reprinted from:

Tourists warned of deception;
Some sellers falsely claim tax refunds
 

By Wichit Sirithaveeporn
Copyright 1999 The Bangkok Post
Reprinted with permission
Article date: July 15, 1999
 

The Revenue Department accuses unauthorised retailers of tarnishing the country's image by deceiving tourists into believing that they can reimburse taxes charged on the purchases from their stores when in fact they cannot, according to Paithoon
Pongkasorn, the department's spokeswoman.

Many tourists found out they were cheated only when they tried to get the reimbursements at the Revenue Department's airport office, using the receipts they got from the stores.

To be eligible for tax reimbursements, tourists need to present tax refund slips, which can be issued only by traders authorised by the department, she said.

If the unauthorised traders get caught, the department will look into the details of their past tax payment records.

The department has been trying to encourage stores nationwide to apply for a licence for issuing tax refund slips. However, it seems that some of them decide not to apply for the licence for fear the department can keep track of their actual sale figures and they will have to pay higher taxes as a consequence.

Besides, tourists who seek to get tax refunds must carry the goods with them to the departure lounge.

Unaware of this, many tourists check in the goods as unaccompanied baggages and without them they could not get tax reimbursements.

Currently, there are a total of 363 stores authorised to issue tax refund slips.

From June 1 to mid-July, tax refund payments totalling 2.57 million baht were made to approximately 2,600 tourists.

Tax refund is part of the country's "Amazing Thailand" promotional campaign which will end this year.

Meanwhile, the finance ministry is considering cutting import taxes on goods which tourists like to buy and cannot be manufactured in the country.

It hopes the new measure will boost tourism revenues, which in turn will help the country achieve the targeted GDP growth of 1%.
 

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