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The International Journal of the Royal Society of Thailand
Volume XII, 2020

expected that more filers will seek to justify higher expenses deductions but
they will have to be ready to undergo spot checks and provide documentary
evidence.
10

Conclusion

Two suggestions for improving and making the PIT system fairer emerge
from this investigation. First, the RD should make it compulsory for high income
people to report property income and overseas income and require people who
receive fees, rents in cash to keep accounts, issue receipts and keep copies for
inspection. Second, the RD should make more accurate assessment of expenses,
profiles for different types of business based on accounts submitted and/or cases
investigated; with all the data kept, to assist in monitoring claims.

These suggestions will make the PIT system fairer and may help the RD
to collect more income tax without having to increase tax rates.

As for the issue of income concentration among the top 1 percent
discussed in the introduction, a suggestion is that the RD should be careful
about reducing the marginal tax rates if it wishes to stop income inequality
worsening. This applies not only to personal income tax but also to taxes on
property and inheritance taxes.

References

Alvaredo F, Atkinson AB, Piketty T, and Saez E. 2013. The Top 1 Percent in
International and Historical Perspective. Journal of Economic Perspectives,
Vol. 27, Number 3, Summer, 3-20.

Galbraith J K. 2012. Inequality and Instability: A Study of the World Economy
Just Before the Great Crisis. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Katz LF and Autor DH. 1999. Changes in the Wage Structure and Earnings
Inequality. Chapter 26 in Handbook of Labour Economics. ed. Ashenfelter
OC and Card D. Vol. 3A. Amsterdam: North-Holland.

10 In countries that maintain income tax systems with high coverage, revenue authorities have
developed sophisticated profiling systems to identify under-reporting or fraudulent expense
claims. Tax accountants play an important intermediary function in helping taxpayers to file
returns that are accepted by the revenue authority and do not attract onerous investigation.

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