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Thailand’s cabinet on Tuesday approved the draft of two tax exemption decrees for tourism-related event organizers in the hopes of reviving the key tourism industry to pre-Covid levels.
The goal of this initiative is to boost tourism and encourage employment, according to spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana, as the meetings, incentives, conferencing, exhibitions industry is one of Thai tourism’s major branches.
The first decree is set to exempt corporate tax by two times or 1.5 times the amount paid to event organizers, depending on the area. The payment must be made in the second half of the year to be eligible.
The second decree intends to waive corporate tax by two times the amount paid to juristic company or partnership engaging in event organizing, under the same conditions as the first decree.
Thanakorn believes that the decrees will relieve roughly 7,750 taxpayers of their burden, saving them 2.3 billion baht while costing the government 455 million baht in tax revenue.
Thai officials are projecting the country to welcome some 7 million foreign tourists this year, up from about 430,000 in 2021. However, hitting the record of 40 million tourists in pre-Covid 2019 is still a long way off.