Several government departments in Thailand are exploring blockchain technology to streamline processes, and now the country’s Excise Department has also joined the bandwagon. The agency has partnered with Krungthai Bank to use distributed ledger technology (DLT) for tax refunds to oil exporters and prevent VAT fraud in the country.
Patchara Anuntasilpa, Director-General of the Excise Department, said the department would adopt the blockchain-based system by mid-2020,
reported Bangkok Post. The legacy system involves paper-based documents for tax refunds, and the inspection is not as thorough as it needs to be, Anuntasilpa added.
Currently, Thailand has a 7% VAT rate for sales of goods and services in the country. Some oil traders claim a tax waiver by furnishing documents of oil export, but sell the same oil in the country without paying the VAT. This creates leakages in the income of the excise department, which it hopes to solve with a blockchain platform.
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