Lecturers slam PM’s tax-free deal
THANACHAI SUNTHORN-ANANTACHAI, president of Thammasat University's Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra yesterday.
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Thammasat University academics yesterday slammed the Revenue Department for bending the rules to serve the Shinawatra family at the expense of the public interest.
Sumet Sirikunachote, a law lecturer, argued that withholding tax should be collected from Ample Rich Investments Co and personal income taxes should be collected from Panthongtae and Pinthongta, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s son and daughter. The Revenue Department found that the sale of shares in Shin Corp to Singapore’s Temasek Holdings last month did not require the payment of taxes. Sumet admitted that law experts had different opinions, but added that the department had collected taxes when the case for so doing was unclear. He said the finding in the Shin Corp case set a bad precedent and would encourage others to evade paying taxes. Pipop Udorn, lecturer at the faculty of commerce and accountancy, estimated that at least Bt5.5 billion had been lost to the Revenue Department. He blamed the department for “damaging confidence” in the tax system. He claimed the prime minister had ruined “good practice and ethics in Thai society” that had been accumulated for 700 years. Meanwhile, Thai Rak Thai MPs called for an investigation of possible tax evasion by the father and other relatives of Democrat MP Korn Chatikavanij. Korn had earlier asked the Revenue Department to collect Bt3 billion from Thaksin’s children. Wichit Chaitrong The Nation
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