Government tax revenue down 9%

Government tax revenues totalled Bt98.1b in July, 9.1% lower than in the same period last year, according to the Finance Ministry. Revenues for the first 10 months of fiscal 2009 to July totalled Bt1.12t, or 9.6% lower than in the same period the year before. But the ministry said tax revenue trends have shown signs of improvement with the overall economy, particularly import tariffs, value-added and auto excise taxes. The ministry estimates a revenue shortfall for the full fiscal year ending on Sept 30 of Bt206b, an improvement from earlier estimates of Bt280b. The 2009 budget initially set a revenue target of Bt1.6t. (Bangkok Post)