 160 billion baht, as a way to inject liquidity into the economy.
“The economic engine is running low on fuel and we need to inject liquidity into it, using financial and tax measures. For small and medium-sized enterprises [SMEs] and firms in the supply chain, we will provide loans of up to 1 million baht each. For large businesses, we will use tax measures to encourage them to assist SMEs,” he said.
“For example, under the ‘Big Brother Helps Little Brother’ programme, we will speed up tax refunds for large firms that help SMEs. There is about 160 billion baht in tax refunds pending review.”
As for the refund process, normally the department must complete full verification of information before issuing refunds. However, this time the department will review only 60-70% of the data first, and then conduct post-audit inspections, said Mr Ekniti.
This approach was previously implemented during the pandemic to help inject liquidity into the system.
In addition, he said the ministry will introduce stimulus measures to promote tourism in secondary cities, allowing hotel operators in those areas to deduct renovation expenses from their taxes at an increased rate — possibly 1.5 to 2 times the actual cost.
The ministry is also preparing to propose to the cabinet that government agencies accelerate disbursement of budgets for training and seminars, known as “front-loading”, with a requirement that such training and seminars be held in secondary cities by January 2026.
This budget is expected to total 10 billion baht, consisting of 3.6 billion from government agencies, 3 billion from state enterprises, and the remainder from local administrative organisations.