BANGKOK: The Finance Ministry has floated the idea of taxing landlords who benefit from skyrocketing land prices driven by the government’s large infrastructure developments.
It should be a one-time tax payment, permanent secretary for finance Somchai Sujjapongse said. The tax will not be imposed again when plots are resold, he said without elaborating. The ministry is pushing hard to increase asset-based tax to diversify the revenue structure, which relies heavily on income and consumption taxes. Tax on assets helps narrow economic disparity in line with the government’s policy.
The cabinet last week approved the land and buildings tax. After final approval by the National Legislative Assembly, the tax will replace house, land and local development taxes, which have been criticised as regressive, having too many waivers and being based on outdated median prices. The government plans to develop 20 big-ticket infrastructure projects worth a combined 1.7 trillion baht, mostly electric train routes in Greater Bangkok.
