Next time you download that emotionally poignant panda sticker or buy more candy-crushing moves, the Man may take a cut of the action.
Sutthichai Sangkamanee, Revenue Department director-general, today proposed taxing all digital downloads which occur in the kingdom, and announced a study of the feasibility to impose a VAT for such on smart phones and tablets.
“America collects tax from application downloading,” he said. “And Thailand is now studying how we can do that. We are pushing an application tax to become a matter of international cooperation.”
There are several barriers to implementing such a plan however.
For one, the revenue department is empowered to tax services and commerce, but may not be applicable to application providers, almost all of which reside abroad. Also caution would be needed to avoid violating double taxation treaties Thailand has signed with 55 countries.
This is the most recent of several innovative tax ideas put forth. In September a Rangsit University professor proposed taxing the unmarried and childless to stimulate reproduction.
The download tax will be raised at the Study Group of Asian Tax Administration and Research, which counts Thailand a member along with 15 other countries.
This year the number of smartphone users is expected to reach 15 million, while related digital commerce of THB15 billion is expected to grow 10 percent to 15 percent from last year. Naewna reported.
