BANGKOK: Thai and foreign travelers will soon be able to use their credit or debit card to pay for duty on goods they bring from abroad, the Customs Department says.
The new payment channel will be available on Sept 1 at Suvarnabhumi airport, said Somchai Sujjapongse, director-general of the Customs Department. The service will later expand to other airports, he said.
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Paying duty through credit and debit cards will be capped at 100,000 baht. Those who use the credit and debit cards of Kasikornbank and Krungthai Bank to pay the duty will be exempted from a fee, but those using the plastic cards of other financial institutions will be subject to a 1% fee. Last week the Customs Department doubled the tax breaks on personal items brought from overseas for travellers arriving in Thailand to 20,000 baht, effective from July 17. The new limit now matches that allowed for incoming passengers shopping at duty-free shops upon arrival at airports. If goods exceed the limit, they must be declared to customs officials and the duty paid before the luggage can be cleared.
ny undeclared items will be seized and the owners may have to pay a fine equivalent to four times the value of the goods and the duty. Mr Somchai said the department’s role would be changed to facilitate trade rather than import duty collection following trade liberalisation.
Even though the department’s responsibility in collecting customs duty will decrease in the future, its officials still need to collect taxes for other tax-collecting departments and local administrations, he said, adding that only 20 baht of every 100 baht taxed by customs officials is counted as the department’s revenue.
