Thailand is turning to blockchain technology to improve its revenue collection. The Asian country has already begun integrating blockchain in the oil industry, with the launch scheduled for the first quarter of 2021. Thailand’s economy, like every other country globally, has been adversely affected by the global pandemic. However, instead of raising the taxes, the Thai government has focused on streamlining its revenue collection as it seeks to rebuild the economy. Blockchain technology has emerged as the solution, local newspaper Bangkok Post reports.
The revenue and customs divisions will both integrate blockchain technology.
According to the report, the country’s Excise Department will integrate blockchain technology to administer revenue collection for the fiscal year 2021. The department’s director-general, Lavaron Sangsnit, revealed that the revenue and customs divisions would both integrate blockchain technology. The director-general believes that blockchain will enable the department to identify “the price, import duty, and tax liability of each imported product.” He further stated that the technology could help thoroughly assess each department’s revenue collection and integrate the three government departments’ revenue collection into a single database.
Tax evasion would be difficult once blockchain tech is integrated.
The director-general said that with blockchain, tax evasion should be difficult because the three departments will conduct tax audits in coordination with each other. Sangsnit revealed that his department has already started building a blockchain platform to assess oil products’ tax returns. The platform is eyed to launch in the first quarter of 2021. When asked why the department started integrating blockchain in the oil export industry before any other, Sangsnit revealed that it was because oil is the largest tax revenue generator in Thailand. The oil industry accounts for two-thirds of the Excise Department’s total revenue collection, approximately 200 billion baht ($6.7 billion) annually, he revealed.
