Tax collection in the month rose 5.1 per cent year on year, Somchai Sujjapongse, deputy director-general of the ministry's Fiscal Policy Office, said yesterday.

In January, the Revenue Department collected Bt1.48 billion, or 2 per cent lower than the target. The lower-than-expected tax collection could be attributed to a B1.62-billion lower-than-expected

value-added tax (VAT) collection and a Bt349-million shortfall in corporate income tax.

The VAT figure was a signal that domestic purchasing power had weakened.

Tax collections in January of the Customs Department also fell short of target by Bt586 million, or 8 per cent.

The Excise Department, however, had collections in excess of the target by Bt726 million, or 2.9 per cent, thanks to the higher-than-expected tax collections from beer and oil, Somchai said.

Also, higher-than-expected revenue contribution of almost Bt2 billion from state enterprises helped the government's revenue collection in the month remain higher than forecast.

In the first four months of its 2007 fiscal year, from October 1, 2006, to January 31, 2007, the ministry collected revenues higher than forecast by 4.09 billion.

The government collected Bt404.49 billion in revenues in the first four months.

Of the total, Bt282.77 billion was derived from the Revenue Department, Bt99.81 billion from the Customs Department, Bt29.94 billion from the Excise Department and the remainder from state-enterprise revenue contributions.

"The government could collect Bt4.09 billion in revenues higher than the forecast for the first four months of the fiscal year 2007 despite a spate of negative factors during the period. The ministry predicted that the government's full-year revenue collection would possibly achieve its target," Somchai said.