“Sudarat” urges government to exempt excise tax and vAT

Today (April 2), Khunying Sudarat Keyuraphan expressed concern over soaring fuel prices and their severe impact on the public. She noted that the government is currently considering either reducing the excise tax or using the fuel fund to subsidize the price difference.

Khunying Sudarat proposed both measures: using the fuel fund to subsidize the price difference but cautioned that excessive use of the fund would create a significant debt burden, given that the government's borrowing limit is already nearing its cap. Furthermore, she argued that relying solely on the fuel fund to absorb high prices would ultimately lead to continued high fuel costs for the public in the future, even after prices decrease, as the funds are needed to repay the deficit. This is tantamount to shifting the burden solely onto the public. Therefore, she proposed waiving the excise tax of almost 7 baht per liter during this crisis. Currently, the government has only announced a 1 baht reduction in the excise tax, which is insufficient to alleviate the burden on the public. She also suggested waiving the Value Added Tax (VAT), which would immediately reduce the price of fuel by 10 baht per liter.

Khunying Sudarat added that she understands the government's concerns about insufficient revenue to cover budgeted expenditures. Therefore, she proposed that the Prime Minister courageously order all ministries to cut all non-essential expenditures, especially construction budgets, including road and large-scale building projects that cost up to 100 billion baht annually, in order to reduce overall expenditures to align with the decreased government revenue resulting from the fuel tax exemption.