By Thai Newsroom Reporters
THE REVENUE DEPARTMENT was today (March 28) prompted to officially determine whether Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra may have taken legal loopholes to evade tax in corporate shares transferred to her by close members of her family.
People’s MP Wiroj Lakkhanaadisorn formally petitioned Revenue Department Director-General Pinsai Suraswadi to look into allegations that Paetongtarn, daughter of de facto Pheu Thai boss Thaksin Shinawatra, had deliberately compromised rules of law by issuing a combined total of 4.4 billion baht worth of promissory notes to her family members who had transferred their corporate shares to her so that the woman prime minister would not have been obliged by law to pay the 5% recipient tax.
Transaction over a promissory note which may carry no repayment terms or interest rates is not subject to tax until payment in cash has been made.
“The Revenue Department director-general will be legally obliged to determine whether the prime minister may have allegedly taken legal loopholes to evade tax which could probably otherwise set an inappropriate precedent as head of government to all taxpayers nationwide,” the opposition lawmaker said.
Wiroj had raised the tax evasion scandal surrounding Paetongtarn during a recent censure debate at parliament, among other allegations, but the prime minister had responded that her promissory notes will be settled in cash payment next year. The issue of evident honesty on the part of the prime minister was put in question, given such tax evasion allegations.
The prime minister’s family members whom she had issued promissory notes in exchange for varied amounts of their corporate shares transferred to her included her brother Panthongtae Shinwatra, her sister Pinthongta Shinawatra, her uncle Banpot Damapong, her aunt-in-law Busaba Damapong and her mother Potjaman Damapong.
CAPTION:
People’s MP Wiroj Lakkhanaadisorn at the Revenue Department today, March 28, 2025. Photos: Naewna
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