Thailand: Tax revenue from alcohol sales rose 4% during the first 10 days of the FIFA World Cup

Tax revenue from alcohol sales over the first 10 days of the World Cup tournament rose 4% from the year before, according to the Excise Department, Bangkok Post released June 21.

Utid Tamwatin, the department's director-general, said tax collections on beer and other alcohol had been in decline during the first few months of the year. The rise was clearly due to the high interest in the football competition, he said.

''But the fact remains that while taxes have risen over the past two weeks, it won't have a major impact on tax revenue this year, since the tournament lasts for just one month,'' Mr Utid said.

The Excise Department estimated that its revenue this year would fall short of the original target of THB312.5 billion, by THB32 billion, or around 10%.

Declining tax revenue was blamed on lower cigarette and alcohol sales thanks to government anti-smoking and anti-drinking campaigns.

The Customs Department has also indicated that its tax revenue would fall short of the 120.4-billion-baht target by around nine billion baht, as tariff rates dropped under trade liberalisation policies.

For the first eight months of the fiscal year from October 2005 to May 2006, net revenue stood at THB918.5 billion, 0.7% above the target and 8.3% higher than for the same period last year.

Despite declining tax revenue from the Excise and Customs departments, the Revenue Department, which collects the largest source of income for the government, has continued to exceed targets.