THAILAND: Inheritance tax dropped

. BANGKOK, Thailand / The Bangkok Post / Taxation / June 13, 2009 By Wichit Chantanusornsiri The government has back-pedalled from its previous stance of pursuing a new inheritance tax. Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij, speaking before officials at the Judicial Training Institute yesterday, said there was "no reason to implement the tax at the current time". "The Finance Ministry gives greater priority to moving forward with the land and building tax," Mr Korn said. "As for the inheritance tax, we have no plans for implementation at this time." He added that enforcement of an inheritance tax would be cumbersome, considering the loopholes and tax shelters that would likely be used by the wealthy to minimise their liability. "The wealthy certainly have various tactics at hand to evade their tax liability if the inheritance tax was implemented. At the same time, the middle-class and the poor would also be subject to the tax as well," Mr Korn said.[rc] © Copyright 1996-2009 The Post Publishing Public Company Limited