The government is considering expanding the coverage of both first-home and first-car buyers tax programmes.
The cabinet is likely to waive the registration and transfer fees for homebuyers while authorising the Government Housing Bank to offer 10 billion baht worth of mortgages with a zero interest rate for 2-3 years for buyers of units priced 1-2 million baht.
The plan is expected to cover pre-owned houses but details will be revealed later, said Anuttama Amornvivat, deputy government spokeswoman.
If officials can finish the proposal in time, the additional measures will be considered by the cabinet today.
Satit Rungkasiri, the Revenue Department’s director-general, said the government wanted to include pre-owned houses. He feels the previous measure for first-time homebuyers already helps low-income earners, but the new measures will adjust the tax deduction method to cover a wider group of beneficiaries.
Mr Satit said the GHB has already prepared a 10-billion-baht credit line for the programme, and the government will compensate 400 million baht in interest to the bank.
Pongpanu Svetarundra, director-general of the Excise Department, said the cabinet will also consider expanding measures to first-car buyers to include larger engine sizes and imported models. The cabinet will have to finalise the details.
He said the government expected to use a budget of 30 billion baht for the initial first-car tax rebate, but increasing the eligibility will increase the budget.
Source: Bangkok Post
