Car inquiry finds billions of baht in unpaid tax

A joint investigation by the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) and related agencies has led to the retrieval of nearly Bt9 billion in luxury car tax and a case against tax-avoiding importers would soon be submitted for prosecution, DSI deputy chief Pol Lt-Colonel Korrawat Panprapakorn said on Tuesday.

Korrawat reported on the progress that the DSI and public prosecutors had so far made into their probe of 134 cases of such alleged tax avoidance.

The agencies have received information from the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) in England (9,391 cars), Italy (505 cars) and Japan (five cars), he said.

The Customs Department had calculated there was overdue tax of Bt3.49 billion on 1,047 cars from England and Bt5.57 billion on 336 cars from Italy.

“This is just for some 1,000 cars and we will be able to get Bt9 billion in unpaid tax,” he said. “After this investigation is complete, I believe we might be able to retrieve tens of billions of baht.”