The Finance Ministry has no immediate plan to tax gold trading but wants the Gold Traders Association to help strengthen oversight and prevent money laundering, a leading gold trader said.
Kritcharat Hiranyasiri, chairman of MTS Gold Group, said Finance permanent secretary Lavaron Sangsnit confirmed the policy after a meeting with the association on gold industry regulation and anti-money laundering measures.
Instead, the ministry plans to include the association in a national-level committee to help link financial data and trace suspicious money flows, he said.
Mr Kritcharat said gold traders were concerned that taxation could undermine the industry’s competitiveness against global trading centres such as Hong Kong and Singapore, which offer tax incentives.
Gold is also strategically important to Thailand, ranking second in terms of the value of imports and exports relative to GDP, he said.
As an alternative to taxation, the government plans to involve the association in the Connect the Dots committee, a national mechanism that has been operating for more than six months to tackle illicit funds and so-called grey capital.
The committee comprises the Finance Ministry and Fiscal Policy Office, the Anti-Money Laundering Office (Amlo), the Bank of Thailand and the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau.
Its main objective is to close gaps in financial trails so authorities can identify the source of money used to purchase gold and where the proceeds go after it is sold.
Gold’s high liquidity makes it attractive to criminal networks seeking to launder money through complex schemes, including nominee or mule accounts.
The meeting also discussed creating a Centralised AML Intelligence Platform to assess customer risk.