New finance minister Apisak Tantivorawong announced yesterday that the land and building tax may see further changes, even though it was on its way to the Cabinet for approval, The Nation reports.

He said “many processes and details” could be revised.

Image Credit: Alan Cleaver (Flickr)

The Finance Ministry and the restructured Council of Economic Ministers will now re-review the land and business tax.

If there are no significant changes to the draft bill, agricultural land will be subject to a maximum 0.25% tax, commercial property 2% and residential 0.5%.

This will replace the existing municipal and land and household tax.

Real estate attorneys in Thailand Chaninat and Leeds are experts in handling Thai real estate and land law, for both Thai and foreign clients.

Mr Apisak also explained that new measures would be implemented to help the grassroots economy, and will also be sent for Cabinet approval shortly. He said: “Farmers are not the only group that is suffering from the economic slowdown, as there are low-income earners in the capital that are suffering also.”

He went on to say that the measure “should be able to support the economy from slowing down any further”.

For the full story see here.

The Bangkok Post has confirmed that the Thai Revenue Department has reached a tentative agreement with the US to assist them with enforcing the new FATCA act to prevent offshore tax evasion.   The intent behind FATCA is to keep US persons from hiding income and assets overseas.

Bangkok based Chaninat & Leeds are experienced Thailand company lawyers who act for businesses and organizations of all sizes 

The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act was introduced in the US in 2010 and, for enforcement measures, requires the cooperation of non-USA financial institutions to contribute information about US account holders. This also includes US citizens who reside outside of the USA.

By agreeing to assist the US in tax information sharing, Thailand would therefore help the US in gathering the information the USA needs to enforce FATCA with regard to US citizens holding assets outside of the USA.

HThe countries who have already agreed to share information with the US include Switzerland, the Cayman Islands and the Bahamas, all common choices for offshore bank accounts with US citizens.  However banks in many countries are prohibited from sharing account information with foreign governments due to local privacy laws.

Related Articles:

US Thailand Double Taxation Treaty

Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA).

U.S. Taxes and Tax Law: An Expat’s Bane?